1996 Tennessee Volunteers football team

1996 Tennessee Volunteers football
1996 Tennessee Volunteers football
Florida Citrus Bowl champion
Florida Citrus Bowl, W 48–28 vs. Northwestern
Conference	Southeastern Conference
	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
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

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.

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

^[13]

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

^[14]

References

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