1996 Wisconsin Badgers football team
The 1996 Wisconsin Badgers football team represented the University of Wisconsin during the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. They were led by seventh year head coach Barry Alvarez and participated as members of the Big Ten Conference. The Badgers played their home games at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.
| 1996 Wisconsin Badgers football | |
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Copper Bowl champion | |
| Conference | Big Ten Conference |
| 1996 record | 8–5 (3–5 Big Ten) |
| Head coach | Barry Alvarez (7th season) |
| Offensive coordinator | Brad Childress (5th season) |
| Defensive coordinator | Kevin Cosgrove (2nd season) |
| Home stadium | Camp Randall Stadium (Capacity: 76,129) |
| 1996 Big Ten Conference football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 2 Ohio State + | 7 | – | 1 | 11 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 15 Northwestern + | 7 | – | 1 | 9 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 7 Penn State | 6 | – | 2 | 11 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 18 Iowa | 6 | – | 2 | 9 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 20 Michigan | 5 | – | 3 | 8 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan State | 5 | – | 3 | 6 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | 3 | – | 5 | 8 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purdue | 2 | – | 6 | 3 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 1 | – | 7 | 4 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana | 1 | – | 7 | 3 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Illinois | 1 | – | 7 | 2 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Schedule
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
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| September 7 | 11:30 a.m. | Eastern Michigan* | ESPN2 | W 24–3 | 74,279 | |
| September 14 | 9:00 p.m. | at UNLV* | W 52–17 | 40,091 | ||
| September 21 | 11:30 a.m. | Stanford* |
| ESPN2 | W 14–0 | 77,894 |
| September 28 | 2:30 p.m. | No. 3 Penn State |
| ABC | L 20–23 | 79,607 |
| October 12 | 2:30 p.m. | at No. 2 Ohio State | ABC | L 14–17 | 94,215 | |
| October 19 | 11:30 a.m. | No. 14 Northwestern |
| ESPN | L 30–34 | 79,576 |
| October 26 | 11:30 a.m. | at Michigan State |
| ESPN2 | L 13–30 | 69,217 |
| November 2 | 11:30 a.m. | Purdue |
| ESPN | W 33–25 | 78,330 |
| November 9 | 11:00 a.m. | Minnesota |
| ESPN+ | W 45–28 | 78,006 |
| November 16 | 11:30 a.m. | at Iowa | ESPN | L 0–31 | 66,570 | |
| November 23 | 1:00 p.m. | at Illinois |
| W 35–15 | 37,814 | |
| November 30 | 11:00 p.m. | at Hawaii* | W 59–10 | 26,819 | ||
| December 27 | 8:00 p.m. | vs. Utah* | ESPN | W 38–10 | 42,122 | |
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Season summary
Wisconsin started off quickly in 1996, winning their first three games against Eastern Michigan, UNLV, and Stanford. However, the Badgers then encountered far stiffer opposition against Penn State, Ohio State, Northwestern, and Michigan State. In the Northwestern game, Wisconsin RB Ron Dayne stunningly fumbled with just under a minute remaining. Northwestern recovered and scored the winning touchdown, sealing Wisconsin's third consecutive loss. The Badgers lost their fourth straight game the next week, falling 30–13 to Michigan State.
The Badgers snapped their four-game losing streak with consecutive wins against Purdue and rival Minnesota, before suffering a humiliating 31–0 loss at the hands of Hayden Fry's Iowa Hawkeyes. After falling to 5–5, the Badgers would win the final games on their regular season slate by beating Illinois and Hawaii, earning a bid to the Copper Bowl. The Badgers defeated the Utah Utes 38–10 in the 1996 Copper Bowl.
Wisconsin RB Ron Dayne ran for over 2,000 yards and 21 touchdowns in the 1996 season, earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year Honors in the process.
Roster
| 1996 Wisconsin Badgers football team roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Offense
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Defense
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Special teams
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Regular starters
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Team players selected in the 1997 NFL Draft
| Player | Position | Round | Overall Selection | NFL Team |
| Jerry Wunsch | Guard | 2 | 37 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| Pete Monty | Linebacker | 4 | 103 | New York Giants |
| Tarek Saleh | Linebacker | 4 | 122 | Carolina Panthers |
References
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-10-05. Retrieved 2016-12-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)