1996 Utah State Aggies football team

American college football season March 2026 August 2023 1996 Utah State Aggies football Big West Conference Big West 6–5 4–1 John L. Smith 2nd Bobby Petrino 2nd Chris Smeland 2nd Romney Stadium Big West co-champion The 1996 Utah State Aggies football team represented Utah State University as a member of the Big West Conference the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Aggies were led by head coach John L. Smith in his second year in charge. The Aggies played their home games at Romney Stadium in Logan, Utah. Utah State finished with a 6–5 record and a share of the Big West championship, but was not invited to a bowl game. Schedule 1996 AP August 31 w y Utah Romney Stadium Logan, UT Battle of the Brothers, Beehive Boot 20–17 30,257 Matadors See Positives in 57-27 Loss to Utah State The Los Angeles Times Los Angeles, California Valley Jeff Fletcher September 8, 1996 C10 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11716521/csun_19960908_matadors_see_positives_in/ Newspapers.com June 15, 2017 September 7 w y Cal State Northridge Romney Stadium Logan, UT 57–27 20,120 September 14 l y y Southern Miss M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS 24–31 24,307 September 21 l y y Oklahoma State Lewis Field Stillwater, OK 17–31 37,000 September 28 l y y Texas Tech Jones Stadium Lubbock, TX 20–58 39,778 October 4 l y 21 BYU Romney Stadium Logan, UT rivalry 17–45 33,119 October 12 w y New Mexico State Aggie Memorial Stadium Las Cruces, NM 53–21 7,839 October 19 w y Boise State Bronco Stadium Boise, ID 39–14 18,168 October 26 w Idaho Romney Stadium Logan, UT 35–28 13,712 https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Ws0qAAAAIBAJ&sjid=iNAFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5296%2C2428210 Moscow-Pullman Daily News Idaho-Washington O'Neal Shawn John L. torn as Aggies topple Vandals, 35-28 October 28, 1996 1C November 2 w North Texas Romney Stadium Logan, UT 21–13 11,892 November 9 l Nevada Romney Stadium Logan, UT 27–54 20,106 1996 Utah State Aggies Schedule and Results https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/utah-state/1996-schedule.html May 28, 20202019 Utah State Aggies Football Media Guide https://s3.amazonaws.com/utahstateaggies.com/documents/2019/7/19/2019UtahStateMediaGuideFull_Small.pdf May 28, 2020 September 6, 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190906100547/https://s3.amazonaws.com/utahstateaggies.com/documents/2019/7/19/2019UtahStateMediaGuideFull_Small.pdf dead Season summary Utah State opened the season with back-to-back victories for the first time since the 1978 season as they defeated bitter rivals Utah and Division I-AA Cal State Northridge in a pair of home games. The victory over Utah was the first since 1987 when the Aggies had upset the Utes in Salt Lake City. After an encouraging set of wins, the Aggies faced four difficult games in four weeks. They would fall in competitive road games to Southern Mississippi and Oklahoma State, before suffering less competitive losses on the road to Texas Tech and then at home to #21 BYU. The home game against BYU set the record for the largest crowd ever at Romney Stadium, with 33,119 spectators in attendance. Moving into Big West play, the Aggies won each of their first four conference games by an average margin of 18 points. Having reached bowl eligibility, the Aggies hosted the Nevada Wolf Pack for a chance to win an outright Big West conference championship and secure a bowl berth. However, Nevada would win the game in Logan comfortably, beating the Aggies 54–27.Senior Contributions Assist Aggies https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=f-5LAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mewDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5173%2C7438020 May 31, 2020 The 1996 contest between the two teams constituted Nevada's fifth consecutive victory, a streak that would end the following year in Reno as the teams again played for a conference championship. On offense, the Aggies built on the previous season's success under coordinator Bobby Petrino and incorporated a few new names alongside returning rushing leader Abu Wilson. Matt Sauk, a junior college transfer from Orange Coast College, stepped into a competitive quarterback room that included previous year starter Patrick Mullins. By the end of the season, Sauk had become the starter and threw for over 2,400 yards (including three 300+ passing yard performances). The 1996 season marks the most passing yards per game ever for an Aggie team (317.5). The top target for Sauk and Mullins in 1996 was Nakia Jenkins, who hauled in 82 receptions for 1,397 yards and 8 touchdowns. Abu Wilson once again led the Aggies rushing attack, accumulating 840 yards and 16 touchdowns (a school record at the time). Wilson finished his career with 40 total rushing touchdowns, which remains a school record shared with Robert Turbin. Joining Wilson in the backfield was freshman Demario Brown, who would add 700 yards and 8 touchdowns. Brown would eventually become the leading rusher in Utah State history, and shares the record for most rushing attempts with Wilson. After the season, Abu Wilson was named to the Blue-Gray All-Star Game as acknowledgement for his record-setting career. Both Wilson and Brown were named to the All-Big West Conference team. Defensively, the Aggies were led once again by senior linebacker David Gill. For the third consecutive year, Gill led the team in tackles (150 total, 16 shy of his 1995 mark). Gill would finish his Aggie career second all-time in tackles behind Del Lyles (1988–91), and still holds two of the top five spots for tackles in a season (1995 and 1996). He has since been surpassed by Bobby Wagner for all-time tackles, who finished tied with Lyles at 446. Other leaders for the Aggie defense in 1996 included Dwayne Nelson, Danilo Robinson, Ben Crosland, Spencer Waggoner, and Mike Hudson. Roster 1996 Utah State Aggies f 3 So Johndale Carty FS y 19 Sr Micah Knorr K y https://web.archive.org/web/19961225163540/http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/sfc/bigwest/sfce10ra.htm *John L. Smith Mike Cox (LB) Awards and honors The Aggies had 16 players named to either the first or second all-conference team in the Big West. Utah State Aggies Player Position Team David GillLB1STNakia JenkinsWR1STMauricio JourdanOL1STDwayne NelsonCB1STAbu WilsonRB2NDDemario BrownRB2NDGuillermo ChavezTE2NDMark RommelOL2NDKen WattsOL2NDBrandon DysonOL2NDDanilo RobinsonDL2NDBen CroslandDL2NDSpencer WaggonnerLB2NDMike HudsonS2NDMicah KnorrPK2NDNathan MorrealeP2ND References Utah State Category:Utah State Aggies football seasons Category:Big West Conference football champion seasons Utah State Aggies football