1996 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team

American college football season

1996 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football

Conference| Big East Conference
Record| 2–9 (1–6 Big East)
Head coach|

* Terry Shea (1st season)

Offensive coordinator| Terry Shea (1st season)
Defensive coordinator| Rod Sharpless (1st season)
Home stadium| Rutgers Stadium
Giants Stadium

Seasons

← 1995

1997 →

1996 Big East Conference football standings

* v
* t
* e

| Conf. |  |  | Overall

|
|
|
|

Team |   | W |   | L |   |  |  |   | W |   | L |
No. 13 Virginia Tech \+  |   | 6  | – | 1  |   |  |  |   | 10  | – | 2  |
No. 14 Miami (FL) \+  |   | 6  | – | 1  |   |  |  |   | 9  | – | 3  |
No. 21 Syracuse \+  |   | 6  | – | 1  |   |  |  |   | 9  | – | 3  |
West Virginia |   | 4  | – | 3  |   |  |  |   | 8  | – | 4  |
Pittsburgh |   | 3  | – | 4  |   |  |  |   | 4  | – | 7  |
Boston College |   | 2  | – | 5  |   |  |  |   | 5  | – | 7  |
Rutgers |   | 1  | – | 6  |   |  |  |   | 2  | – | 9  |
Temple |   | 0  | – | 7  |   |  |  |   | 1  | – | 10  |

* \+ – Conference co-champions

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1996 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team represented Rutgers University in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their first season under head coach Terry Shea, the Scarlet Knights compiled a 2–9 record, were outscored by opponents 380 to 143, and finished in seventh place in the Big East Conference.[1] The team's statistical leaders included Mike Stephans with 918 passing yards, Chad Bosch with 523 rushing yards, and Steven Harper with 321 receiving yards.[2]

## Schedule

[edit]

Date| Time| Opponent| Site| TV| Result| Attendance| Source

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

August 31| | Villanova*|

* Rutgers Stadium
* Piscataway, NJ

| | W 38–28| 27,307| [3]
September 7| | Navy*|

* Rutgers Stadium
* Piscataway, NJ

| | L 6–10| |
September 12| 8:00 pm| No. 10 Miami (FL)|

* Rutgers Stadium
* Piscataway, NJ

| ESPN| L 0–33| 29,379|
September 21| 12:00 pm| at No. 18 Virginia Tech|

* Lane Stadium
* Blacksburg, VA

| ESPN Plus| L 14–30| 47,204| [4]
October 5| 12:00 pm| at Syracuse|

* Carrier Dome
* Syracuse, NY

| ESPN Plus| L 0–42| 48,112|
October 12| 1:00 pm| Army*|

* Giants Stadium
* East Rutherford, NJ

| | L 21–42| 19,101|
October 19| | at Boston College|

* Alumni Stadium
* Chestnut Hill, MA

| | L 37–13| |
October 26| | Temple|

* Rutgers Stadium
* Piscataway, NJ

| | W 28–17| |
November 9| 12:00 pm| West Virginia|

* Rutgers Stadium
* Piscataway, NJ

| | L 14–55| 21,024| [5]
November 23| 1:30 pm| at No. 10 Notre Dame*|

* Notre Dame Stadium
* Notre Dame, IN

| NBC| L 0–62| 59,075|
November 30| 12:00 pm| at Pittsburgh|

* Pitt Stadium
* Pittsburgh, PA

| | L 9–24| 21,772|

* *Non-conference game
* Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game
* All times are in Eastern time

[6]

## Roster

[edit]

1996 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team roster

Players  | Coaches
Offense | Pos. | # | Name | Class

|
|
|

QB | `18` | Darrell Buffington | Sr
Defense | Pos. | # | Name | Class

|
|
|

DB | `10` | Kevin Williams | Jr
Special teams | Pos. | # | Name | Class

|
|
|

Head coach

* Terry Shea

Coordinators/assistant coaches

* * *

Legend

* (C) Team captain
* (S) Suspended
* (I) Ineligible

* Injured
* Redshirt

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "1996 Big East Conference". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
2. ^ "1996 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
3. ^ "A Knight for defense; Chadwick saves Rutgers, 38–28". The Courier-News. September 1, 1996. Retrieved April 23, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
4. ^ "Tech-nical knockout". Asbury Park Press. September 22, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
5. ^ "West Virginia blasts Rutgers". The Record. November 10, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
6. ^ "1996 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 21, 2019.

* v
* t
* e

Rutgers Scarlet Knights football

Venues|

* College Field (1869–1890)
* Neilson Field (1891–1938)
* Old Rutgers Stadium (1938–1992)
* Giants Stadium (alternate, 1976–1992, 1994-96; primary, 1993)
* SHI Stadium (1994–present)

Bowls & rivalries|

* Bowl games
* Maryland
* Princeton

Culture & lore|

* Marching band
* First American football game (painting)

People|

* Head coaches
* NFL draftees
* Statistical leaders

Seasons|

* 1869
* 1870
* 1871
* 1872
* 1873
* 1874
* 1875
* 1876
* 1877
* 1878
* 1879
* 1880
* 1881
* 1882
* 1883
* 1884
* 1885
* 1886
* 1887
* 1888
* 1889
* 1890
* 1891
* 1892
* 1893
* 1894
* 1895
* 1896
* 1897
* 1898
* 1899
* 1900
* 1901
* 1902
* 1903
* 1904
* 1905
* 1906
* 1907
* 1908
* 1909
* 1910
* 1911
* 1912
* 1913
* 1914
* 1915
* 1916
* 1917
* 1918
* 1919
* 1920
* 1921
* 1922
* 1923
* 1924
* 1925
* 1926
* 1927
* 1928
* 1929
* 1930
* 1931
* 1932
* 1933
* 1934
* 1935
* 1936
* 1937
* 1938
* 1939
* 1940
* 1941
* 1942
* 1943
* 1944
* 1945
* 1946
* 1947
* 1948
* 1949
* 1950
* 1951
* 1952
* 1953
* 1954
* 1955
* 1956
* 1957
* 1958
* 1959
* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

National championship seasons in bold

This college football 1996 season article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Conf.]: Conference record
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[No.]: Number