1996 Arizona State Sun Devils football
Pac-10 champion
Rose Bowl, L 17–20 vs. Ohio State
ConferencePacific-10 Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 4
APNo. 4
Record11–1 (8–0 Pac-10)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorDan Cozzetto (5th season)
Defensive coordinatorPhil Snow (2nd as DC, 5th overall season)
Home stadiumSun Devil Stadium
(Capacity: 73,379)
Seasons
← 1995
1997 →
1996 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 4 Arizona State $   8 – 0     11 – 1  
No. 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 defeated by a 77–28 margin, but were 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 led 17–14 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, they would have had a perfect 12–0 record while the Gators would have finished with one regular season loss (to the Seminoles).

Schedule

The Sun Devils finished the regular season with an 11–0 record.

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 77:00 pmWashingtonNo. 20
FSNW 45–4273,379
September 147:00 pmNorth Texas*No. 18
  • Sun Devil Stadium
  • Tempe, Arizona
W 52–746,173
September 217:15 pmNo. 1 Nebraska*No. 17
  • Sun Devil Stadium
  • Tempe, Arizona
FSNW 19–074,089
September 283:30 pmOregonNo. 6
  • Sun Devil Stadium
  • Tempe, Arizona
FSNW 48–2754,618
October 57:00 pmBoise State*No. 5
  • Sun Devil Stadium
  • Tempe, Arizona
W 56–749,018
October 1212:30 pmat UCLANo. 4
ABCW 42–3466,107
October 1912:30 pmUSCNo. 4
  • Sun Devil Stadium
  • Tempe, Arizona
ABCW 48–35 2OT74,947
October 2612:30 pmat StanfordNo. 4
ABCW 41–932,550
November 22:00 pmat Oregon StateNo. 4
W 29–1421,946
November 94:30 pmCaliforniadaggerNo. 4
  • Sun Devil Stadium
  • Tempe, Arizona
FSNW 35–774,963
November 234:30 pmat ArizonaNo. 4
FSNW 56–1459,920
January 1, 19971:30 pmvs. No. 4 Ohio State*No. 2
ABCL 17–20100,635  

Conference opponent not played this season: Washington State

Roster

1996 Arizona State Sun Devils football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
TE Kendrick Bates
RB 8 Terry Battle Sr
WR 24 Ricky Boyer So
TE 82 Steve Bush Sr
QB 11 Steve Campbell So
RB Marlon Farlow
QB Gus Farwell
OT 70 Glen Gable Jr
RB 39 Scott Hansen Jr
WR 83 Lenzie Jackson So
TE 87 Brian Jennings Fr
TE 88 Devin Kendall Sr
RB 29 Michael Martin Jr
WR 81 Kenny Mitchell So
RB Mike Morales
G 56 Kyle Murphy Jr
WR 7 Isaiah Mustafa
FB 44 Jeff Paulk So
QB 16 Jake Plummer Sr
WR 3 Keith Poole Sr
RB 21 J. R. Redmond Fr
C 65 Kirk Robertson Sr
OL Zack Romero
OT 74 Juan Roque Sr
G 51 Grey Ruegamer So
OT 71 Marvel Smith Fr
WR Craig Spenn
OL 67 Pat Thompson Sr
RB Kevin Tommasini
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DB 12 Jeremy Alexander Sr
DE 98 Vincent Amey Jr
DL Albrey Battle
DE 55 Dave Baumgartner Sr
DT 94 Brent Burnstein Sr
DE 93 Malchi Crawford Jr
LB 47 Chris Finn Sr
DB Mitchell Freedman
DB Courtney Jackson
DB 39 Damien Richardson Jr
LB 59 Derrick Rodgers Sr
DT 92 Jeremy Staat Jr
CB 10 Jason Simmons Sr
S 9 Thomas Simmons Jr
LB 36 Derek Smith Sr
DB Marcus Soward
DT 99 Shawn Swayda Sr
DB 42 Pat Tillman Jr
DB, RB 22 Raenaurd Turpin Sr
LB 50 Scott Von der Ahe Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
P 17 Lance Anderson Jr
K 41 Robert Nycz Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster

Rankings

Main article: 1996 NCAA Division I-A football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked ( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre12345678910111213141516Final
AP20202018176 (1)5 (1)4 (1)4 (1)4 (1)4 (1)4 (1)4 (2)4 (2)3 (3)2 (5)2 (5)4
Coaches Poll———232212755444443 (3)2 (6)2 (5)4

Game summaries

Washington

See also: 1996 Washington Huskies football team
Washington Huskies (0–0) at #20 Arizona State Sun Devils (0–0)
Period 1 2 34Total
Washington 7 7 72142
Arizona St 7 7 141745

at Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona

  • Date: September 21, 1996
  • Game weather: 95 °F (35 °C)
  • Game attendance: 73,379
Game information

