1996 Florida State Seminoles football team

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]

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	Conf							Overall
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

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

See also: 1996 NCAA Division I-A football 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

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.