1996 Northwestern Wildcats football team

American college football season February 2026 August 2023 1996 Northwestern Wildcats football File:Northwestern wildcats CMKY 80 100 0 0.svg 150px Big Ten Conference Big Ten 16 15 9–3 7–1 Gary Barnett 5th Greg Meyer 5th Ron Vanderlinden 5th Justin Chabothttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/nw/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/nu-mg-07-history.pdf#page=8 Year-by-Year Results 2007 149 PDF https://web.archive.org/web/20190316165052/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/nw/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/nu-mg-07-history.pdf#page=8 March 16, 2019 live March 14, 2019 Pat Fitzgerald Mike McGrew Steve Schnur Dyche Stadium Big Ten co-champion Florida Citrus Bowl L 28–48 vs. Tennessee The 1996 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. Under head coach Gary Barnett, Northwestern finished the season with a 9–3 record.1996 Northwestern Wildcats Roster https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/northwestern/1996-roster.html 2026-01-13 College Football at Sports-Reference.com en The Wildcats won a share of the Big Ten Conference title. They faced off against Tennessee in the Florida Citrus Bowl, where the Wildcats lost, 48–28. Schedule 1996 AP Central September 7 5:30 pm l y y 13 Wake Forest Groves Stadium Winston-Salem, NC SCC 27–28 21,749 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-herald-wake-forest-shocks-cats/140683236/ The Daily Herald Wake Forest shocks Cats September 8, 1996 February 10, 2024 Newspapers.com September 14 2:30 pm w y y Duke Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC ABC 38–13 29,321 https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-sweet-return-trip-with/140680631/ Chicago Tribune Sweet return trip; With something to prove, NU delivers September 15, 1996 February 10, 2024 Newspapers.com September 21 11:30 am w y Ohio Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL SCC 28–7 38,148 September 28 11:30 am w y 25 Indiana Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN ESPN 35–17 36,714 October 5 11:30 am w 22 Michigan 6 Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL rivalry ESPN 17–16 48,187 October 12 11:30 am w 15 Minnesota Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL ESPN2 26–24 35,848 October 19 11:30 am w y 14 Wisconsin Camp Randall Stadium Madison WI ESPN2 34–30 79,576 October 26 11:00 am w 11 Illinois Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL rivalry ESPN Plus 27–24 48,187 November 2 2:30 pm l y 11 Penn State 15 Beaver Stadium University Park, PA ABC 9–34 96,596 November 9 2:30 pm w y 18 Iowa 23 Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA ABC 40–13 70,397 November 16 1:00 pm w 13 Purdue Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL 27–24 41,178 January 1 12:00 pm l y y 11 Tennessee 9 Florida Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL Florida Citrus Bowl ABC 28–48 63,467 https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-cats-a-lemon-in-citrus/140673580/ Chicago Tribune Cats a lemon in Citrus January 2, 1997 February 10, 2024 Newspapers.com Rankings November 2025 1996 NCAA Division I-A football rankings AP 0 17 18 15 13 NR NR 25 22 15 14 11 11 18 13 11 11 10 11 15 Coaches 0 17 19 18 NR NR NR NR 18 15 12 10 18 14 11 11 12 11 16 Game summaries at Wake Forest 1996 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team at Duke 1996 Duke Blue Devils football team Ohio 1996 Ohio Bobcats football team at Indiana 1996 Indiana Hoosiers football team No. 6 Michigan 1996 Michigan Wolverines football team Minnesota 1996 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team at Wisconsin #14 Northwestern at Wisconsin Wildcats 7 7 6 14 Badgers 10 3 3 14 October 19 Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, Wisconsin 79,576 Sunny Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson ESPN yes 1 13:44 WIS Bob