[1]

North Texas

See also: North Texas Mean Green football

Nebraska

Nebraska at Arizona State
1 234Total
No. 1 Cornhuskers 0 000 0
• No. 17 Sun Devils 9 802 19
Scoring summary
111:38ASUKeith Poole 22-yard pass from Jake Plummer (Robert Nycz kick)ASU 7–0
110:38ASUSafety, Ahman Green fumbled out of end zoneASU 9–0
28:59ASURobert Nycz 27-yard field goalASU 12–0
22:19ASUSafety, ball snapped out of end zoneASU 14–0
20:30ASURobert Nycz 44-yard field goalASU 17–0
46:43ASUSafety, Scott Frost tackled in end zoneASU 19–0

See also: 1996 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

[2][3][4]

Oregon

See also: 1996 Oregon Ducks football team

[5]

Boise State

See also: 1996 Boise State Broncos football team

[6]

At UCLA

Arizona State at UCLA
1 234Total
• No. 4 Sun Devils 7 7721 42
Bruins 21 760 34

See also: 1996 UCLA Bruins football team

[7]

USC

See also: 1996 USC Trojans football team

[8]

At Stanford

See also: 1996 Stanford Cardinal football team

[9]

At Oregon State

Arizona State at Oregon State
1 234Total
• No. 4 Sun Devils 6 3137 29
Beavers 0 1400 14

See also: 1996 Oregon State Beavers football team

[10]

California

California at Arizona State
1 234Total
Golden Bears 7 000 7
• No. 20 Sun Devils 0 14714 35


See also: 1996 California Golden Bears football team

[11]

At Arizona

See also: 1996 Arizona Wildcats football team and Duel in the Desert
#4 Arizona State Sun Devils (10–0) at Arizona Wildcats (5–5)
Period 1 2 34Total
Arizona St 7 21 141456
Arizona 0 7 0714

at Arizona Stadium, Tucson, Arizona

  • Date: November 23, 1996
  • Game weather: Cloudy, 62 °F (17 °C)
  • Game attendance: 59,920
  • Recap/Box Score
Game information

[12]

Vs. Ohio State (Rose Bowl)

Ohio State vs. Arizona State
1 234Total
• No. 4 Buckeyes 7 076 20
No. 2 Sun Devils 0 737 17
Scoring summary
15:04OSUDavid Boston 9-yard pass from Stanley Jackson (Josh Jackson kick)OSU 7–0
210:04ASURicky Boyer 25-yard pass from Jake Plummer (Robert Nycz kick)Tied 7–7
39:12ASURobert Nycz 37-yard field goalASU 10–7
38:23OSUDimitrious Stanley 72-yard pass from Joe Germaine (J. Jackson kick)OSU 14–10
41:40ASUPlummer 11-yard run (Nycz kick)ASU 17–14
40:19OSUBoston 5-yard pass from Germaine (kick blocked)OSU 20–17

Main article: 1997 Rose Bowl

See also: 1996 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

[13]

Awards and honors

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

[15]

References

  1. ^ "Arizona St. 45, Washington 42". The Washington Post. September 8, 1996. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  2. ^ "Sun Devils Become Cornshockers: Arizona State Ends Nebraska's 26-Game Winning Streak, 19-0". The Spokesman-Review. September 22, 1996. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  3. ^ "ARIZONA STATE SHOCKS NO. 1 NEBRASKA, 19-0". The Buffalo News. September 21, 1996. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  4. ^ "DEVIL OF AN UPSET". Sports Illustrated. September 30, 1996. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  5. ^ "No Letdown for Arizona State". Los Angeles Times. September 29, 1996. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  6. ^ "Arizona State Is Still Running in High Gear, 56-7". Los Angeles Times. October 6, 1996. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  7. ^ "Sun Devils Survive UCLA Scare: Plummer Spearheads Late Rally To Keep Arizona State Unbeaten". The Spokesman-Review. October 13, 1996. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  8. ^ "ARIZONA ST. 48, USC 35". Chicago Tribune. October 20, 1996. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  9. ^ "Arizona State Routs Stanford, 41-9". Los Angeles Times. October 27, 1996. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  10. ^ "Arizona St. 29, Oregon St. 14". The Washington Post. November 2, 1996. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  11. ^ "Sun Devils Clinch Title: Easy Win Puts Asu In Rose Bowl". The Spokesman-Review. November 10, 1996. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  12. ^ "Arizona State Flattens Arizona". The Spokesman-Review. November 24, 1996. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  13. ^ "Time Runs Out on Sun Devils' National Title Bid". The New York Times. January 2, 1997. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  14. ^ "Bear Bryant Award Past Winners -". Archived from the original on December 27, 2007.
  15. ^ "1984 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on May 27, 2009. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
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