1996 Houston Cougars football team

The 1996 Houston Cougars football team, also known as the Houston Cougars, Houston, or UH represented the University of Houston in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the 51st year of season play for Houston and the first season as a member of Conference USA following the breakup of the Southwest Conference. The team was coached by Kim Helton. The team split its home games between the Houston Astrodome and Robertson Stadium. The Cougars became inaugural conference champions and were invited to the 1996 Liberty Bowl, their first bowl game since 1988. Houston won their conference for the first time since 1984.

1996 Houston Cougars football
Conference USA co-champion
Liberty Bowl, L 17–30 vs. Syracuse
ConferenceConference USA
Record7–5 (4–1 C-USA)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorNeil Callaway (4th season)
Defensive coordinatorGene Smith (4th season)
Home stadiumHouston Astrodome
(Capacity: 59,969)
Robertson Stadium
(Capacity: 22,500)
1996 Conference USA football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
Houston +  4 –1   7 –5  
Southern Miss +  4 –1   8 –3  
Cincinnati  2 –3   6 –5  
Louisville  2 –3   5 –6  
Memphis  2 –3   4 –7  
Tulane  1 –4   2 –9  
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Houston did not play Rice for the first time since 1970.

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
August 31Sam Houston State*
W 43–2514,110[1]
September 77:00 pmat No. 17 LSU*
L 34–3580,303
September 146:00 pmat Pittsburgh*
W 42–35 OT27,648
September 212:30 pmNo. 15 USC*
FOXL 9–2621,035
October 5at Southwestern Louisiana*
W 31–2418,247
October 127:00 pmMemphis
  • Houston Astrodome
  • Houston
W 37–2015,553
October 19at Cincinnati
L 20–3119,064
October 265:30 pmNo. 9 North Carolina*
  • Houston Astrodome
  • Houston
FOX Sports NetL 14–4216,850
November 2at Tulane
W 20–1714,474[2]
November 9No. 20 Southern Miss
  • Robertson Stadium
  • Houston
W 56–4918,107
November 16Louisville
  • Houston Astrodome
  • Houston
FOX Sports NetW 38–719,651
December 272:00 pmvs. No. 23 Syracuse*
ESPNL 17–3049,163
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[3]

Roster
1996 Houston Cougars football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
QB 12 Chuck Clements Sr
C 66 Ben Fricke Jr
RB 23 Antowain Smith Sr
WR 84 Justin Davis So
WR 32 Halley Spencer Fr
OT 79 Marcus Spriggs Sr
G 78 Justin Stille Fr
QB 13 Brian Thiebaud Fr
WR 6 Charles West Sr
RB 34 Jermaine Williams Sr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
LB 46 John Autenreith Sr
LB 48 Keon Banks Jr
DE 90 Adriano Belli Fr
DT 60 Matthew Elam So
DT 99 Delondo Fields Jr
CB 35 William Fields Fr
LB 25 Freddie Fisher So
SS 24 Stedmon Forman So
DE 93 Rusty Foster Jr
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
KS 97 Sebastian Villarreal Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster

References
  1. "Clements passes UH past Bearkats". Victoria Advocate. September 1, 1996. Retrieved December 18, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "Houston, Villarreal kick Tulane 20–17". Sun Herald. November 3, 1996. Retrieved February 9, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "1996 Houston Cougars Schedule and Results".


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