The 1996 Kentucky Wildcats football team represented the University of Kentucky

University of Kentucky

The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...

 in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season

1996 NCAA Division I-A football season

The 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with the Florida Gators crowned National Champions, but not as unanimously as the Bowl Alliance would have hoped....

. The Wildcats scored 138 points while allowing 322 points; they opened the season with 1 win and 6 losses, and then after the firing of head coach Bill Curry

Bill Curry

William Alexander "Bill" Curry is an American football coach and former player. He is the current head coach at Georgia State University, which began competing in college football in 2010...

 was announced, the Wildcats won three straight SEC

Southeastern Conference

The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...

 games before losing their final game to finish 4-7.

Season

Kentucky opened with a 38-14 loss to Louisville, then lost 24-3 at Cincinnati due to repeated special teams breakdowns. A game in a driving rainstorm against Indiana remained a scoreless tie until the final seconds when a Kentucky field goal led to a 3-0 win. A 65-0 loss at Florida and 35-7 loss at Alabama were followed by Kentucky blowing a second half lead to lose 25-14 to South Carolina. After a 41-14 loss at LSU, