1996 Army Cadets football team

The 1996 Army Cadets football team was an American football team that represented the United States Military Academy in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their sixth season under head coach Bob Sutton, the Cadets compiled a 10–2 record and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 379 to 224.^[1] In the annual Army–Navy Game, the Cadets defeated Navy, 28–24. They also lost to Auburn, 32–29, in the 1996 Independence Bowl.^[2] This was Army's last winning season until 2010.

1996 Army Cadets football
Independence Bowl, L 32–29 vs. Auburn
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 24
AP	No. 25
Record	10–2
Head coach	Bob Sutton (6th season)
Offensive scheme	Triple option
Defensive coordinator	Denny Doornbos (6th season)
Base defense	4–3
Captains	Ben Kotwica Ron Leshinski
Home stadium	Michie Stadium
Seasons ← 1995 1997 →

1996 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 25 Army			–						10	–	2
Navy			–						9	–	3
No. 19 Notre Dame			–						8	–	3
East Carolina			–						8	–	3
Louisiana Tech			–						6	–	5
UAB			–						5	–	6
UCF			–						5	–	6
Southwestern Louisiana			–						5	–	6
Northeast Louisiana			–						5	–	6
Arkansas State			–						4	–	7
Northern Illinois			–						1	–	10
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 14	1:30 p.m.	Ohio		Michie Stadium West Point, NY		W 37–20	30,500
September 21	12:00 p.m.	Duke		Michie Stadium West Point, NY	HTS	W 35–17	36,049	[3]
September 28	2:00 p.m.	vs. North Texas		Texas Stadium Irving, TX		W 27–10	20,413
October 5	1:30 p.m.	Yale		Michie Stadium West Point, NY		W 39–13	40,776	[4]
October 12	1:00 p.m.	at Rutgers		Giants Stadium East Rutherford, NJ		W 42–21	19,101
October 19	1:30 p.m.	Tulane		Michie Stadium West Point, NY		W 34–10	35,971	[5]
October 26	1:00 p.m.	at Miami (OH)		Yager Stadium Oxford, OH		W 27–7	16,543
November 2	1:30 p.m.	Lafayette		Michie Stadium West Point, NY		W 41–21	39,269	[6]
November 9	3:30 p.m.	Air Force		Michie Stadium West Point, NY (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy)	ABC	W 23–7	41,251
November 16	6:00 p.m.	at No. 19 Syracuse	No. 22	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY	ESPN	L 17–42	49,257	[7]
December 7	12:00 p.m.	vs. Navy	No. 23	Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, PA (Army–Navy Game)	CBS	W 28–24	69,238
December 31	3:30 p.m.	vs. Auburn	No. 24	Independence Stadium Shreveport, LA (Independence Bowl)	ESPN	L 29–32	41,366	[8]
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Rankings

See also: 1996 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	22	—	24	23	24	25
Coaches	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	23	—	24	23	24	24

Game summaries

Ohio

Duke

At North Texas

Yale

Vs. Rutgers

Tulane

At Miami (OH)

Lafayette

Air Force

At Syracuse

Vs. Navy

Army Cadets vs. Navy Midshipmen

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Army	3	10	12	3	28
Navy	0	21	3	0	24

at Veterans Stadium • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Date: December 7
• Game time: 12:00 p.m. EDT
• Game weather: Rain
• Game attendance: 69,238
• TV announcers (CBS): Sean McDonough, Terry Donahue, and Michele Tafoya
• ^[9]

Game information
Army McAda 5/10, 116 Yds 15 Rush, 134 Yds, TD Williams 1 Rec, 43 Yds Navy McCoy 6/14, 107 Yds, TD, INT Nelson 18 Rush, 74 Yds Heaven 2 Rec, 67 Yds

President Bill Clinton became the first sitting U.S. president to attend game since 1974.

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP ARMY NAVY 1 0:00 Army 22-yard field goal by Parker 3 0 2 9:33 Navy McGrew 7-yard touchdown run, Vanderhorst kick good 3 7 2 5:54 Navy Butts 7-yard touchdown reception from McCoy, Vanderhorst kick good 3 14 2 5:14 Navy McCoy 7-yard touchdown run, Vanderhorst kick good 3 21 2 2:39 Army McAda 44-yard touchdown run, Parker kick good 10 21 2 0:39 Army 35-yard field goal by Parker 13 21 3 14:03 Army Williams 81-yard touchdown run, 2-point run failed 19 21 3 5:43 Army Perry 3-yard touchdown run, 2-point run failed 25 21 3 0:02 Navy 31-yard field goal by Vanderhorst 25 24 4 6:35 Army 20-yard field goal by Parker 28 24 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 28 24

Vs. Auburn

	1	2	3	4	Total
#24 Cadets	0	7	0	22	29
Tigers	10	10	12	0	32

See also: 1996 Auburn Tigers football team and 1996 Independence Bowl

Roster

1996 Army Cadets football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OT 79 Ed Bloom So OT 52 Tim Booth Sr QB 7 Ronnie McAda Sr SE 82 Craig Mikolajchak Jr SE 5 Brad Miller Jr RB/FB 33 Joseph Hewitt So RB 49 Bobby Williams So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DE 92 Anthony Bianchi Sr CB Tony Coaxum Fr CB 19 Garland Gay Sr LB 44 Ben Kotwica Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 8 Joseph Parker Sr	Head coach Bob Sutton Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Radio

Flagship station	Play–by–play	Color commentator	Sideline reporter	Studio host
WABC–AM 770

Some games were broadcast on WPLJ–FM 95.5 because of broadcast conflict with the New York Yankees.