The 1996 Utah Utes football team represented the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

as a member of the Mountain Division of the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

(WAC) during the

1996 NCAA Division I-A football season The 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with the Florida Gators being crowned National Champions after defeating rival Florida State in the Sugar Bowl, which was the season's designated Bowl Alliance national championship game. Florida ha ...

. In their seventh season under head coach

Ron McBride Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in ''Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe A ...

, the Utes compiled an overall record of 8–4 record with a mark of 6–2 against conference opponents, tying for second place in the WAC's Mountain Division. Utah was invited the

Copper Bowl The Guaranteed Rate Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that has been played in the state of Arizona since 1989. Played as the Copper Bowl from inception through 1996, it was known as the Insight.com Bowl from 1997 through 2001, then ...

, where they lost to

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. The Utes outscored their opponents 313 to 309. The team played home games at

Robert Rice Stadium Robert Rice Stadium was an outdoor athletic stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah, located on the campus of the University of Utah. Originally opened in 1927 as Ute Stadium, it was the home of the Utah Utes football team. Renamed for Robert L. Rice in ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

. Utah open the season with a loss at

Utah State Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

, but won the next seven game and climbed to a No. 20 ranking in the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

. The winning-streak came to a halt when the Utes suffered their worst loss in six years, to the

Rice Owls Rice University athletic teams are known as the Rice Owls. The name comes from the owls in Rice's crest. Rice participates in NCAA Division I athletics. A member of Conference USA, Rice sponsors teams in seven men's and seven women's NCAA sanctio ...

, giving up 496 yards rushing. Utah lost three of their final four games, allowing a total 1,439 yards rushing in these four games (359.75 average per game), including a 38–10 loss to the Wisconsin in the Copper Bowl.

Schedule

Roster

After the season

CFL Draft

Chad Folk Chad Folk (born October 28, 1972) is a former professional Canadian Football League centre for the Toronto Argonauts. He was the first overall pick in the 1997 CFL Draft. Junior college years Folk attended Butte College in Oroville, California, ...

was selected first overall in the

1997 CFL Draft The 1997 CFL Draft took place on Monday, April 7, 1997. 48 Canadian football players were chosen from 363 eligible Canadian universities as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA. The Ottawa Rough Riders folded following the 1996 CFL season ...

References

{{Utah Utes football navbox

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Utah Utes football seasons

Utah Utes football The Utah Utes football program is a Power 5 Conference college football team that competes in the Pac-12 Conference (Pac-12) of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of NCAA Division I and represents the University of Utah. The Utah college football ...