1996 Kansas State Wildcats football team

The 1996 Kansas State Wildcats football team represented Kansas State University as a member of the North Division of the newly-formed Big 12 Conference during the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by eighth-year head coach Bill Snyder, the Wildcats compiled an overall record of 9–3 with a mark of 6–2 in conference play, placing third in the Big 12's North Division. Kansas's State season ended with a loss against fifth-ranked BYU in the Cotton Bowl Classic—the program's first appearance in a traditional New Year's Day bowl game. The team played home games at KSU Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas.

1996 Kansas State Wildcats football
Cotton Bowl Classic, L 15–19 vs. BYU
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Division	North Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 17
AP	No. 17
Record	9–3 (6–2 Big 12)
Head coach	Bill Snyder (8th season)
Offensive coordinator	Dana Dimel (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Co-defensive coordinators	Bob Cope (1st season) Mike Stoops (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	KSU Stadium
Seasons ← 1995 1997 →

1996 Big 12 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
North Division
No. 6 Nebraska x%		8	–	0					11	–	2
No. 8 Colorado		7	–	1					10	–	2
No. 17 Kansas State		6	–	2					9	–	3
Missouri		3	–	5					5	–	6
Kansas		2	–	6					4	–	7
Iowa State		1	–	7					2	–	9
South Division
No. 23 Texas x$		6	–	2					8	–	5
Texas Tech		5	–	3					7	–	5
Texas A&M		4	–	4					6	–	6
Oklahoma		3	–	5					3	–	8
Oklahoma State		2	–	6					5	–	6
Baylor		1	–	7					4	–	7
Championship: Texas 37, Nebraska 27
x – Division champion/co-champions $ – Bowl Alliance representative as champion % – Bowl Alliance at-large representative Rankings from AP Poll

1996 was the first year of competition for the Big 12 Conference, and Kansas State's season opener against Texas Tech on August 31 was the first athletic event in Big 12 history.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	2:30 p.m.	Texas Tech	No. 21	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS	ABC	W 21–14	43,143
September 7	1:10 p.m.	Indiana State*	No. 21	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS		W 59–3	40,724
September 14	1:10 p.m.	Cincinnati*	No. 17	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS		W 35–0	43,111
September 21	7:00 p.m.	at Rice*	No. 16	Rice Stadium Houston, TX		W 34–7	19,700
October 5	2:30 p.m.	No. 7 Nebraska	No. 16	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS (rivalry)	ABC	L 3–39	43,916
October 12	1:00 p.m.	at Missouri	No. 22	Faurot Field Columbia, MO		W 35–10	45,211
October 19	6:00 p.m.	at Texas A&M	No. 21	Kyle Field College Station, TX	FSN	W 23–20	64,155
October 26	1:10 p.m.	Oklahoma	No. 16	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS		W 42–35	43,815
November 9	1:00 p.m.	at Kansas	No. 13	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS (rivalry)		W 38–12	48,800
November 16	6:00 p.m.	at No. 6 Colorado	No. 9	Folsom Field Boulder, CO (rivalry)	FSN	L 0–12	53,500
November 23	6:10 p.m.	Iowa State	No. 14	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS (rivalry)	FSN	W 35–20	43,174
January 1	1:30 p.m.	vs. No. 5 BYU*	No. 14	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic)	CBS	L 15–19	71,928
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Rankings

Main article: 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	21	21	21	17	16	16	16	22	21	16	14	13	9	14	14	14	14	17
Coaches	18	—	15	14	14	13	12	21	19	14	12	11	9	16	16	15	14	17

Game summaries

Texas Tech

Texas Tech at Kansas State

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Texas Tech	3	0	0	11	14
• Kansas State	0	14	0	7	21

• Date: August 31
• Location: KSU Stadium, Manhattan, Kansas
• Game start: 2:30 pm CST
• Game attendance: 43,143
• Television network: ABC

See also: 1996 Texas Tech Red Raiders football team

Nebraska

See also: 1996 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

Nebraska at Kansas State

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Nebraska	6	12	14	7	39
Kansas State	0	3	0	0	3

• Date: October 5
• Location: KSU Stadium, Manhattan, Kansas
• Game start: 11:30 am CST
• Game attendance: 43,916
• Television network: ABC

At Texas A&M

See also: 1996 Texas A&M Aggies football team

Kansas State at Texas A&M

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 19 Kansas State	13	7	3	0	23
Texas A&M	3	7	0	10	20

• Date: October 19
• Location: Kyle Field, College Station, Texas
• Game start: 6:00 pm CST
• Game attendance: 64,155
• Television network: FSN

Vs. BYU (Cotton Bowl Classic)

Main article: 1997 Cotton Bowl Classic

See also: 1996 BYU Cougars football team

No. 14 Kansas State at No. 5 BYU

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 14 Kansas State	0	8	7	0	15
• No. 5 BYU	5	0	0	14	19

• Date: January 1
• Location: Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas
• Game start: 1:30 pm CST
• Game attendance: 71,928
• Television network: CBS

Roster

1996 Kansas State Wildcats football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 33 David Allen Fr WR 25 Andre Anderson Jr WR 22 Jimmy Dean Sr RB 24 Eric Hickson Jr C 64 Jason Johnson Sr WR 83 Kevin Lockett Sr TE 86 Justin Swift So OT 58 Todd Weiner Jr OT 76 Ryan Young So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 90 Kenneth Bouie Jr DE 94 Da'Von Brame Fr DE 53 Mike Bush So CB 2 Chris Canty Jr DL 91 Pat Curry Fr CB 29 Demetric Denmark Jr DB 14 Edwin Lin Dotson Fr DT 98 Jerome Evans Jr LB 8 DeShawn Fogle Sr LB 42 Mark Simoneau Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 38 Martin Gramatica So	Head coach Bill Snyder Coordinators/assistant coaches Dana Dimel – Offensive Coordinator Ron Hudson – Passing game Coordinator & quarterbacks Greg Peterson – Wide receivers Larry Kramer – Tight ends & Special Teams Coordinator Mike Stoops – co-Defensive Coordinator & defensive ends Bob Cope – co-Defensive Coordinator Mo Latimore – interior Defensive line Brent Venables – Linebackers Mark Mangino – Recruiting Game Coordinator Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster