1996 Columbia Lions football team

The 1996 Columbia Lions football team was an American football team that represented Columbia University during the 1996 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Columbia finished second in the Ivy League.

1996 Columbia Lions football
Conference	Ivy League
Record	8–2 (5–2 Ivy)
Head coach	Ray Tellier (8th season)
Defensive coordinator	Mike Donnelly (5th season)
Captains	Ryan Gabriele Randy Murff Marcellus Wiley Rory Wilfork
Home stadium	Wien Stadium
Seasons ← 1995 1997 →

1996 Ivy League football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 17 Dartmouth $		7	–	0					10	–	0
Columbia		5	–	2					8	–	2
Brown		4	–	3					5	–	5
Cornell		4	–	3					4	–	6
Penn		3	–	4					5	–	5
Harvard		2	–	5					4	–	6
Princeton		2	–	5					3	–	7
Yale		1	–	6					2	–	8
$ – Conference champion Rankings from The Sports Network poll

In their eighth season under head coach Ray Tellier, the Lions compiled a 8–2 record and outscored opponents 181 to 159. Ryan Gabriele, Randy Murff, Marcellus Wiley and Rory Wilfork were the team captains.^[1]

Despite a 5–2 conference record that placed second in the Ivy League standings, Columbia was outscored 133 to 119 by Ivy opponents.^[2]

Columbia played its homes games at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium in Upper Manhattan, in New York City.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 21	Harvard	Wien Stadium New York, NY	W 20–13 OT	5,760	[3]
September 28	at Fordham*	Coffey Field Bronx, NY (rivalry)	W 17–10	5,713	[4]
October 5	at Holy Cross*	Fitton Field Worcester, MA	W 42–16	9,349	[5]
October 12	at Penn	Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA	W 20–19 OT	6,435	[6]
October 19	Lafayette*	Wien Stadium New York, NY	W 3–0	1,170	[7]
October 26	at Yale	Yale Bowl New Haven, CT	W 13–10	24,715	[8]
November 2	Princeton	Wien Stadium New York, NY	L 11–14	9,100	[9]
November 9	at No. 25 Dartmouth	Memorial Field Hanover, NH	L 0–40	5,119	[10]
November 16	Cornell	Wien Stadium New York, NY (rivalry)	W 24–10	7,055	[11]
November 23	Brown	Wien Stadium New York, NY	W 31–27	5,175	[12]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1996 Columbia Lions football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class TE 83 Billy Campbell Fr WR 3 Dennis Lee Sr FB 28 Paul Thomas Jr QB 19 Bobby Thomason Jr WR 88 Chris Wachter Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DE 92 Charlie Bettinelli Sr DE 81 Greg Bowman Fr DT 63 Brett Bryant Sr ROV 11 Anthony Caffiero Jr DE 96 Tom Nelson Fr FS 22 Jessie Nunn Sr DE 85 Juan Tabio Fr DE 5 Marcellus Wiley Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K, P 9 Matt Linit So	Head coach Ray Tellier Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster