1996 Florida State Seminoles football team

1996 Florida State Seminoles football
1996 Florida State Seminoles football
ACC champion
Sugar Bowl (BA NCG), L 20–52 vs. Florida
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 3
Record	11–1 (8–0 ACC)
Head coach	Bobby Bowden (21st season);
Offensive coordinator	Mark Richt (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Mickey Andrews (13th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Doak Campbell Stadium
	Seasons ← 1995 1997 →

1996 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 3 Florida State $	8	–	0	11	–	1
No. 10 North Carolina	6	–	2	10	–	2
Clemson	6	–	2	7	–	5
Virginia	5	–	3	7	–	5
Georgia Tech	4	–	4	5	–	6
Maryland	3	–	5	5	–	6
NC State	3	–	5	3	–	8
Wake Forest	1	–	7	3	–	8
Duke	0	–	8	0	–	11

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1996 Florida State Seminoles football team represented Florida State University in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Bobby Bowden and played their home games at Doak Campbell Stadium. The team was selected national champion by Alderson.^[1]

Florida State completed just their third undefeated regular season, and for the second straight season, running back Warrick Dunn was a Heisman Trophy finalist.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 7	3:30 p.m.	Duke	No. 3	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ABC	W 44–7	80,032	^[2]
September 19	8:00 p.m.	at NC State	No. 3	Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC	ESPN	W 51–17	45,700	^[3]
September 28	3:30 p.m.	No. 11 North Carolina	No. 2	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ABC	W 13–0	80,120	^[4]
October 5	7:00 p.m.	Clemson	No. 2	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL (rivalry)	ESPN	W 34–3	76,360	^[5]
October 12	3:30 p.m.	at No. 6 Miami (FL)*	No. 3	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL (rivalry)	CBS	W 34–16	75,913	^[6]
October 26	3:30 p.m.	No. 14 Virginia	No. 3	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL (Jefferson-Eppes Trophy)	ABC	W 31–24	80,237	^[7]
November 2	7:00 p.m.	at Georgia Tech	No. 3	Bobby Dodd Stadium Atlanta, GA	ESPN	W 49–3	46,311	^[8]
November 9	12:00 p.m.	at Wake Forest	No. 3	Florida Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL (Dowdy Aviation Classic)	JPS	W 44–7	34,974	^[9]
November 16	7:00 p.m.	No. 25 Southern Miss*	No. 3	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ESPN	W 54–14	77,280	^[10]
November 23	3:30 p.m.	vs. Maryland	No. 3	Pro Player Stadium Miami Gardens, FL	ABC	W 48–10	31,989	^[11]
November 30	12:00 p.m.	No. 1 Florida*	No. 2	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL (rivalry, College GameDay)	ABC	W 24–21	80,932	^[12]
January 2	8:00 p.m.	vs. No. 3 Florida*	No. 1	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl, College GameDay)	ABC	L 20–52	78,344	^[13]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[14]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
AP	3 (5)	3 (5)	3 (5)	3 (3)	3 (4)	2 (13)	2 (8)	3 (4)	3 (5)	3 (5)	3 (3)	3 (2)	3 (2)	3 (4)	2 (5)	1 (61)	1 (62)	3
Coaches	3 (6)		3 (3)	3 (1)	3 (1)	2 (22)	2 (9)	3 (6)	2 (7)	2 (5)	2 (5)	2 (5)	3 (8)	3 (7)	2 (7)	1 (56)	1 (57)	3

Roster

1996 Florida State Seminoles football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
WR	`1`	Andre Cooper	Sr
WR	`9`	Peter Warrick	Fr
QB	`12`	Thad Busby	Jr
WR	`19`	E. G. Green	Jr
RB	`28`	Warrick Dunn	Sr
OT	`70`	Tra Thomas	Jr
OT	`71`	Todd Fordham	Sr
OT	`76`	Walter Jones	Jr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
CB	`2`	Samari Rolle	Jr
CB	`11`	Dexter Jackson	So
CB	`15`	Mario Edwards	So
FS	`16`	Sean Key	So
CB	`20`	James Colzie	Sr
CB	`23`	Andrew Howard II	So
LB	`40`	Lamont Green	So
LB	`45`	Henri Crockett	Sr
LB	`47`	Vernon Crawford	Sr
DL	`53`	Corey Simon	Fr
DE	`55`	Reinard Wilson	Sr
LB	`56`	Sam Cowart	Sr
DE	`58`	Peter Boulware	Jr
DL	`85`	Andre Wadsworth	Jr
DE	`90`	Greg Spires	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`3`	Scott Bentley	Sr
K	`29`	Bill Gramatica	Fr

Head coach

Bobby Bowden

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster

1997 NFL Draft

The following Seminoles were selected in the 1997 NFL draft, including four players taken in the first fourteen picks.

Player	Position	Round	Overall	NFL team
Peter Boulware	Linebacker	1	4	Baltimore Ravens
Walter Jones	Offensive tackle	1	6	Seattle Seahawks
Warrick Dunn	Running back	1	12	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Reinard Wilson	Linebacker	1	14	Cincinnati Bengals
Henri Crockett	Linebacker	4	100	Atlanta Falcons
Vernon Crawford	Linebacker	5	159	New England Patriots
Byron Capers	Cornerback	7	225	Philadelphia Eagles

^[15]

References

^ 2018 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). The National Collegiate Athletic Association. pp. 114–115. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
^ "FSU defense dukes it out". St. Petersburg Times. September 8, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "No. 3 Florida State buzzes N.C. State". Austin American-Statesman. September 20, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "North Carolina shut down by sack-happy Florida State". The Commercial Appeal. September 29, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Tigers fall to Seminoles". Anderson Independent-Mail. October 6, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Seminoles storm past Hurricanes, 34–16". The Bellingham Herald. October 13, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Seminoles avenge only ACC loss". The Montgomery Advertiser. October 27, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Seminoles squash Yellow Jackets 49–3". Florida Today. November 3, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Left in their Wake: Seminoles roll, 44–7". The Miami Herald. November 10, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Showdown is on track, FSU stays unbeaten with 54–14 victory". The Miami Herald. November 17, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "FSU takes pains but gets by". St. Petersburg Times. November 24, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "'Noles' defensive materpiece puts Gators on canvas". The Courier-Journal. December 1, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Such sweet revenge". Austin American-Statesman. January 3, 1997. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "1996 Florida State Seminoles Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
^ "1997 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on May 27, 2009. Retrieved February 6, 2021.

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[ncaabook-1] 2018 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). The National Collegiate Athletic Association. pp. 114–115. Retrieved November 13, 2018.

[2] "FSU defense dukes it out". St. Petersburg Times. September 8, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[3] "No. 3 Florida State buzzes N.C. State". Austin American-Statesman. September 20, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[4] "North Carolina shut down by sack-happy Florida State". The Commercial Appeal. September 29, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[5] "Tigers fall to Seminoles". Anderson Independent-Mail. October 6, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[6] "Seminoles storm past Hurricanes, 34–16". The Bellingham Herald. October 13, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[7] "Seminoles avenge only ACC loss". The Montgomery Advertiser. October 27, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[8] "Seminoles squash Yellow Jackets 49–3". Florida Today. November 3, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[9] "Left in their Wake: Seminoles roll, 44–7". The Miami Herald. November 10, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[10] "Showdown is on track, FSU stays unbeaten with 54–14 victory". The Miami Herald. November 17, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[11] "FSU takes pains but gets by". St. Petersburg Times. November 24, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[12] "'Noles' defensive materpiece puts Gators on canvas". The Courier-Journal. December 1, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[13] "Such sweet revenge". Austin American-Statesman. January 3, 1997. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[14] "1996 Florida State Seminoles Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 10, 2024.

[15] "1997 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on May 27, 2009. Retrieved February 6, 2021.

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v t e Florida State Seminoles football
Venues	Centennial Field (1947–1949) Doak Campbell Stadium (1950–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Florida Cup Clemson Florida Miami Virginia
Culture & lore	Osceola and Renegade The War Chant Marching Chiefs FSU Hymns Sod Cemetery Wide Right I Wide Right II 1993 'Game of the Century' Choke at Doak 2015 Georgia Tech game Bob Crenshaw Award Tomahawk chop
People	Alumni Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders Annual awards
Seasons	1902 1903 1904 1905–1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold