1996 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

American college football season August 2023 January 2026 1996 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football Independent 21 19 8–3 Lou Holtz 11th Dave Roberts 3rd Multiple I formation Bob Davie 3rd 4–3 Renaldo Wynn Lyron Cobbins Marc Edwards Ron Powlus Notre Dame Stadium The 1996 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team was an American football team that represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their eleventh and final year under head coach Lou Holtz, the Irish compiled an 8–3 record, outscored opponents by a total of 407 to 181, and were ranked No. 19 in the final AP poll and No. 21 in the final UPI poll. They defeated No. 6 Texas and No. 16 Washington, but lost to No. 4 Ohio State and unranked Pitt (overtime) and USC (overtime).1996 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Schedule and Results Sports Reference LLC SR/College Football August 4, 2026 https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/notre-dame/1996-schedule.html1996 Football Review: The 56th Annual Post-Season Report The Notre Dame Scholastic January 30, 1997 August 4, 2026 https://archives.nd.edu/Football/Football-1996s.pdf Notre Dame Archives They did not play in a bowl game, turning down an invitation to play Auburn in the Independence Bowl. No Notre Dame players received first-team honors on the 1996 All-America college football team. Defensive end Renaldo Wynn was selected as the team's most valuable player. The team's statistical leaders included quarterback Ron Powlus (1,942 passing yards), Autry Denson (1,179 rushing yards, 66 points scored), wide receiver Malcolm Johnson (449 receiving yards), tight end Pete Chryplewicz (27 receptions), and linebacker Kinnon Tatum (77 tackles).1996 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Stats Sports Reference LLC SR/College Football August 4, 2026 https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/notre-dame/1996.html1996 Football Review, p. 50. The team played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana. Schedule 1996 AP Eastern September 5, 1996 8:00 p.m. w y 6 Vanderbilt Vanderbilt Stadium Nashville, TN ESPN 14–7 41,523 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-indianapolis-news-nds-opening-victo/140679344/ The Indianapolis News ND's opening victory is ugly September 6, 1996 February 10, 2024 Newspapers.com September 14 2:30 p.m. w 9 Purdue Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN rivalry NBC 35–0 59,075 September 21 12:00 p.m. w y 9 Texas 6 Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX ABC 27–24 83,312 September 28 2:30 p.m. l 5 Ohio State 4 Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN NBC 16–29 59,075 October 12 2:30 p.m. w 11 Washington 16 Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN NBC 54–20 59,075 October 19 2:30 p.m. l 8 Air Force Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN rivalry NBC 17–20 OT 59,075 November 2 8:00 a.m. w y 19 Navy Croke Park Dublin, Ireland Emerald Isle Classic, rivalry CBS 54–27 38,651 November 9 3:30 p.m. w y 17 Boston College Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA Holy War CBS 48–21 44,500 November 16 1:30 p.m. w 14 Pittsburgh Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN rivalry NBC 60–6 59,075 November 23 1:30 p.m. w 10 Rutgers Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN NBC 62–0 59,075 November 30 8:00 p.m. l y 10 USC Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA rivalry ABC 20–27 OT 90,296 Game summaries Navy 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. USC 1996 USC Trojans football team Jeweled Shillelagh Notre Dame Fighting Irish 2; text-align:center collapsed #10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8–2) at