1996 Wyoming Cowboys football team

American college football season

1996 Wyoming Cowboys football
WAC Pacific Division champion
WAC Championship Game, L 25–28 ^OT vs. BYU
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Division	Pacific Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 22
AP	No. 22
Record	10–2 (7–1 WAC)
Head coach	Joe Tiller (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	Larry Korpitz (6th as OC, 10th overall season)
Defensive coordinator	Brock Spack (2nd season)
Home stadium	War Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 33,500)
Seasons ← 1995 1997 →

1996 Western Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Mountain Division
No. 5 BYU x$	8	–	0	14	–	1
Utah	6	–	2	8	–	4
Rice	6	–	2	7	–	4
SMU	4	–	4	5	–	6
New Mexico	3	–	5	6	–	5
TCU	3	–	5	4	–	7
Tulsa	2	–	6	4	–	7
UTEP	0	–	8	2	–	9
Pacific Division
No. 22 Wyoming x	7	–	1	10	–	2
San Diego State	6	–	2	8	–	3
Colorado State	6	–	2	7	–	5
Air Force	5	–	3	6	–	5
Fresno State	3	–	5	4	–	7
San Jose State	3	–	5	3	–	9
Hawaii	1	–	7	2	–	10
UNLV	1	–	8	1	–	11
Championship: BYU 28, Wyoming 25 ^OT
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1996 Wyoming Cowboys football team represented the University of Wyoming in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Cowboys' 100th season and they competed as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).^[1] The team was led by head coach Joe Tiller, in his sixth year, and played their home games at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, Wyoming. They finished with a record of ten wins and two losses (10–2, 7–1 WAC). Despite winning the Pacific Division and their double-digit victory total, the Cowboys were not invited to a postseason bowl game. Their season ended with a loss against BYU in the inaugural WAC Championship Game. The Cowboys offense scored 464 points while the defense allowed 284 points.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	1:00 pm	Idaho*		War Memorial Stadium Laramie, Wyoming		W 40–38	17,279
September 7	5:00 pm	at Iowa State*		Cyclone Stadium Ames, Iowa	FSN	W 41–38 ^OT	44,511
September 14	1:00 pm	Hawaii		War Memorial Stadium Laramie, Wyoming		W 66–0	15,182
September 21	1:00 pm	Air Force		War Memorial Stadium Laramie, Wyoming		W 22–19	31,009
September 28	2:00 pm	at UNLV		Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, Nevada		W 33–21	12,564
October 5	2:30 pm	at San Jose State	No. 25	Spartan Stadium San Jose, California		W 45–22	8,756
October 12	1:00 pm	Western Michigan*	No. 24	War Memorial Stadium Laramie, Wyoming		W 42–28	22,813
October 19	12:00 pm	Fresno State	No. 23	War Memorial Stadium Laramie, Wyoming		W 42–21	14,446
November 2	1:00 pm	SMU	No. 17	War Memorial Stadium Laramie, Wyoming		W 59–17	17,268
November 7	6:00 pm	at San Diego State	No. 16	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego	ESPN	L 24–28	38,679
November 16	8:00 pm	at Colorado State	No. 23	Hughes Stadium Fort Collins, Colorado (Bronze Boot)	ESPN2	W 25–24	33,701
December 7	2:30 pm	vs. No. 6 BYU	No. 20	Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, Nevada (WAC Championship Game)	ABC	L 25–28 ^OT	41,238
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

Reference:^[2]

Roster

1996 Wyoming Cowboys football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense 70 Garrett Anderson OT 6-6 247 Fr. Murphysboro, Ill. 85 Jason Ringenberg WR 6-1 216 Fr. Twin Falls, Ida. 64 Charlie Ruff C 6-3 264 Sr. Sheridan, Wyo. 57 Kevin Hughes C 6-6 315 Fr. Littleton, CO 72 Nate Selk OG 6-7 305 Fr. Plainfield, Ill. 18 Kofi Shuck WR 6-2 170 Fr. Park Forest, Ill. 16 Alan Jones WR 5-8 170 Fr. Aurora, CO. 43 Arlen Smith RB 6-0 200 Fr. Killeen, Tex. 66 Terry Staggs OG 6-3 292 So

Pos.	#	Name	Class
RB	`29`	Josh Amundson	So
RB	`28`	Tim Beasley	Fr
OT	`55`	Rob Bohlinger	Jr
WR	`23`	Marcus Harris	Sr
C	`53`	Rob Rathbun	Sr
FB	`41`	Chris Clache	Fr
WR	`1`	David Saraf	Sr
OT	`77`	Steve Scifres	Sr
RB	`12`	Len Sexton	Sr
QB	`3`	Jeremy Silcox	Jr
G	`51`	Jeff Smith	So

Defense 90 Jeff Leonard DE 6-4 261 Jr. San Ramon, Calif.

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DT	`92`	Pat Larson	Sr
DT	`95`	Michael Graham	Jr
SS	`45`	Brian Lee	Jr
DT	`89`	Brent Leu	Sr
CB	`24`	Waymon Levingston	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Head coach

Joe Tiller

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster

Awards and honors

Marcus Harris, Fred Biletnikoff Award^[3]

Team players in the NFL

The following were selected in the 1997 NFL Draft.

Player	Position	Round	Overall	NFL Team
Steve Scifres	Guard	3	83	Dallas Cowboys
Lee Vaughn	Defensive Back	6	187	Dallas Cowboys
Marcus Harris	Wide Receiver	7	232	Detroit Lions

Reference:^[4]

References

^ "Wyoming Wins Its Division". Los Angeles Times. November 17, 1996. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
^ "University of Wyoming – 1996". College Football Reference. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
^ "Past Winners – Biletnikoff Award". National College Football Awards Association. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
^ "1997 NFL Draft". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 10, 2012.

v t e Wyoming Cowboys football
Venues	Prexy's Pasture (1893–1921) Corbett Field (1922–1949) War Memorial Stadium (1950–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Colorado State Hawaii Utah State
Culture & lore	Pistol Pete "Ragtime Cowboy Joe" Western Thunder Marching Band
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024