1996 Wyoming Cowboys football team

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.

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

1996 Western Athletic Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
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

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 28–24	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 29 Josh Amundson RB 6-0 229 So. Twin Falls, Ida. 70 Garrett Anderson OT 6-6 247 Fr. Murphysboro, Ill. 55 Rob Bohlinger OT 6-9 287 Jr 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 41 Chris Clache FB 5-11 255 Fr. New London, WI 72 Nate Selk OG 6-7 305 Fr. Plainfield, Ill. 18 Kofi Shuck WR 6-2 170 Fr. Park Forest, Ill. 43 Arlen Smith RB 6-0 200 Fr. Killeen, Tex. 51 Jeff Smith OG 6-4 290 So. Phoenix, Ariz. 66 Terry Staggs OG 6-3 292 So Pos. # Name Class RB 28 Tim Beasley Fr WR 23 Marcus Harris Sr C 53 Rob Rathbun Sr WR 1 David Saraf Sr T 77 Steve Scifres Sr RB 12 Len Sexton Sr QB 3 Jeremy Silcox Jr	Defense 90 Jeff Leonard DE 6-4 261 Jr. San Ramon, Calif. 24 Waymon Levingston CB 5-9 164 Sr Pos. # Name Class DT 92 Pat Larson Sr DT 95 Michael Graham Jr SS 45 Brian Lee Jr DT 89 Brent Leu 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

1. "Wyoming Wins Its Division". Los Angeles Times. November 17, 1996. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
2. "University of Wyoming – 1996". College Football Reference. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
3. "Past Winners – Biletnikoff Award". National College Football Awards Association. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
4. "1997 NFL Draft". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 10, 2012.