1996 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

1996 North Carolina Tar Heels football
Gator Bowl champion
Gator Bowl, W 20–13 vs. West Virginia
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 10
AP	No. 10
Record	10–2 (6–2 ACC)
Head coach	Mack Brown (9th season)
Offensive coordinator	Greg Davis (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Carl Torbush (9th season)
Base defense	4–3
Captain	Greg Ellis, James Hamilton, Leon Johnson, Freddie Jones, Chris Keldorf, Jeff Saturday, Brian Simmons, Rick Terry
Home stadium	Kenan Memorial Stadium
Seasons ←  1995 1997  →

1996 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 3 Florida State $		8	–	0					11	–	1
No. 10 North Carolina		6	–	2					10	–	2
Clemson		6	–	2					7	–	5
Virginia		5	–	3					7	–	5
Georgia Tech		4	–	4					5	–	6
Maryland		3	–	5					5	–	6
NC State		3	–	5					3	–	8
Wake Forest		1	–	7					3	–	8
Duke		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1996 North Carolina Tar Heels football team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Tar Heels played their home games at Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and competed in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The team was led by head coach Mack Brown.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 31	3:30 p.m.	Clemson		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	ABC	W 45–0	47,500	[1]
September 7	6:00 p.m.	at No. 9 Syracuse *	No. 24	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY	ESPN2	W 27–10	48,097	[2]
September 21	3:30 p.m.	Georgia Tech	No. 11	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	ABC	W 16–0	50,000	[3]
September 28	3:30 p.m.	at No. 2 Florida State	No. 11	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ABC	L 0–13	80,120	[4]
October 5	6:30 p.m.	at Wake Forest	No. 15	Groves Stadium Winston-Salem, NC (rivalry)		W 45–6	25,681	[5]
October 12	7:00 p.m.	Maryland	No. 13	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	ESPN2	W 38–7	47,500	[6]
October 26	6:30 p.m.	at Houston *	No. 9	Houston Astrodome Houston, TX		W 42–14	16,850	[7]
November 2	12:00 p.m.	NC State	No. 8	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC (rivalry)	JPS	W 52–20	47,000	[8]
November 9	1:30 p.m.	Louisville *	No. 8	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC		W 28–10	46,000	[9]
November 16	3:30 p.m.	at No. 24 Virginia	No. 6	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA (South's Oldest Rivalry)	ABC	L 17–20	42,500	[10]
November 23	12:00 p.m.	at Duke	No. 13	Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC (Victory Bell)	JPS	W 27–10	30,264	[11]
January 1, 1997	12:30 p.m.	vs. No. 25 West Virginia *	No. 12	Jacksonville Municipal Stadium Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl)	NBC	W 20–13	52,103	[12]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[13]

Rankings

See also: 1996 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend:██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked т = Tied with team above or below

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
AP	—	—	24	12	11	11	15	13	11	9	8	8	6т	13	13	13	12	10
Coaches	—		22	13	13	11	17	14	11	9	8	8	7	14	14	14	13	10

Roster

1996 North Carolina Tar Heels football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 4 Ocatvus Barnes Jr FB 6 Chris Watson Sr TB 12 Leon Johnson Sr QB 15 Chris Keldorf Jr WR 18 Na Brown So WR 23 LC Stevens So RB 27 Jonathan Linton Jr OT 51 Mike Baxter Jr G 63 Mike Hobgood Jr C 64 Jeff Saturday Jr G 74 Jerness Gethers Sr OT 75 Byron Thomas Sr TE 86 Ebenezer Ekuban So TE 92 Freddie Jones Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class S 2 Omar Brown Jr S 3 Greg Williams Jr LB 9 Keith Newman So CB 29 Robert Williams So CB 31 Dré Bly  Fr LB 41 Brian Simmons Jr LB 53 Kivuusama Mays Jr LB 54 James Hamilton Sr DT 70 Andre Purvis Sr DT 84 Nate Hobgood-Chittick Jr DT 85 Chris Mintz  Fr DE 87 Greg Ellis Jr DT 90 Vonnie Holliday Jr DE 91 Mike Pringley So DT 94 Rick Terry Sr DE 96 Russell Davis So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 40 David Secrest Sr	Head coach Mack Brown Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

References

1. "UNC makes Tigers Heel". The Greenville News. September 1, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
2. "Heels' QB too tall an order for SU". Press & Sun-Bulletin. September 8, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Tar Heels topple Tech 16–0". The News-Herald. September 22, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
4. "North Carolina shut down by sack-happy Florida State". The Commercial Appeal. September 29, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
5. "Tar Heels' Johnson knocks off records and Wake Forest, 45–6". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. October 6, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
6. "Maryland drops fourth straight game". The Daily Times. October 13, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
7. "North Carolina swamps Houstin in Astrodome". San Angelo Standard-Times. October 27, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
8. "A Pack of disasters". The Herald-Sun. November 3, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
9. "U of L shoots itself in foot vs. Heels, 28–10". The Courier-Journal. November 10, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
10. "The Cavs have big comeback". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. November 17, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
11. "Johnson goes out with a bang; Tar Heels put end to Devils' misery". The Herald-Sun. November 24, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
12. "Backup quarterback stars for Tar Heels". The Cincinnati Enquirer. January 2, 1997. Retrieved February 10, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
13. "1996 North Carolina Tar Heels Schedule and Results". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 10, 2024.