1996 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team

1996 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football
NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal, L 14–44 vs. Montana
Conference	Southern Conference
Ranking
Sports Network	No. T–8
Record	10–3 (7–1 SoCon)
Head coach	Mike Cavan (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	David McKnight (5th season)
Defensive coordinator	Eric Schumann (5th season)
Home stadium	Memorial Center

1996 Southern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 1 Marshall $^		8	–	0					15	–	0
No. T–8 East Tennessee State ^		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 13 Furman ^		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 25 Appalachian State		5	–	3					7	–	4
The Citadel		3	–	5					4	–	7
Georgia Southern		2	–	6					4	–	7
VMI		2	–	6					3	–	8
Chattanooga		2	–	6					3	–	8
Western Carolina		1	–	7					4	–	7
$ – Conference champion Rankings from The Sports Network poll

The 1996 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team represented East Tennessee State University as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 1996 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by Mike Cavan in his fifth and final season as head coach, the Buccaneers compiled an overall record of 10–3 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, placing second in the SoCon behind Marshall. East Tennessee State advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship playoffs, where they beat Villanova in the first round before falling to Montana in the quarterfinals.[1]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 29		No. 14 Liberty*		Memorial Center Johnson City, TN		W 24–20		[2]
September 7	4:00 pm	East Carolina*		Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC		L 21–45	25,512	[3]
September 14		Glenville State*		Memorial Center Johnson City, TN		W 49–17
September 21		VMI		Memorial Center Johnson City, TN		W 38–0	4,711	[4]
September 28		Western Carolina		Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire Stadium Cullowhee, NC		W 49–10
October 5		No. 4 Appalachian State		Memorial Center Johnson City, TN		W 31–10	10,416	[5]
October 12		The Citadel	No. 16	Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, SC		W 41–21	16,212
October 26		No. 8 Furman	No. 14	Memorial Center Johnson City, TN		W 21–19	6,904	[6]
November 2		Georgia Southern	No. 9	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA		W 17–14	12,611
November 9	2:00 pm	No. 1 Marshall	No. 7	Memorial Center Johnson City, TN	WSAZ	L 10–34	13,131
November 16		Chattanooga	No. 11	Finley Stadium Chattanooga, TN		W 28–24	6,190
November 30		No. 11 Villanova*	No. 8	Memorial Center Johnson City, TN (NCAA Division I-AA First Round)		W 35–29	4,939	[7]
December 7		No. 2 Montana*	No. 8	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT (NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal)		L 14–44	15,025
*Non-conference game Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

References

1. White, Michael (October 18, 2016). "Bucs' 1996 playoff team to be honored Thursday". ETSU Athletics. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
2. "Bucs get off to good start". Johnson City Press. August 30, 1996. Retrieved April 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Bucs give ECU a game". Johnson City Press. September 8, 1996. Retrieved March 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Buccaneers spank Virginia Military, 38–0". Johnson City Press. September 22, 1996. Retrieved February 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "The streak is over". Johnson City Press. October 6, 1996. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Bucs 21, Paladins 19 - Yet another streak ends". Johnson City Press. October 27, 1996. Retrieved September 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Bucs won't stop here". Johnson City Press. December 1, 1996. Retrieved April 23, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.