1996 Wisconsin Badgers football team

American college football season

1996 Wisconsin Badgers football

Copper Bowl Champion

Copper Bowl, W 38-10 vs. Utah

Conference| Big Ten Conference
Record| 8-5 (3-5 Big Ten)
Head coach|

* Barry Alvarez (7th season)

Offensive coordinator| Brad Childress (5th as OC; 6th overall season)
Offensive scheme| Smashmouth
Defensive coordinator| Kevin Cosgrove (2nd as OC; 7th overall season)
Base defense| 4–3
MVP| Pete Monty
Captain| Daryl Carter
Cayetano Castro
Pete Monty
Tarek Saleh
Jamie Vanderveldt
Jerry Wunsch
Home stadium| Camp Randall Stadium
(Capacity: 76,129)

Seasons

<- 1995

1997 ->

1996 Big Ten Conference football standings

* v
* t
* e

| Conf |  |  | Overall

|
|
|
|

Team |  | W |  | L |  |  |  |  | W |  | L |
No. 2 Ohio State \+  |  | 7  | - | 1  |  |  |  |  | 11  | - | 1  |
No. 15 Northwestern \+  |  | 7  | - | 1  |  |  |  |  | 9  | - | 3  |
No. 7 Penn State |  | 6  | - | 2  |  |  |  |  | 11  | - | 2  |
No. 18 Iowa |  | 6  | - | 2  |  |  |  |  | 9  | - | 3  |
No. 20 Michigan |  | 5  | - | 3  |  |  |  |  | 8  | - | 4  |
Michigan State |  | 5  | - | 3  |  |  |  |  | 6  | - | 6  |
Wisconsin |  | 3  | - | 5  |  |  |  |  | 8  | - | 5  |
Purdue |  | 2  | - | 6  |  |  |  |  | 3  | - | 8  |
Minnesota |  | 1  | - | 7  |  |  |  |  | 4  | - | 7  |
Indiana |  | 1  | - | 7  |  |  |  |  | 3  | - | 8  |
Illinois |  | 1  | - | 7  |  |  |  |  | 2  | - | 9  |

* \+ - Conference co-champions

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1996 Wisconsin Badgers football team represented the University of Wisconsin during the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. They were led by seventh year head coach Barry Alvarez and participated as members of the Big Ten Conference. The Badgers played their home games at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.

## Schedule

[edit]

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

|
|
|
|
|
|

September 7| 11:30 a.m.| Eastern Michigan*|

* Camp Randall Stadium
* Madison, WI

| ESPN2| W 24–3| 74,279
September 14| 9:00 p.m.| at UNLV*|

* Sam Boyd Stadium
* Whitney, NV

| | W 52–17| 40,091
September 21| 11:30 a.m.| Stanford*|

* Camp Randall Stadium
* Madison, WI

| ESPN2| W 14–0| 77,894
September 28| 2:30 p.m.| No. 3 Penn State|

* Camp Randall Stadium
* Madison, WI

| ABC| L 20–23| 79,607
October 12| 2:30 p.m.| at No. 2 Ohio State|

* Ohio Stadium
* Columbus, OH

| ABC| L 14–17| 94,215
October 19| 11:30 a.m.| No. 14 Northwestern|

* Camp Randall Stadium
* Madison, WI

| ESPN| L 30–34| 79,576
October 26| 11:30 a.m.| at Michigan State|

* Spartan Stadium
* East Lansing, MI

| ESPN2| L 13–30| 69,217
November 2| 11:30 a.m.| Purdue|

* Camp Randall Stadium
* Madison, WI

| ESPN| W 33–25| 78,330
November 9| 11:00 a.m.| Minnesota|

* Camp Randall Stadium
* Madison, WI (Paul Bunyan's Axe)

| ESPN+| W 45–28| 78,006
November 16| 11:30 a.m.| at Iowa|

* Kinnick Stadium
* Iowa City, IA (rivalry)

| ESPN| L 0–31| 66,570
November 23| 1:00 p.m.| at Illinois|

* Memorial Stadium
* Champaign, IL

| | W 35–15| 37,814
November 30| 11:00 p.m.| at Hawaii*|

* Aloha Stadium
* Honolulu, HI

| | W 59–10| 26,819
December 27| 8:00 p.m.| vs. Utah*|

* Arizona Stadium
* Tucson, AZ (Copper Bowl)

| ESPN| W 38–10| 42,122

* *Non-conference game
* Homecoming
* Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
* All times are in Central time

## Season summary

[edit]

Wisconsin started off quickly in 1996, winning their first three games against Eastern Michigan, UNLV, and Stanford. However, the Badgers then encountered far stiffer opposition against Penn State, Ohio State, Northwestern, and Michigan State. In the Northwestern game, Wisconsin RB Ron Dayne stunningly fumbled with just under a minute remaining. Northwestern recovered and scored the winning touchdown, sealing Wisconsin's third consecutive loss. The Badgers lost their fourth straight game the next week, falling 30-13 to Michigan State.

The Badgers snapped their four-game losing streak with consecutive wins against Purdue and rival Minnesota, before suffering a humiliating 31-0 loss at the hands of Hayden Fry's Iowa Hawkeyes. After falling to 5-5, the Badgers would win the final games on their regular season slate by beating Illinois and Hawaii, earning a bid to the Copper Bowl. The Badgers defeated the Utah Utes 38-10 in the 1996 Copper Bowl.

Wisconsin RB Ron Dayne ran for over 2,000 yards and 21 touchdowns in the 1996 season, earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year Honors in the process.

