The 1996 Gator Bowl was a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

postseason

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

between the

Syracuse Orangemen The Syracuse Orange are the athletic teams that represent Syracuse University. The school is a member of NCAA Division I and the Atlantic Coast Conference. Until 2013, Syracuse was a member of the Big East Conference. The school's mascot is ...

and the

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) ...

Background

This was the first Gator Bowl to feature the second-place teams from the Big East Conference and the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

. This was Syracuse's first Gator Bowl since 1966, and Clemson's first since 1989. This was the first Gator Bowl game to be played at

Jacksonville Municipal Stadium TIAA Bank Field is an American football stadium located in Jacksonville, Florida, that primarily serves as the home facility of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL) and the headquarters of the professional wrestling prom ...

, which was built on the site of the former

Gator Bowl Stadium The Gator Bowl was an American football stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. Originally built in 1927, all but a small portion was razed in 1994 in preparation for the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars' inaugural season; the reconstructed stadium became Jac ...

Game summary

Donovan McNabb Donovan Jamal McNabb (born November 25, 1976) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. Before his NFL career, he played football and b ...

went 13-of-23 for 309 yards and 3 touchdowns as the Orangemen routed the Tigers in a rain soaked contest. Malcolm Thomas started the scoring for the Orangemen on a 1-yard touchdown run after a drive of 64 yards. McNabb went on a 5-yard run for a touchdown to make it 13-0. Marvin Harrison caught a touchdown pass from McNabb to make it 20-0 as the first quarter ended. After a scoreless second quarter, Thomas ran for his second touchdown to make it 27-0. Harrison caught his second touchdown from McNabb from 56 yards out to make it 34-0 after three quarters. Kaseem Sinceno caught a touchdown pass from McNabb in the fourth to close out the scoring. Clemson was held to less than 200 yards and committed 3 turnovers. Marvin Harrison caught seven receptions for 173 yards and two touchdowns in his final college game. This was Syracuse's sixth straight bowl win.

Aftermath

Both teams ended up playing another bowl game in the calendar year of 1996. The Tigers made three more bowl games before the turn of the century, and the Orange made four before the 1990s ended. The Tigers would return to the Gator Bowl in 2001 and 2009.

Statistics

References

{{Clemson Tigers bowl game navbox

Gator Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, operated by Gator Bowl Sports. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised natio ...

Gator Bowl Syracuse Orange football bowl games Clemson Tigers football bowl games January 1996 sports events in the United States 1996 in sports in Florida