1996 Liberty Bowl

August 2023 March 2026 February 2016 Liberty Bowl 38th Liberty Bowl St. Jude December 27 1996 1996 Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, Tennessee University of Houston Houston Cougars 7–4 Kim Helton C-USA 7 7 0 3 Syracuse University Syracuse Orangemen 8–3 23 22 23 Paul Pasqualoni Big East 7 9 0 14 Malcolm Thomas, Syracuse RB 49,163 ESPN Craig Bolerjack and Rod Gilmore The 1996 Liberty Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 27, 1996, in Memphis, Tennessee. The 38th edition of the Liberty Bowl, it matched the Houston Cougars and the Syracuse Orangemen. Background Syracuse, who had finished as co-champion of the Big East Conference (alongside Virginia Tech and Miami, who went to the Orange and Carquest Bowls, respectively), was invited to play in the Liberty Bowl, their first Liberty Bowl since 1961. This was their fifth bowl game in the decade, and 8th in the past 10 seasons.https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/04/sports/syracuse-takes-liberty-bowl.html Syracuse Takes Liberty Bowl The New York Times 4 December 1996 As for Houston, they had finished as co-champion of Conference USA (along with Southern Miss) in the inaugural year of the conference. This was their first bowl game since 1988. Game summary The game found two future first rounders and Super Bowl participants: Syracuse's Donovan McNabb and Houston's Antowain Smith. Although only completing four of ten pass attempts, McNabb rushed for 49 yards and two touchdowns. Smith rushed for 119 yards and a touchdown, as well as receiving for 44 yards and a touchdown. Orangemen running back Malcolm Thomas ran for 201 yards and a touchdown earning MVP honors.2010 Houston Cougars Football Media Almanac 2010 History: Bowl Recaps 92 University of Houston Department of Athletics Houston, Texas http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/hou/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2010-media-guide-history.pdf December 31, 2015 July 14, 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20140714204926/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/hou/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2010-media-guide-history.pdf dead Miami University Football 2015 http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/mioh/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2015-16/prospectus/prospectus.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20151222081525/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/mioh/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2015-16/prospectus/prospectus.pdf 2015-12-22 Scoring summary Syracuse – Donovan McNabb 1 yard touchdown run (Trout kick) – 13:16 remaining in the 1st quarter Houston – Justin Davis 21 yard touchdown pass from Chuck Clements (Villarreal kick) – 11:48 remaining in the 1st quarter Syracuse – Rob Konrad 2 yard touchdown run (Trout kick) – 9:02 remaining in the 2nd quarter Syracuse – Team safety (snap sailed over the head of punter Ignacio Sauceda, landing in the end zone) – 3:58 remaining in the 2nd quarter Houston – Justin Davis 3 yard touchdown run (Villarreal kick) – 0:30 remaining in the 2nd quarter Syracuse – Donovan McNabb 2 yard touchdown run (Trout kick) – 13:52 remaining in the 4th quarter Houston – Sebastian Villarreal 23 yard field goal – 10:50 remaining in the 4th quarter Syracuse – Malcolm Thomas 6 yard touchdown run (Trout kick) – 5:29 remaining in the 4th quarter Statistics Statistics Houston SyracuseFirst downs 13 25Rushing yards 124 396Passing yards 217 76Passing (C–A–I) 14–28–1 4–10–0Total offense 341 472Return yards 148 80Punts–average 3–35.0 4–42.5Fumbles–lost 0–0 0–0Third-down conversions 3–11 9–15Penalties–yards 5–30 5–41Time of possession 21:59 38:01 References Liberty BOwl Category:Liberty Bowl Category:Houston Cougars football bowl games Category:Syracuse Orange football bowl games Category:1996 in sports in Tennessee Category:December 1996 sports events in the United States