1996 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

1996 Nebraska Cornhuskers football
Big 12 North Division champion Orange Bowl champion
Big 12 Championship Game, L 27–37 vs. Texas
Orange Bowl, W 41–21 vs. Virginia Tech
Conference	Big 12 Conference
	North Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 6
AP	No. 6
1996 record	11–2 (8–0 Big 12)
Head coach	Tom Osborne (24th year)
Offensive coordinator	Tom Osborne (27th year)
Offensive scheme	I formation
Defensive coordinator	Charlie McBride (16th year)
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 72,700)

1996 Big 12 football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Northern Division
#6 Nebraska x%		8	–	0					11	–	2
#8 Colorado		7	–	1					10	–	2
#17 Kansas State		6	–	2					9	–	3
Missouri		3	–	5					5	–	6
Kansas		2	–	6					4	–	7
Iowa State		1	–	7					2	–	9
Southern Division
#23 Texas x$		6	–	2					8	–	5
Texas Tech		5	–	3					7	–	5
Texas A&M		4	–	4					6	–	6
Oklahoma		3	–	5					3	–	8
Oklahoma State		2	–	6					5	–	6
Baylor		1	–	7					4	–	7
Championship: Texas 37, Nebraska 27
† – Bowl Alliance representative as champion ‡ – Bowl Alliance at-large representative x – Division champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1996 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Tom Osborne and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

This was the first season for Nebraska in the Big 12 Conference, which took on that name after adding four schools from the disbanded Southwest Conference; the conference had been known as the Big Eight Conference since 1964, and was the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association before that. Nebraska was placed in the North Division with the four other Midwest schools in the conference, plus Colorado, all of which were in the conference prior to 1996; the Oklahoma schools joined with the former SWC members (all of which were in Texas) to form the South Division.

Nebraska participated in the very first Big 12 Championship Game by winning the North Division. They were upset by the unranked winners of the South Division, Texas. They still played in an Alliance bowl, the Orange Bowl, where they beat Virginia Tech.

Schedule

^[1]

Date	Time	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 7	11:00 AM	Michigan State*	No. 1	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, Nebraska	ABC	W 55–14	75,590
September 21	9:15 PM	at No. 17 Arizona State*	No. 1	Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, Arizona	FSN	L 0–19	74,089
September 28	11:30 AM	Colorado State*	No. 8	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, Nebraska	ABC	W 65–9	75,575
October 5	11:30 AM	at No. 16 Kansas State	No. 7	KSU Stadium • Manhattan, Kansas	ABC	W 39–3	43,916
October 12	1:00 PM	Baylor	No. 5	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, Nebraska		W 49–0	75,478
October 19	2:30 PM	at Texas Tech	No. 5	Jones Stadium • Lubbock, Texas	ABC	W 24–10	51,344
October 26	6:00 PM	Kansas	No. 5	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, Nebraska	FSN	W 63–7	75,158
November 2	11:00 AM	at Oklahoma	No. 5	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, Oklahoma (Rivalry)	ABC	W 73–21	75,004
November 9	1:00 PM	Missouri	No. 5	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, Nebraska (Rivalry)		W 51–7	75,133
November 16	1:00 PM	at Iowa State	No. 5	Cyclone Stadium • Ames, Iowa		W 49–14	47,850
November 29	1:30 PM	No. 5 Colorado	No. 4	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, Nebraska (Rivalry)	ABC	W 17–12	75,695
December 7	12:00 PM	vs. Texas	No. 3	Trans World Dome • St. Louis, Missouri (Big 12 Championship Game)	ABC	L 27–37	63,109
December 31	7:00 PM	vs. No. 10 Virginia Tech*	No. 6	Pro Player Stadium • Miami Gardens, Florida (Orange Bowl)	CBS	W 41–21	51,212
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Central Time.