Adamov recovered fumble in end zone (John Hall kick) Wisconsin 7-0 1 9:08 NW Darnell Autry 20-yard run (Brian Gowins kick) Tie 7-7 1 3:53 WIS John Hall 50-yard field goal Wisconsin 10-7 2 9:15 WIS John Hall 29-yard field goal Wisconsin 13-7 2 3:59 NW D'Wayne Bates 12-yard pass from Steve Schnur (Brian Gowins kick) Northwestern 14-13 3 9:58 WIS John Hall 21-yard field goal Wisconsin 16-14 3 4:38 NW Adrian Autry 14-yard run (two-point conversion failed) Northwestern 20-16 4 14:57 WIS Ron Dayne 7-yard run (John Hall kick) Wisconsin 23-20 4 13:31 WIS Cecil Martin 2-yard run (John Hall kick) Wisconsin 30-20 4 5:02 NW Adrian Autry 2-yard run (Brian Gowins kick) Wisconsin 30-27 4 :37 NW D'Wayne Bates 20-yard pass from Steve Schnur (Brian Gowins kick) Northwestern 34-30 yes 1996 Wisconsin Badgers football team Northwestern vs. Wisconsin USA Today http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/scores96/96293/96293349.htm October 19, 1996 June 23, 2019 Illinois 1996 Illinois Fighting Illini football team Illinois–Northwestern football rivalry Penn State 1996 Penn State Nittany Lions football team at No. 23 Iowa #18 Northwestern at #23 Iowa Wildcats 3 10 13 14 Hawkeyes 0 7 0 6 November 9 Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA 70,397 ABC yes 1 0:52 NW Brian Gowins 23-yard field goal NW 3–0 2 10:27 NW Darren Drexler 23-yard pass from D'wayne Bates (Brian Gowins kick) NW 10–0 2 6:48 IOWA Tim Dwight 29-yard pass from Matt Sherman (Zach Bromert kick) NW 10–7 2 0:00 NW Brian Gowins 22-yard field goal NW 13–7 3 6:32 NW Darnell Autry 9-yard run (two point conversion failed) NW 19–7 3 1:42 NW Darnell Autry 15-yard pass from Steve Schnur (Brian Gowins kick) NW 26–7 4 14:53 NW Darnell Autry 41-yard run (Brian Gowins kick) NW 33–7 4 12:19 IOWA Tavian Banks 10-yard pass from Matt Sherman (two-point conversion failed) NW 33–13 4 7:31 NW Darnell Autry 18-yard run (Brian Gowins kick) NW 40–13 yes 1996 Iowa Hawkeyes football team Darnell Autry ran for 240 yards and 4 touchdowns. The Wildcats won back-to-back games against Iowa for the first time since 1966–67.Northwestern vs. Iowa http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/scores96/96314/96314408.htm USA Today November 9, 1996 June 23, 2019 Purdue 1996 Purdue Boilermakers football team vs. No. 9 Tennessee (Florida Citrus Bowl) #9 Tennessee vs. #11 Northwestern Volunteers 21 10 7 10 Wildcats 0 21 0 7 January 1 Florida Citrus Bowl • Orland, FL 63,467 79°, Partly Cloudy, Calm ABC 1996 Tennessee Volunteers football team 1997 Florida Citrus Bowl Roster 1996 Northwestern Wildcats ff 32 Jr Adrian Autry RB 24 Jr Darnell Autry RB y 5 So D'Wayne Bates WR y 61 Sr Justin Chabot G C 8 Sr Tim Hughes QB 74 Sr Paul Janus T y 22 Jr Brian Musso WR 10 Sr Steve Schnur QB C 25 Jr Jeff Swenson WR 84 Fr Jay Tant TE y 33 Sr Eric Collier SS 36 Jr Casey Dailey DE y 51 Sr Pat Fitzgerald LB y C 55 So Barry Gardner LB y 3 Jr Hudhaifa Ismaeli CB 44 Sr Keith Lozowski LB 94 Sr Joe Reiff DT 95 Sr Matt Rice DT 96 Sr Ray Robey DT 59 Jr Jason Ross LB 52 Sr Tim Scharf LB 90 So Thor Schmidt DE 14 Sr Paul Burton P 13 Jr Brian Gowins K y https://web.archive.org/web/19961225030825/http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/sfc/big10/sfcd07ra.htm *Gary Barnett Awards and honors Linebacker Pat Fitzgerald: Chuck Bednarik Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Head coach Gary Barnett: Big Ten Coach of the Year Team players drafted into the NFL 1997 NFL draft Northwestern Wildcats Player Position Round Pick NFL club Darnell Autry Running back4 105 Chicago Bears Tim Scharf Linebacker6 164 New York Jets Hudhaifa IsmaeliDefensive back7 203 Miami Dolphins https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1997/draft.htm 1997 NFL Draft 2019-06-23 pro-football-reference.com References Northwestern Category:Northwestern Wildcats football seasons Category:Big Ten Conference football champion seasons Northwestern Wildcats football