## Roster

[edit]

1996 Wisconsin Badgers football team roster

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

|
|
|

WR | `17` | Willie Austin | Fr
WR | `88` | Demetrius Brown |  Fr
FB | `32` | Branden Cantrell | Jr
G | `68` | Cayetano Castro (C) |  Sr
OT | `64` | James Darby |  Sr
RB | `33` | Ron Dayne | Fr
C | `69` | Derek Engler |  Sr
G | `59` | Mike Galletti |  Sr
OT | `79` | Aaron Gibson | So
TE | `89` | Eric Grams |  So
WR | `84` | Donald Hayes | Jr
QB | `12` | Scott Kavanagh | Fr
TE | `9` | Kevin Lyles |  Sr
FB | `37` | Cecil Martin |  So
RB | `13` | Carl McCullough |  Jr
OT | `75` | Chris McIntosh |  Fr
WR | `1` | Ahmad Merritt |  Fr
C | `56` | Mike Rader |  Sr
QB | `10` | Mike Samuel |  So
WR | `82` | Tony Simmons |  Jr
TE | `49` | Ryan Sondrup |  So
QB | `18` | Dirk Stanger |  Jr
RB | `43` | Aaron Stecker |  So
OL | `77` | Joe Steffen |  Sr
G | `65` | Jamie Vanderveldt (C) |  Sr
FB | `41` | John Waerig | So
RB | `22` | Charles Williams |  Fr
OT | `71` | Jerry Wunsch (C) |  Sr
Defense | Pos. | # | Name | Class

|
|
|

S | `29` | Bob Adamov |  So
S | `45` | Giscard Bernard | Sr
DB | `3` | Onjai Bryant | Jr
DT | `74` | Tom Burke | So
CB | `38` | Lamar Campbell | Jr
DE | `25` | Marcus Carpenter |  Fr
LB | `19` | Daryl Carter (C) | Sr
DE | `36` | Azree Commander |  Sr
DE | `99` | Dave Cruickshank |  So
LB | `96` | Pete Diatelevi |  Sr
LB | `55` | Brian Flanigan |  Jr
LB | `16` | Chris Ghidorzi | Fr
DB | `22` | Trent Gross |  Jr
S | `6` | Kevin Huntley | Jr
DT | `59` | Joe Innis |  Jr
DT | `58` | Chris Janek | Fr
DE | `85` | Bryan Jurewicz |  Sr
LB | `57` | David Lysek |  Jr
DT | `94` | Neil Miklusak |  Sr
LB | `48` | Pete Monty (C) | Sr
S | `26` | Bobby Myers |  Fr
S | `15` | Tim Rosga |  Fr
DE | `42` | Tarek Saleh (C) | Sr
DT | `91` | Rod Spiller |  Sr
CB | `28` | Jason Suttle |  Jr
CB | `34` | Leonard Taylor |  So
CB | `33` | Scott Wagner |  Jr
CB | `7` | Cyrill Weems |  Sr
DT | `92` | Brian Williams |  So
S | `21` | Tony Williams |  Fr
Special teams | Pos. | # | Name | Class

|
|
|

K, P | `14` | John Hall |  Sr
LS | `46` | Mike Schneck |  Fr
P | `23` | Eric Skrzypchak |  Fr

Head coach

* Barry Alvarez

Coordinators/assistant coaches

* Brad Childress – Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks
* Kevin Cosgrove – Defensive coordinator/inside linebackers
* Mike Cassity – Defensive backs
* Jay Hayes – Outside linebackers/special teams
* Jim Hueber – Offensive line
* Henry Mason – Wide receivers
* John Palermo – Assistant Head Coach/defensive line
* Brian White – Running backs
* Bernie Wyatt – Tight ends/recruiting coordinator

* * *

Legend

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

* Injured
* Redshirt

* * *

Roster

## Regular starters

[edit]

| Position  | Player

|

Quarterback  | Mike Samuel
Running Back  | Ron Dayne
Fullback  | Cecil Martin/Aaron Gibson
Wide Receiver  | Donald Hayes
Wide Receiver  | Tony Simmons
Tight End  | Kevin Lyles
Left Tackle  | Chris McIntosh
Left Guard  | Jamie Vanderveldt
Center  | Derek Engler
Right Guard  | Cayetano Castro
Right Tackle  | Jerry Wunsch
| Position  | Player

|

Defensive End  | Tarek Saleh
Defensive tackle  | Neil Miklusak
Defensive tackle  | Rod Spiller
Defensive End  | Bryan Jurewicz
Outside Linebacker  | Daryl Carter
Inside Linebacker  | Pete Monty
Outside Linebacker  | David Lysek
Cornerback  | Cyrill Weems
Free Safety  | Kevin Huntley
Strong Safety  | Bob Adamov
Cornerback  | Jason Suttle

## Team players selected in the 1997 NFL Draft

[edit]

Player | Position | Round | Overall Selection | NFL Team

|
|
|
|

Jerry Wunsch | Guard | 2 | 37 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Pete Monty | Linebacker | 4 | 103 | New York Giants
Tarek Saleh | Linebacker | 4 | 122 | Carolina Panthers

[1]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "1984 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on May 27, 2009. Retrieved December 7, 2016.

* v
* t
* e

Wisconsin Badgers football

Venues|

* Randall Field (1895–1916)
* Camp Randall Stadium (1917–present)

Bowls & rivalries|

* Bowl games
* Iowa
* Minnesota
* Nebraska

Culture & lore|

* Bucky Badger
* "On, Wisconsin!"
* Marching band
* "Jump Around"
* Tall Grass Game
* Crazylegs

People|

* Head coaches
* NFL draftees
* Statistical leaders
* Retired numbers

Seasons|

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