Roster and coaching staff

1996 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class FB 38 Alexander, DanDan Alexander Fr OT 70 Anderson, EricEric Anderson Jr WB 35 Applegate, SeanSean Applegate Fr RB Baker, RodRod Baker Fr C 57 Baldwin, MattMatt Baldwin Fr OL Becvarovski, SashoSasho Becvarovski Fr IB 21 Benning, DamonDamon Benning Sr SE Beveridge, TomTom Beveridge Fr WB 14 Brown, LanceLance Brown So TE 90 Carpenter, TimTim Carpenter Jr SE 6 Cheatham, KennyKenny Cheatham So QB 9 Christo, MonteMonte Christo So OT 68 Clausen, JeffJeff Clausen Fr FB 42 Cobb, JoshJosh Cobb So TE 83 DeBates, T.J.T.J. DeBates Fr C Deitloff, ChrisChris Deitloff Fr OL Diekmann, BillyBilly Diekmann Fr OG 75 Dishman, ChrisChris Dishman Sr OL Douglas, TrentonTrenton Douglas Fr SE Edwards, J.R.J.R. Edwards Fr IB 22 Eicher, ChadChad Eicher Jr IB 4 Evans, DeAngeloDeAngelo Evans Fr OL Ferrell, JustinJustin Ferrell Fr SE 87 Finister, DemondDemond Finister Fr QB Finley, ClintClint Finley Fr SE 88 Fischer, CraigCraig Fischer Fr SE Frame, TimTim Frame Fr QB 7 Frost, ScottScott Frost Jr OT 53 Fulton, LonnieLonnie Fulton Fr WB Gentile, MikeMike Gentile Fr OT 72 Gessford, BenBen Gessford So WB Gibson, JohnJohn Gibson Fr IB 30 Green, AhmanAhman Green So SE 80 Haafke, BillyBilly Haafke So TE Hastings, ChrisChris Hastings Fr C 54 Havlovic, AaronAaron Havlovic Fr SE 82 Held, RyanRyan Held Jr OT 74 Henson, KyleKyle Henson So C 59 Heskew, JoshJosh Heskew Jr OL Hochstein, RussRuss Hochstein Fr SE 5 Holbein, BrendanBrendan Holbein Sr OG 66 Horst, JoeJoe Horst Jr OG 62 Hoskinson, MattMatt Hoskinson Jr TE 88 Jackson, SheldonSheldon Jackson So TE 34 Jackson, VershanVershan Jackson Jr OG 52 Johnson, MarcusMarcus Johnson Fr OT 69 Julch, AdamAdam Julch Fr FB 22 Kingston, BenBen Kingston So TE 83 Kobus, ChadChad Kobus Fr SE 89 Lake, Jeff (Robert)Jeff (Robert) Lake Jr FB 40 Legate, BillyBilly Legate So QB 1 London, FrankieFrankie London Fr FB 45 Makovicka, JoelJoel Makovicka So TE McKee, JakeJake McKee Fr OT 78 Mikos, KoryKory Mikos Sr WB 17 Miller, AndyAndy Miller So FB Miller, WillieWillie Miller Fr IB 24 Olnes, JasonJason Olnes Fr QB 12 Perino, JeffJeff Perino Fr RB Piening, HankHank Piening Fr OT 73 Pollack, FredFred Pollack Jr IB 27 Raymond, SteveSteve Raymond Fr TE 86 Roy, DorrickDorrick Roy So QB Runty, JayJay Runty Fr OL Saalfeld, ChrisChris Saalfeld Fr FB Schoening, MattMatt Schoening Fr FB 28 Schuster, BrianBrian Schuster Sr OG 65 Schwab, JasonJason Schwab Fr C 56 Seaman, DougDoug Seaman Jr OG 63 Sherman, JamesJames Sherman Fr IB 31 Sims, JamesJames Sims Jr RB Soucie, TravisTravis Soucie Fr FB Stanislav, JeremyJeremy Stanislav Fr OT 69 Tansey, JimJim Tansey