1996 Tennessee Volunteers football team

The 1996 Tennessee Volunteers football team represented the University of Tennessee in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. The offense scored 437 points and the defense allowed only 185 points. Quarterback Peyton Manning was in his junior year and head coach Phillip Fulmer was in his fifth year. This was the first season that Tennessee had ever lost to the cross-state University of Memphis Tigers.

1996 Tennessee Volunteers football
Florida Citrus Bowl champion
Florida Citrus Bowl, W 48–28 vs. Northwestern
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	Eastern Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 9
AP	No. 9
Record	10–2 (7–1 SEC)
Head coach	Phillip Fulmer (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	David Cutcliffe (4th season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	John Chavis (2nd season)
Base defense	Multiple 4–3
Captains	Raymond Austin Jay Graham
Home stadium	Neyland Stadium
Seasons ← 1995 1997 →

1996 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Eastern Division
No. 1 Florida x$		8	–	0					12	–	1
No. 9 Tennessee		7	–	1					10	–	2
South Carolina		4	–	4					6	–	5
Kentucky		3	–	5					4	–	7
Georgia		3	–	5					5	–	6
Vanderbilt		0	–	8					2	–	9
Western Division
No. 11 Alabama xy		6	–	2					10	–	3
No. 12 LSU x		6	–	2					10	–	2
No. 24 Auburn		4	–	4					8	–	4
Mississippi State		3	–	5					5	–	6
Ole Miss		2	–	6					5	–	6
Arkansas		2	–	6					4	–	7
Championship: Florida 45, Alabama 30
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 31	7:00 p.m.	UNLV*	No. 2	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN	PPV	W 62–3	106,212	[1]
September 7	3:30 p.m.	UCLA*	No. 2	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN	CBS	W 35–20	106,297	[2]
September 21	3:30 p.m.	No. 4 Florida	No. 2	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry) (College GameDay)	CBS	L 29–35	107,608	[3]
October 3	7:30 p.m.	vs. Ole Miss	No. 9	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN	ESPN	W 41–3	62,640	[4]
October 12	7:00 p.m.	at Georgia	No. 7	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA (rivalry)	ESPN	W 29–17	86,117	[5]
October 26	3:30 p.m.	No. 7 Alabama	No. 6	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (Third Saturday in October)	CBS	W 20–13	106,700	[6]
November 2	12:30 p.m.	at South Carolina	No. 6	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC (rivalry)	JPS	W 31–14	82,808	[7]
November 9	3:30 p.m.	at Memphis*	No. 6	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN	CBS	L 17–21	65,685	[8]
November 16	12:30 p.m.	Arkansas	No. 12	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN	JPS	W 55–14	103,158	[9]
November 23	3:30 p.m.	Kentucky	No. 9	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	CBS	W 56–10	102,534	[10]
November 30	7:00 p.m.	at Vanderbilt	No. 9	Vanderbilt Stadium Nashville, TN (rivalry)	ESPN	W 14–7	40,289	[11]
January 1	1:00 p.m.	vs. No. 11 Northwestern*	No. 9	Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL (Florida Citrus Bowl)	ABC	W 48–28	63,467	[12]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

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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	2 (7)	2 (8)	2 (8)	2 (4)	2 (5)	9	9	7	6	6	6	6	12	9	9	9	9	9
Coaches	2 (6)		2 (4)	2 (1)	2 (2)	8	9	7	6	7	6	6	12	10	10	10	10	9

Roster

1996 Tennessee Volunteers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 25 Jay Graham Sr WR 83 Tyrone Graham Fr WR 11 Joey Kent Sr QB 16 Peyton Manning Jr QB 17 Tee Martin Fr WR 88 Andy McCullough Jr TE 86 Dustin Moore Sr WR 12 Marcus Nash Jr QB 10 Jason Price Sr WR 37 Peerless Price So WR 81 Benjie Shuler Jr C 70 Trey Teague Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 99 Eric Brown Jr DE 91 Jonathan Brown Jr DT 50 Bill Duff Jr DE 93 Shaun Ellis Fr DB 13 Terry Fair Jr S 30 Cory Gaines Jr S 9 Tori Noel Jr LB 27 Al Wilson So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Phillip Fulmer Coordinators/assistant coaches David Cutcliffe – Offensive coordinator/assistant head coach/quarterbacks Randy Sanders – Running backs/recruiting coordinator Pat Washington – Wide receivers Rodney Garner – Tight ends Mark Bradley – Offensive line John Chavis – Defensive coordinator/linebackers Dan Brooks – Defensive line Kevin Ramsey – Defensive backs Steve Caldwell – Special teams/defensive ends Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Team players drafted into the NFL

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Joey Kent	Wide receiver	2	46	Tennessee Oilers
Jay Graham	Running back	3	64	Baltimore Ravens
Ray Austin	Cornerback	5	145	New York Jets

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References

1. "Tennessee tops UNLV by 59". Reno Gazette-Journal. September 1, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "It's a start". The Los Angeles Times. September 8, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Florida staggers Vols". The Commercial Appeal. September 22, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Peyton has fun, Archie sure doesn't, as Vols roll". Philadelphia Daily News. October 4, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Manning leads surge past Georgia". The Tampa Tribune. September 13, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Two in a row? It's a miracle". The Tennessean. October 27, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "USC earns respect, not win". The Charlotte Observer. November 3, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Orange crushed; U of M's wild-play magic, late drive trip Tennessee". The Commercial Appeal. November 10, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Vols smoke Hogs". The Jackson Sun. November 17, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Tennessee rolls past Wildcats 56–10". The State Journal. November 24, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "'Confused' UT slips past Vandy". The Daily News-Journal. December 1, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Cats a lemon in Citrus". Chicago Tribune. January 2, 1997. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "1996 Tennessee Volunteers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
14. "1984 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on May 27, 2009. Retrieved December 7, 2016.

External links

• Season summary at Sports Reference