1996 Alamo Bowl
| 1996 Builders Square Alamo Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 4th Alamo Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 29, 1996 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1996 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Alamodome | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | San Antonio, Texas | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Ron Franklin and Mike Gottfried | ||||||||||||||||||
The 1996 Alamo Bowl featured the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Texas Tech had gone into the game as the heavy favorite, behind running back Byron Hanspard, and his rushing game, however, Hanspard suffered a personal record of tackles.
Iowa opened the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run from quarterback Matt Sherman, opening up a 6–0 lead. In the second quarter, Sedrick Shaw rushed 20 yards for a touchdown. The ensuing two-point conversion attempt was successful, and Iowa built a 14–0 lead. Zach Bromert added field goals of 36 and 26 yards, as Iowa's lead ballooned to 20–0. In the fourth quarter, Rodney Filer scored on a 14-yard touchdown run making the final score 27–0, Iowa.
The win was somewhat bittersweet for Iowa, as linebacker Mark Mitchell had lost his mother in a fatal car accident while she drove to San Antonio to attend what would be her son's final collegiate game. Therefore, as a symbolic gesture of mourning, the entire Iowa team stripped their helmets of all markings, the game ball was also given to Mitchell.