USC Trojans (5–6) November 30 Notre Dame 0 7 7 6 0 USC 6 0 0 14 7 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, California 90,296 ABC Brent Musburger and Dick Vermeil USA Today Notre Dame Ron Powlus8/19, 108 Yds, TD Autry Denson33 Rush, 160 Yds, TD Emmett Mosley3 Rec, 29 Yds USC Brad Otton13/25, 183 Yds, 2 TD Delon Washington15 Rush, 67 Yds, TD Chris Miller4 Rec, 69 Yds, TD ND USC collapsed 1 USC FG 30 Abrams 0 3 1 USC FG 38 Abrams 0 6 2 14:23 Notre Dame RushTD Spencer 1 good Sanson run/pass good/failed/incomplete 7 6 3 0:23 Notre Dame RecTD Champion Powlus 25 good Sanson run/pass good/failed/incomplete 14 6 4 USC RecTD C. Miller Otton 5 pass failed 14 12 4 4:52 Notre Dame RushTD Denson 9 no good Sanson run/pass good/failed/incomplete 20 12 4 1:50 USC RushTD Washington 15 run good 20 20 OT USC RecTD Sermons Otton 5 good Abrams run/pass good/failed/incomplete 20 27 20 27 Roster 1996 Notre Dame Fighting Irish f 76 Sr Jeremy Akers G 88 So Bobby Brown Bobby Brown (wide receiver) WR y 58 Sr Mike Burgdorf TE 40 Sr Kevin Carretta TE 18 Sr Cikai Champion WR 98 Sr Pete Chryplewicz TE y 75 Sr Chris Clevenger T 23 So Autry Denson RB y 44 Sr Marc Edwards Marc Edwards (American football) FB y 31 Sr Robert Framer RB 7 Fr Jarious Jackson QB y 83 So Malcolm Johnson Malcolm Johnson (wide receiver) WR y 84 Sr Albert Jones WR 26 Sr Randy Kinder RB y 14 Sr A.J. McGunigal QB 54 So Luke Petitgout T y 3 Sr Ron Powlus QB y 79 So Mike Rosenthal G y 71 So Jerry Wisne T y 56 Jr Kurt Belisle DE 95 Jr Corey Bennett DE 35 Sr Scott Palumbo P 13 Sr Bertrand Berry LB y 6 Sr Lyron Cobbins LB 51 Sr Melvin Dansby DE 27 So Bobbie Howard LB y 4 So Kory Minor LB y 35 Sr Robert Phelps CB 15 Jr Allen Rossum CB y 91 Sr Darnell Smith DE 21 So Shannon Stephens CB 12 So Mario Strayhorn FS 2 Sr Kinnon Tatum LB y 49 So Joe Thomas LB 43 Sr Bill Wagasy LB 60 Fr Antwoine Wellington LB 48 Sr Renaldo Wynn DE y 19 Fr Jim Sanson K 8 So Hunter Smith P y https://web.archive.org/web/19961225182040/http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/sfc/india/sfck09ra.htm *Lou Holtz Dave Roberts – Offensive coordinator Bob Davie – Defensive coordinator Urban Meyer – Wide receivers Charlie Strong – Defensive line Statistics Passing Ron Powlus - 133 of 232 (57.3%) for 1,942 yards, 12 touchdowns, 4 interceptions Jarious Jackson - 10 of 15 (66.7%) for 181 yards, 3 touchdowns, 0 interceptions Rushing Autry Denson - 1,179 yards, 5.8-yard average, 8 touchdowns Robert Farmer - 660 yards, 8.5-yard average, 8 touchdowns Marc Edwards - 381 yards, 4.6-yard average, 8 touchdowns Randy Kinder - 247 yards, 4.7-yard average, 3 touchdowns Jamie Spencer - 222 yards, 5.8-yard average, 5 touchdowns Receiving Malcolm Johnson - 25 receptions for 449 yards, 2 touchdowns Emmett Mosley - 24 receptions for 369 yards, 0 touchdowns Pete Chryplewicz - 27 receptions for 331 yards, 4 touchdowns Shannon Stephens - 9 receptions for 193 yards, 1 touchdown Marc Edwards - 16 for 179 yards, 2 touchdowns Raki Nelson - 8 receptions for 128 yards, 1 touchdown Autry Denson - 11 receptions for 111 yards, 2 touchdowns Scoring Autry Denson - 66 points, 11 touchdowns Marc Edwards - 62 points, 10 touchdowns, 1 two-point conversion Jim Sanson - 57 points, 39 of 45 PAT, 6 of 9 field goals Robert Farmer - 48 points, 8 touchdowns Jamie Spencer - 36 points, 6 touchdowns Allen Rossum - 24 points, 3 punt returns for touchdown, 1 kickoff return for touchdown Pete Chryplewicz - 24 points, 4 touchdowns Randy Kinder - 18 points, 3 touchdowns Tackles Kinnon Tatum - 77 Lyron Cobbins - 72 Benny Guilbeaux - 62 Renaldo Wynn - 61 Bertrand Berry - 60 Alton Maiden - 56 Melvin Dansby - 55 Kory Minor - 53 Covington - 53 Allen Rossum - 50 References Notre Dame Category:Notre Dame Fighting Irish football seasons Notre Dame Fighting Irish football