American college football season
1996 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football Conference Independent Coaches No. 21 AP No. 19 1996 record 8–3 Head coach Offensive coordinator Dave Roberts (3rd season)Defensive coordinator Bob Davie (3rd season)Home stadium Notre Dame Stadium (c. 59,075, grass)Seasons
The 1996 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season .[1] The team was coached by Lou Holtz and played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana .
Notre Dame participated in the Emerald Isle Classic (Billed as the Shamrock Classic that year). The game was played in Dublin on November 2 at Croke Park , where Notre Dame beat Navy by a score of 54–27.
Despite finishing the regular season 8-3, Notre Dame did not play in a bowl game. The Fighting Irish turned down an invitation to play the Auburn Tigers in the Independence Bowl , believing that Auburn was an unworthy opponent and that the Independence Bowl was an unworthy bowl destination.
Rivalries [ ]
In the Holy War match against Boston College, Notre Dame beat BC to claim the Frank Leahy Memorial Bowl .
Notre Dame beat Purdue to claim the Shillelagh Trophy .
Notre Dame loses to USC in overtime, snapping a 13-game unbeaten streak against the Trojans.
Schedule [ ]
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance September 5 8:00 p.m. at Vanderbilt No. 6 Vanderbilt Stadium Nashville, TN ESPN W 14–741,523
September 14 2:30 p.m. Purdue No. 9 NBC W 35–059,075
September 21 12:00 p.m. at No. 6 Texas No. 9 ABC W 27–2483,312
September 28 2:30 p.m. No. 4 Ohio State No. 5 Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, IN NBC L 16–2959,075
October 12 2:30 p.m. No. 16 Washington No. 11 Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, IN NBC W 54–2059,075
October 19 2:30 p.m. Air Force No. 8 Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, IN NBC L 17–20 OT 59,075
November 2 8:00 a.m. at Navy No. 19 Croke Park Dublin, Ireland (Emerald Isle Classic /rivalry )CBS W 54–2738,651
November 9 3:30 p.m. at Boston College No. 17 CBS W 48–2144,500
November 16 1:30 p.m. Pittsburgh No. 14 Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, IN (rivalry ) NBC W 60–659,075
November 23 1:30 p.m. Rutgers No. 10 Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, IN NBC W 62–059,075
November 30 8:00 p.m. at USC No. 10 ABC L 20–27 OT 90,296
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time
Roster [ ]
1996 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players
Coaches
Offense
Defense
Pos.
#
Name
Class
DE
56
Kurt Belisle
Jr
DE
95
Corey Bennett
Jr
P
35
Scott Palumbo
Sr
LB
13
Bertrand Berry
Sr
LB
6
Lyron Cobbins
Sr
DE
51
Melvin Dansby
Sr
LB
27
Bobbie Howard
So
LB
4
Kory Minor
So
CB
35
Robert Phelps
Sr
CB
15
Allen Rossum
Jr
DE
91
Darnell Smith
Sr
CB
21
Shannon Stephens
So
FS
12
Mario Strayhorn
So
LB
2
Kinnon Tatum
Sr
LB
49
Joe Thomas
So
LB
43
Bill Wagasy
Sr
LB
60
Antwoine Wellington
Fr
DE
48
Renaldo Wynn
Sr
Special teams
Pos.
#
Name
Class
K
19
Jim Sanson
Fr
P
8
Hunter Smith
So
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Dave Roberts – Offensive coordinator
Bob Davie – Defensive coordinator
Urban Meyer – Wide receivers
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
Injured
Redshirt
Roster
Season summary [ ]
USC [ ]
#10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8–2) at USC Trojans (5–6)
1
2
3 4 OT Total
Notre Dame
0
7
7 6 0 20
USC
6
0
0 14 7 27
at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, California
Date : November 30Game attendance : 90,296TV announcers (ABC) : Brent Musburger and Dick Vermeil USA Today
Game information
Notre Dame
Ron Powlus 8/19, 108 Yds, TD
Autry Denson 33 Rush, 160 Yds, TD
Emmett Mosley 3 Rec, 29 Yds
USC
Scoring summary
Quarter
Time
Drive
Team
Scoring information
Score
Plays
Yards
TOP
ND
USC
1
USC
30-yard field goal by Abrams
0
3
1
USC
38-yard field goal by Abrams
0
6
2
14:23
Notre Dame
Spencer 1-yard touchdown run, Sanson kick good
7
6
3
0:23
Notre Dame
Champion 25-yard touchdown reception from Powlus , Sanson kick good
14
6
4
USC
C. Miller 5-yard touchdown reception from Otton , 2-point pass failed
14
12
4
4:52
Notre Dame
Denson 9-yard touchdown run, Sanson kick no good
20
12
4
1:50
USC
Washington 15-yard touchdown run, 2-point run good
20
20
OT
USC
Sermons 5-yard touchdown reception from Otton, Abrams kick good
20
27
"TOP" = time of possession . For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football .
20
27
References [ ]
Venues
Brownson Hall field (1892?–1899)
Cartier Field (1899–1928)
Soldier Field (1929)
Notre Dame Stadium (1930–present)
Bowls & rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons National championship seasons in bold