The 1996 Outback Bowl featured the

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

and the

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The interco ...

. This was the tenth edition of the game previously known as the Hall of Fame Bowl, and the first one to use the

Outback Bowl The ReliaQuest Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, usually on New Year's Day. The event has been formerly called the Hall of Fame Bowl from 1986 to 1995 and the Outback Bowl from 1996 to ...

name, with sponsorship from

Outback Steakhouse Outback Steakhouse is an American chain of Australian-themed casual dining restaurants, serving American cuisine, based in Tampa, Florida. The chain has over 1,000 locations in 23 countries throughout North and South America, Asia, and Australia ...

. Penn State turned a close first half into a blowout, with a big third-quarter run, and ended up winning by a score of 43-14. Penn State's total of 43 points would stand as an Outback Bowl record for 20 years, until it was surpassed by

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

in the 2016 Outback Bowl.

Summary

The first quarter was dominated by defense, as the only points came on a 19-yard field goal from Penn State placekicker

Brett Conway Brett Alan Conway (born March 8, 1975) is a former professional American football player. He was a placekicker for seven seasons with various teams in the National Football League. He was drafted in the third round (#90 overall) by the Green Ba ...

. With that chip shot, Penn State opened up a 3–0 lead. With 12:39 left in the second quarter, Auburn posted the first touchdown of the game, with a 25-yard pass from quarterback

Patrick Nix Patrick Nix is an American football coach and former player. He played college football as a quarterback at Auburn University from 1992 to 1995. Nix served as the head football coach at Henderson State University from 1999 to 2000, compiling a ...

to Robert Baker. Auburn claimed a 7–3 lead after the successful

extra point The conversion, try (American football, also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, or (depending on the number of points) extra point/2-point conversion), or convert (Canadian football) occurs immediately after a touchdown during which the sc ...

. Auburn's defense continued its stellar play, giving up field goals of 22 and 38 yards to fall behind, 9–7. Then with just 5 seconds in the half, Penn State quarterback Wally Richardson threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Mike Archie, to make it a 16–7 halftime lead. Penn State opened the second half on a tear, thanks to effective adjustments. Just 5 minutes into the second half, Richardson earned his second touchdown pass of the game, a 9-yard spiral to

Bobby Engram Simon J. "Bobby" Engram III (born January 7, 1973) is a retired American football wide receiver. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the second round of the 1996 NFL Draft. He played college football at Penn State. Engram also played for the ...

, who later played in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

, to take a 23–7 lead. Just two-and-a-half minutes later, Richardson threw his third touchdown pass, a 4-yarder to Steven Pitts, making it 29–7. Penn State elected to go for a

two-point conversion In gridiron football, a two-point conversion or two-point convert is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point conversion immediately after it scores a touchdown. In a two-point conversion attempt, the team that just scored must run ...

, but failed. Halfback

Curtis Enis Curtis Thomas Enis (born June 15, 1976) is a former American college and professional American football, football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons. He played college football for Penn State U ...

scored from 1 yard out to make it 36–7. A minute later, Richardson hooked up with Bobby Engram for their second touchdown of the game, a 20-yarder. After 40 unanswered points by Penn State, the score stood at 43–7. Auburn scored one more time in the fourth quarter, on a 16-yard run by Kevin McLeod, making the final score 43–14.

References

External links

* https://www.usatoday.com/sports/scores97/97001/97001310.htm {{Penn State Nittany Lions bowl game navbox ReliaQuest Bowl

20th century in Tampa, Florida Auburn Tigers football bowl games Penn State Nittany Lions football bowl games January 1996 sports events in the United States