Fr C 67 Taylor, AaronAaron Taylor Jr FB Todd, ArbyArby Todd Fr OT 77 Treu, AdamAdam Treu Sr QB 11 Turman, MattMatt Turman Sr OG 71 Van Cleave, MikeMike Van Cleave Jr WB 25 Vedral, JonJon Vedral Sr C 51 Vrzal, MattMatt Vrzal Sr OG 61 Wade, BrandtBrandt Wade So OL Walters, BrianBrian Walters Fr TE Wardyn, BrandonBrandon Wardyn Fr OL Webber, DavidDavid Webber Fr WB 33 Wieting, SeanSean Wieting Jr WB 29 Wiggins, ShevinShevin Wiggins So QB Wiles, ChadChad Wiles Fr TE 85 Wills, AaronAaron Wills Fr OG 64 Zatechka, JonJon Zatechka Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class CB 48 Alderman, DaveDave Alderman Sr DT 90 Allen, DerekDerek Allen Fr DT 94 Almanzar, LuisLuis Almanzar Fr DB Anderson, JoshJosh Anderson Fr RE 96 Antholz, TravisTravis Antholz Fr WLB 40 Arens, ErickErick Arens Fr SLB 81 Arnold, LarryLarry Arnold Sr RE 87 Bassett, ChrisChris Bassett Jr FS 24 Benes, JasonJason Benes Jr RCB 17 Blahak, ChadChad Blahak Sr LB Boellstorff, BlaineBlaine Boellstorff Fr LCB 20 Booker, MichaelMichael Booker Sr DB 21 Brown, MikeMike Brown Fr DB 22 Brown, RalphRalph Brown Fr MLB 47 Buettenback, BenBen Buettenback Fr RCB 2 Dennis, LeslieLeslie Dennis Jr ROV 20 Dittrick, GeorgeGeorge Dittrick Fr DT 74 Drum, BrandonBrandon Drum So DL Dush, JasonJason Dush Fr WLB 43 Farley, TerrellTerrell Farley Sr DB Fischer, EricEric Fischer Fr MLB 56 Foreman, JayJay Foreman So SLB 37 Froehlich, RussellRussell Froehlich So RCB 12 Fullman, MikeMike Fullman Sr RE 85 Gard, SeanSean Gard Jr DL Gill, BobbyBobby Gill Fr DE Guidry, GeorgeGeorge Guidry Fr SLB 86 Gumm, TrentTrent Gumm So DB Hamik, BradBrad Hamik Fr LB 44 Hesse, JonJon Hesse Sr WLB 49 Hogrefe, QuintQuint Hogrefe So WLB 53 Hunting, MattMatt Hunting Jr MLB 50 Jackson, JuliusJulius Jackson Fr RCB Jeffrey, TomTom Jeffrey Fr DB Johnson, EricEric Johnson So RE Jones, DaveDave Jones So DE Kaiser, LoranLoran Kaiser Fr RE 57 Kelsay, ChadChad Kelsay So WLB 43 Kohl, JoshJosh Kohl Fr RE 80 Lenners, CurtCurt Lenners Jr ROV 14 List, GreggGregg List Fr WLB 35 Macken, CaseyCasey Macken So ROV 21 Makaiwi, KalinKalin Makaiwi So RCB 2 McClymont, AlexAlex McClymont So ROV 4 McFarlin, OctaviousOctavious McFarlin Jr FS 29 McGraw, GregGreg McGraw Fr DT 72 Milius, TomTom Milius Fr RE 83 Miller, BryceBryce Miller Sr ROV 10 Minter, MikeMike Minter Sr RE Mooberry, BrandonBrandon Mooberry Fr RE Murphy, JohnJohn Murphy Fr DT 97 Ogard, JeffJeff Ogard Sr SLB 37 Ortiz, TonyTony Ortiz Fr DT 95 Peter, JasonJason Peter Jr RCB 26 Peterson, JeromeJerome Peterson Fr LB Polk, CarlosCarlos Polk Fr DB Quindt, BrandonBrandon Quindt Fr CB Reynolds, KhariKhari Reynolds Fr ROV 39 Roberts, MikeMike Roberts Sr DL Rooks, LaronLaron Rooks Fr RE 84 Rucker, MikeMike Rucker So RE 86 Ryan, EricEric Ryan Fr DT 74 Saltsman, ScottScott Saltsman Sr RE Schwager, MattMatt Schwager Fr RE 15 Sears, KareemKareem Sears Fr SLB 46 Shaw, BrianBrian Shaw Fr DL Siebenborn, ScottScott Siebenborn Fr FS 16 Stokes, EricEric Stokes Sr WLB 91 Terwilliger, RyanRyan Terwilliger Sr DT 79 Tessendorf, RossRoss Tessendorf So LCB 27 Thompson, AndyAndy Thompson So RE 92 Toline, TravisTravis Toline So RE 93 Tomich, JaredJared Tomich Sr DT 94 Townsend, LarryLarry Townsend Sr DT 65 Troxel, TheronTheron Troxel Fr LB Tuttle, ChadChad Tuttle Fr LB Urban, NolandNoland Urban Fr DB Vanderhoef, CaseyCasey Vanderhoef Fr FS 32 Walther, EricEric Walther So FS 3 Warfield, EricEric Warfield Jr DT Warren, SteveSteve Warren Fr DB Watchorn, TroyTroy Watchorn Fr WLB 52 Watson, KeelyKeely Watson Jr FS 25 Wells, JeffJeff Wells Fr SLB 28 Williams, JamelJamel Williams Sr DT 99 Wiltz, JasonJason Wiltz So DL Winston, TerryTerry Winston Fr RE 98 Wistrom, GrantGrant Wistrom Jr RE 87 Zahl, BrendanBrendan Zahl Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class PK 35 Brown, KrisKris Brown So P/PK 17 Hadenfeldt, DanDan Hadenfeldt Fr P 19 Kosch, JesseJesse Kosch Jr P 23 Lafleur, BillBill Lafleur So PK Long, ChaceChace Long Fr P 8 Morro, BrianBrian Morro So PK 13 Retzlaff, TedTed Retzlaff Jr	Head coach Tom Osborne    24th season    33rd year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Nebraska Coordinators/assistant coaches Charlie McBride    16th season as DC/LB coach    20th year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Colorado Turner Gill    5th season as QB coach    5th year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Nebraska Craig Bohl    2nd season as LB coach    5th year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Nebraska Ron Brown    10th season as WR/TE coach    10th year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Brown Dan Young    14th season as OL/K coach    14th year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Reed Milt Tenopir    23rd season as OL coach    23rd year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Sterling Tony Samuel    11th season as OLB coach    11th year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Nebraska George Darlington    DB coach    24th year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Rutgers Frank Solich    14th season as RB coach    18th year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Nebraska Boyd Epley    28th season as S&C coach    28th year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Nebraska Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: January 17, 2011

Game notes

Michigan State

Michigan State at Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Michigan State 0 0 7 7 14 • Nebraska 7 20 21 7 55 Date: September 7 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 75,590

Arizona State

Nebraska at Arizona State [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Nebraska 0 0 0 0 0 • Arizona State 9 8 0 2 19 Date: September 21 Location: Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona Game attendance: 74,089

Colorado State

Colorado State at Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Colorado State 0 6 0 3 9 • Nebraska 7 17 20 21 65 Date: September 28 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 75,575

Kansas State

Nebraska at Kansas State [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total • Nebraska 6 12 14 7 39 Kansas State 0 3 0 0 3 Date: October 5 Location: KSU Stadium, Manhattan, Kansas Game attendance: 43,916

Baylor

Baylor at Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Baylor 0 0 0 0 0 • Nebraska 7 21 14 7 49 Date: October 12 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 75,478

Texas Tech

Nebraska at Texas Tech [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total • Nebraska 7 3 7 7 24 Texas Tech 7 3 0 0 10 Date: October 19 Location: Clifford B. and Audrey Jones Stadium, Lubbock, Texas Game attendance: 51,344

Kansas

Kansas at Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Kansas 0 7 0 0 7 • Nebraska 7 35 14 7 63 Date: October 26 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 75,158

Oklahoma

Nebraska at Oklahoma [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total • Nebraska 0 17 28 28 73 Oklahoma 0 0 0 21 21 Date: November 2 Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma Game attendance: 75,004

Missouri

Missouri at Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Missouri 0 0 0 7 7 • Nebraska 7 16 28 0 51 Date: November 9 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 75,133

Iowa State

Nebraska at Iowa State [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total • Nebraska 20 8 14 7 49 Iowa State 0 0 7 7 14 Date: November 16 Location: Cyclone Stadium, Ames, Iowa Game attendance: 47,850

Colorado

Colorado at Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Colorado 6 0 3 3 12 • Nebraska 7 10 0 0 17 Date: November 29 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 75,695

Texas

Nebraska vs Texas [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Nebraska 7 10 7 3 27 • Texas 7 13 3 14 37 Date: December 7 Location: Trans World Dome, St. Louis, Missouri Game attendance: 63,109

Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech vs Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Virginia Tech 7 7 7 0 21 • Nebraska 0 17 14 10 41 Date: December 31 Location: Pro Player Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida Game attendance: 51,212

Rankings

Ranking Movement

Poll	Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	Final
AP	1	1	1	1	1	8	7	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	4	3	6	6
Coaches																		6

Awards

^[2]

Award	Name(s)
All-America 1st team	Aaron Taylor, Jared Tomich, Grant Wistrom
All-America 2nd team	Chris Dishman
Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year	Grant Wistrom
All-America Freshman 1st team	Ralph Brown
All-Big 12 1st team	Chris Dishman, Jon Hesse, Jared Tomich, Mike Minter, Jason Peter, Aaron Taylor, Grant Wistrom
All-Big 12 2nd team	Eric Anderson, Michael Booker, Kris Brown, Jeff Ogard, Jamel Williams
All-Big 12 3rd team	Scott Frost, Terrell Farley, Ahman Green
All-Big 12 honorable mention	Ralph Brown, DeAngelo Evans, Brendan Holbein, Vershan Jackson, Jesse Kosch, Brian Schuster, Eric Stokes, Jon Vedral, Jamel Williams
Big 12 Coach of the Year	Tom Osborne

NFL and pro players

The following Nebraska players who participated in the 1996 season later moved on to the next level and joined a professional or semi-pro team as draftees or free agents.^[3]

Name	Team
Dan Alexander	Tennessee Titans
Eric Anderson	Amsterdam Admirals
Michael Booker	Atlanta Falcons
Kris Brown	Pittsburgh Steelers
Mike Brown	Chicago Bears
Ralph Brown	New York Giants
Chris Dishman	Arizona Cardinals
Clint Finley	Kansas City Chiefs
Jay Foreman	Buffalo Bills
Scott Frost	New York Jets
Ahman Green	Seattle Seahawks
Jon Hesse	Green Bay Packers
Russ Hochstein	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Sheldon Jackson	Buffalo Bills
Vershan Jackson	Kansas City Chiefs
Eric Johnson	Oakland Raiders
Chad Kelsay	Pittsburgh Steelers
Bill Lafleur	Barcelona Dragons
Joel Makovicka	Arizona Cardinals
Mike Minter	Carolina Panthers
Tony Ortiz	Scottish Claymores
Jason Peter	Carolina Panthers
Carlos Polk	San Diego Chargers
Mike Rucker	Carolina Panthers
Eric Stokes	Seattle Seahawks
Jared Tomich	New Orleans Saints
Larry Townsend	Berlin Thunder
Adam Treu	Oakland Raiders
Eric Warfield	Kansas City Chiefs
Steve Warren	Green Bay Packers
Jamel Williams	Washington Redskins
Jason Wiltz	New York Jets
Grant Wistrom	St. Louis Rams
Jon Zatechka	Berlin Thunder

References

1. "Football - 1996 Schedule/Results". University of Nebraska-Lincoln Athletics Department. Retrieved May 21, 2009.
2. 1996 Husker Honors
3. "All Time NFL Huskers". Archived from the original on May 27, 2009. Retrieved May 21, 2009.