1996 Auburn Tigers football team

The 1996 Auburn Tigers football team represented Auburn University in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. Coached by Terry Bowden, they tallied an 8–4 record, played Army in the Independence Bowl, and finished the season ranked #22 in the AP Poll and #21 in the Coaches Poll.

1996 Auburn Tigers football
Independence Bowl champion
Independence Bowl, W 32–29 vs. Army
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	Western Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 25
AP	No. 24
1996 record	8–4 (4–4 SEC)
Head coach	Terry Bowden
Offensive coordinator	Tommy Bowden Rodney Allison (Bowl)
Defensive coordinator	Bill Oliver
Home stadium	Jordan–Hare Stadium (Capacity: 85,214)

1996 Southeastern Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Eastern Division
No. 1 Florida x$		8	–	0					12	–	1
No. 9 Tennessee		7	–	1					10	–	2
South Carolina		4	–	4					6	–	5
Kentucky		3	–	5					4	–	7
Georgia		3	–	5					5	–	6
Vanderbilt		0	–	8					2	–	9
Western Division
No. 11 Alabama xy		6	–	2					10	–	3
No. 12 LSU x		6	–	2					10	–	2
No. 24 Auburn		4	–	4					8	–	4
Mississippi State		3	–	5					5	–	6
Ole Miss		2	–	6					5	–	6
Arkansas		2	–	6					4	–	7
Championship: Florida 45, Alabama 30
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	5:30 p.m.	UAB*	No. 16	Jordan–Hare Stadium Auburn, AL		W 29–0	80,645
September 7	6:00 p.m.	Fresno State*	No. 18	Jordan–Hare Stadium Auburn, AL	PPV	W 62–0	79,026
September 14	11:30 a.m.	at Ole Miss	No. 15	Vaught–Hemingway Stadium Oxford, MS (rivalry)	ESPN2	W 45–28	40,456
September 21	6:30 p.m.	No. 21 LSU	No. 13	Jordan–Hare Stadium Auburn, AL (Tiger Bowl)	ESPN	L 15–19	85,214
October 5	2:30 p.m.	South Carolina	No. 20	Jordan–Hare Stadium Auburn, AL	CBS	W 28-24	84,107
October 12	11:30 a.m.	at Mississippi State	No. 18	Scott Field Starkville, MS	JPS	W 49–15	40,728
October 19	2:30 p.m.	at No. 1 Florida	No. 16	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	CBS	L 10–51	85,697
November 2	6:00 p.m.	Arkansas	No. 24	Jordan–Hare Stadium Auburn, AL	ESPN2	W 28–7	84,763
November 9	1:00 p.m.	NE Louisiana*	No. 22	Jordan–Hare Stadium Auburn, AL		W 28–24	78,309
November 16	2:30 p.m.	Georgia	No. 20	Jordan–Hare Stadium Auburn, AL (Deep South's Oldest Rivalry)	CBS	L 49–56 ^4OT	85,214
November 23	6:30 p.m.	at No. 15 Alabama		Legion Field Birmingham, AL (Iron Bowl) (College GameDay)	ESPN	L 23–24	83,091
December 31	2:30 p.m.	vs. No. 24 Army*	No. 25	Independence Stadium Shreveport, LA (Independence Bowl)	ESPN	W 32–29	41,366
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Roster

1996 Auburn Tigers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 5 Karsten Bailey So WR Robert Baker QB 16 Dameyune Craig Jr OT 69 DeMarcus Curry So WR 83 Tyrone Goodson QB 13 Todd Huerkamp Fr OT 78 Jeno James C 52 James Kiger TE 80 Jessie McCovery FB 43 Kevin McLeod Jr OG 68 Victor Riley Jr OT 73 Jim Roe OG 60 Leonard Thomas RB 3 Rusty Williams	Defense Pos. # Name Class CB 4 Jayson Bray NT 96 Jimmy Brumbaugh DE 91 Charles Dorsey DE 95 Leonardo Carson CB 9 Dan Evans So S 25 Martavius Houston OLB 47 Marcellus Mostella ILB 50 Ricky Neal OLB 86 Quinton Reese ILB 55 Takeo Spikes So S 27 Brad Ware LB 82 Marcus Washington Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K, P 19 Jaret Holmes Jr	Head coach Terry Bowden Coordinators/assistant coaches Tommy Bowden – Offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher – Quarterbacks Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: 1996-12-21

Season summary

Alabama

See also: 1996 Alabama Crimson Tide football team and Iron Bowl

Auburn Tigers (7–3) at #15 Alabama Crimson Tide (8–2)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Auburn	3	17	3	0	23
Alabama	17	0	0	7	24

at Legion Field, Birmingham, Alabama

• Date: November 23, 1996
• Game time: 6:30 p.m.
• Game weather: Clear, 51 °F (11 °C)
• Game attendance: 83,091
• Referee: R. Redding
• TV: ESPN
• Recap/Box

Game information

First quarter ALA – Curtis Alexander 63-yard pass from Freddie Kitchens (Jon Brock kick), 13:30. Alabama 7–0. Drive: ALA – Jon Brock 37-yard field goal, 9:30. Alabama 10–0. Drive: ALA – Michael Vaughn 7-yard pass from Freddie Kitchens (Jon Brock kick), 3:32. Alabama 17–0. Drive: AUB – Jaret Holmes 34-yard field goal, 1:54. Alabama 17–3. Drive: Second quarter AUB – Karsten Bailey 57-yard pass from Dameyune Craig (Jaret Holmes kick), 8:27. Alabama 17–10. Drive: AUB – Brad Ware 34-yard interception return (Jaret Holmes kick), 2:16. Tie 17–17. AUB – Jaret Holmes 33-yard field goal, 0:52. Auburn 20–17. Drive: Third quarter' AUB – Jaret Holmes 34-yard field goal, 10:13. Auburn 23–17. Drive: Fourth quarter ALA – Dennis Riddle 6-yard pass from Freddie Kitchens (Jon Brock kick), 0:26. Alabama 24–23. Drive: Top passers AUB – Dameyune Craig – 11/39, 180 yards, TD, 2 INT ALA – Freddie Kitchens – 20/33, 292 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT Top rushers AUB – Rusty Williams – 17 rushes, 89 yards ALA – Dennis Riddle – 21 rushes, 131 yards Top receivers AUB – Karsten Bailey – 5 receptions, 92 yards, TD ALA – Michael Vaughn – 6 receptions, 60 yards, TD

References