1996 Wisconsin Badgers football team

1996 Wisconsin Badgers football
1996 Wisconsin Badgers football
Copper Bowl Champion
Wisconsin 38 Utah 10
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 →

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.

1996 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e
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

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

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

[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.

[1]