1996 Rice Owls football team

The 1996 Rice Owls football team was an American football team that represented Rice University in the Western Athletic Conference during the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their third year under head coach Ken Hatfield, the team compiled a 7–4 record.^[1][2]

1996 Rice Owls football
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Division	Mountain Division
Record	7–4 (6–2 WAC)
Head coach	Ken Hatfield (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	David Lee (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Wally Ake (3rd season)
Home stadium	Rice Stadium
Seasons ← 1995 1997 →

1996 Western Athletic Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Mountain Division
No. 5 BYU x$		8	–	0					14	–	1
Utah		6	–	2					8	–	4
Rice		6	–	2					7	–	4
SMU		4	–	4					5	–	6
New Mexico		3	–	5					6	–	5
TCU		3	–	5					4	–	7
Tulsa		2	–	6					4	–	7
UTEP		0	–	8					2	–	9
Pacific Division
No. 22 Wyoming x		7	–	1					10	–	2
San Diego State		6	–	2					8	–	3
Colorado State		6	–	2					7	–	5
Air Force		5	–	3					6	–	5
Fresno State		3	–	5					4	–	7
San Jose State		3	–	5					3	–	9
Hawaii		1	–	7					2	–	10
UNLV		1	–	8					1	–	11
Championship: BYU 28, Wyoming 25 OT
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 7	at No. 10 Ohio State*	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	L 7–70	93,479
September 14	at Tulane*	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA	W 21–14	38,839	[3]
September 21	No. 16 Kansas State*	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	L 7–34	19,700
September 28	at Air Force	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO	L 17–45
October 5	New Mexico	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	W 38–21
October 19	SMU	Rice Stadium Houston, TX (rivalry)	W 35–17	20,100
October 26	at UTEP	Sun Bowl El Paso, TX	W 48–21	19,336
November 2	No. 20 Utah	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	W 51–10	23,250
November 9	at No. 12 BYU	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	L 0–49	65,732
November 16	at TCU	Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX	W 30–17
November 23	Tulsa	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	W 42–14	19,200
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

References

1. "1996 Rice Owls Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
2. "2020 Rice Football Media Guide" (PDF). Rice University. 2020. p. 137. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
3. "Rice takes advantage of Tulane turnovers". Austin American-Statesman. September 15, 1996. Retrieved February 9, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.