The 1996 Norwest

Sun Bowl The Sun Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played since 1935 in the southwestern United States at El Paso, Texas. Along with the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, it is the second-oldest bowl game in the country, behind the Rose Bowl. ...

, played on December 31, 1996, featured the

Stanford Cardinal The Stanford Cardinal are the athletic teams that represent Stanford University. As of June, 2022, Stanford's program has won 131 NCAA team championships. Stanford has won at least one NCAA team championship each academic year for 46 consecutive ...

and the Michigan State Spartans. Stanford scored first following a lateral from running back Josh Madsen to Leroy Pruitt. The 78 yard play went for a touchdown, and set the day for a Stanford rout. In the second quarter, quarterback

Chad Hutchinson Chad Martin Hutchinson (born February 21, 1977) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bears. He also is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher for the St. Louis Cardina ...

threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to fullback Jon Ritchie for a 14–0 lead. Adam Salina scored on a 1-yard touchdown run before halftime to increase Stanford's lead to 21–0. Kevin Miller added a 24-yard field goal in the third to give Stanford a 24–0 lead.

Damon Dunn Damon Jerrel Dunn (born March 15, 1976) is an American politician, commercial real estate developer, minister, and former football player. Early life Dunn was born in 1976 in Fort Worth, Texas to a 16-year-old mother, Ramona Dunn. When Dunn ...

later scored on a 1-yard run moving the lead to 31–0. Stanford's final points came on a 6-yard return of a blocked punt for a touchdown, making the final score 38–0. The two teams faced off again seventeen years later on January 1, 2014, in the

2014 Rose Bowl The 2014 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game that was played on January 1, 2014, at the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, California. This 100th Rose Bowl Game matched Big Ten Conference Champions Michigan State Spartans against Pac-12 Conf ...

, but this time, Michigan State won 24–20. For the first time since

John Hancock Insurance John Hancock Life Insurance Company, U.S.A. is a Boston-based insurance company. Established April 21, 1862, it was named in honor of John Hancock, a prominent American Patriot. In 2004, John Hancock was acquired by the Canadian multinational li ...

declined to renew its naming rights agreement, which included title sponsorship of the Sun Bowl from 1986 and full naming rights from 1989 until 1993, the Sun Bowl carried title sponsorship.

Norwest Bank Norwest Corporation was a banking and financial services company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. In 1998, it merged with Wells Fargo & Co. and since that time has operated under the Wells Fargo name. History Early formation Th ...

agreed to become the bowl’s sponsor for 1996; the sponsorship continued after the company’s merger with and renaming to

Wells Fargo Financial Wells most commonly refers to: * Wells, Somerset, a cathedral city in Somerset, England * Well, an excavation or structure created in the ground * Wells (name) Wells may also refer to: Places Canada * Wells, British Columbia England * Well ...

until 2003.

References

External links

USAToday.com recap of game

Sun Bowl Michigan State Spartans football bowl games Stanford Cardinal football bowl games December 1996 sports events in the United States 1996 in sports in Texas {{Collegefootball-bowl-stub