1996 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

1996 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	2–9 (1–7 Big Ten)
Head coach	Lou Tepper (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Paul Schudel (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Denny Marcin (5th season)
MVP	Robert Holcombe
Captains	Rodney Byrd Ty Douthard Paul Marshall Dennis Stallings
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Seasons ←  1995 1997  →

1996 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 2 Ohio State +		7	–	1					11	–	1
No. 15 Northwestern +		7	–	1					9	–	3
No. 7 Penn State		6	–	2					11	–	2
No. 18 Iowa		6	–	2					9	–	3
No. 20 Michigan		5	–	3					8	–	4
Michigan State		5	–	3					6	–	6
Wisconsin		3	–	5					8	–	5
Purdue		2	–	6					3	–	8
Minnesota		1	–	7					4	–	7
Indiana		1	–	7					3	–	8
Illinois		1	–	7					2	–	9
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1996 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their fifth and final year under head coach Lou Tepper, the Fighting Illini compiled a 2–9 record (1–7 in conference games), finished in a three-way tie for ninth and last place in the Big Ten, and were outscored by a total of 372 to 190. ^[1]

The team's statistical leaders included quarterback Scott Weaver (1,701 passing yards), running back Robert Holcombe (1,281 rushing yards, 78 points scored), and wide receiver Jason Dulick (53 receptions for 614 yards). ^[2]

The team played its home games at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	2:30 pm	at No. 12 Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	ABC	L 8–20	105,992
September 7	2:30 pm	No. 19 USC *	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	ABC	L 3–55	56,504
September 14	9:00 pm	at Arizona *	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	FSN	L 0–41	43,012
September 21	1:00 pm	Akron *	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL		W 38–7	48,285
October 5	1:00 pm	Indiana	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)		W 46–43 2OT	55,534
October 12	11:20 am	at Michigan State	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	ESPN Plus	L 14–42	71,639
October 26	11:20 am	at No. 11 Northwestern	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL (rivalry)	ESPN Plus	L 24–27	48,187
November 2	11:20 am	No. 25 Iowa	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	ESPN Plus	L 21–31	54,381
November 9	11:30 am	No. 2 Ohio State	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Illibuck)	ESPN	L 0–48	54,412
November 16	6:00 pm	at Minnesota	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN		L 21–23	34,321
November 23	1:00 pm	Wisconsin	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL		L 15–35	37,814
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[3]

Roster

1996 Illinois Fighting Illini football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 15 Justin Cella Fr TE 86 Matt Cushing Jr TE 87 Mark Day Jr WR 1 Michael Dean Fr RB 7 Ty Douthard Sr WR 83 Jason Dulick Sr RB 35 Robert Holcombe Jr QB 9 Kirk Johnson Fr C 69 Chris Koerwitz Sr OL 72 Jay Kuchenbecker Sr OL 67 J. P. Machado So WR 22 Rob Majoy So WR 6 George McDonald-Ashford  So OL 60 Ryan Schau So OL 62 Tom Schau So QB 11 Scott Weaver Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 48 Danny Clark Fr DL 92 Tom Claussen Sr DL 66 Garrett Johnson So LB 41 Eric Guenther So DB 39 Mike Gusich So DT 76 Tremaine Halley Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Lou Tepper Coordinators/assistant coaches Paul Schudel – Offensive coordinator Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

References

1. "1996 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 24, 2025.
2. "1996 Illinois Fighting Illini Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 24, 2025.
3. "fightingillini.com". Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved November 20, 2012.