1996 Arizona State Sun Devils football team

1996 Arizona State Sun Devils football
Pac-10 Champions
Rose Bowl, L 17–20 vs. Ohio State
Conference Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches #4
AP #4
1996 record 11–1 (8–0 Pac-10)
Head coach Bruce Snyder
Offensive coordinator Dan Cozzetto
Defensive coordinator Phil Snow
Home stadium Sun Devil Stadium
(Capacity: 73,379)
1996 Pacific-10 football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
#4 Arizona State $   8 0         11 1  
#16 Washington   7 1         9 3  
Stanford   5 3         7 5  
UCLA   4 4         5 6  
Oregon   3 5         6 5  
California   3 5         6 6  
USC   3 5         6 6  
Arizona   3 5         5 6  
Washington State   3 5         5 6  
Oregon State   1 7         2 9  
  • $ Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1996 Arizona State Sun Devils football team represented the Arizona State University in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A college football season. The team's head coach was Bruce Snyder, who was coaching his fifth season with the Sun Devils and 17th season overall. Home games were played at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. They participated as members of the Pacific-10 Conference.

Regular season

In 1996, the Sun Devils went a surprising 11–1, highlighted by a 19–0 shutout of the number-one-ranked, two-time defending national champion, Nebraska Cornhuskers in Tempe, ending Nebraska's 26-game win streak. The upset win also gained a measure of revenge from the previous season, when they went into Lincoln and were not only destroyed by a 77–28 margin, but enraged after the eventual national champions threw a long touchdown pass in the game's final minutes. ASU quarterback Jake Plummer led the Sun Devils, propelling Arizona State into the Rose Bowl against the Ohio State Buckeyes. Had the Sun Devils won, they would have had a very good chance of winning at least a share of the national championship, as they would have been the only undefeated major-college team in the nation. The Sun Devils held a slim 17–14 lead with 1:47 left in the fourth quarter, but surrendered a late touchdown to Ohio State, falling by a final score of 20–17. As it turned out, Florida State lost in the Sugar Bowl to the Florida Gators; had the Sun Devils won a few days earlier, ASU would have had a perfect 12–0 record while the Gators would have finished with one regular season loss (ironically, to the Seminoles).

Schedule

The Sun Devils finished the season with an 11–1 record.

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Result Attendance
September 7 7:00 PM Washington #20 Sun Devil StadiumTempe, AZ FSN W 45–42   73,379
September 14 7:00 PM North Texas* #18 Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, AZ W 52–7   46,173
September 21 7:15 PM #1 Nebraska* #17 Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, AZ FSN W 19–0   74,089
September 28 3:30 PM Oregon #6 Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, AZ FSN W 48–27   54,618
October 5 7:00 PM Boise State* #5 Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, AZ W 56–7   49,018
October 12 12:30 PM at UCLA #4 Rose BowlPasadena, CA ABC W 42–34   66,107
October 19 12:30 PM USC #4 Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, AZ ABC W 48–35 2OT  74,947
October 26 12:30 PM at Stanford #4 Stanford StadiumStanford, CA ABC W 41–9   32,550
November 2 2:00 PM at Oregon State #4 Parker StadiumCorvallis, OR W 29–14   21,946
November 9 4:30 PM Californiadagger #4 Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, AZ FSN W 35–7   74,963
November 23 4:30 PM at Arizona #4 Arizona StadiumTucson, AZ (Duel in the Desert) FSN W 56–14   59,920
January 1 1:30 PM vs. #4 Ohio State* #2 Rose BowlPasadena, CA (Rose Bowl) ABC L 17–20   100,635
*Non-conference game. daggerHomecoming. #Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to game. All times are in Mountain Standard Time.

[1]

1996 Team Players in the NFL

The following players were claimed in the 1997 NFL Draft.

Player Position Round Pick NFL Club
Juan Roque Tackle 2 35 Detroit Lions
Jake Plummer Quarterback 2 42 Arizona Cardinals
Derek M. Smith Outside Linebacker 3 80 Washington Redskins
Derrick Rodgers Outside Linebacker 3 92 Miami Dolphins
Keith Poole Wide Receiver 4 116 New Orleans Saints
Scott Von der Ahe Linebacker 6 182 Indianapolis Colts
Shawn Swayda Defensive Tackle 6 196 Chicago Bears
Terry Battle Running Back 7 206 Detroit Lions

[2]

Awards and honors

References

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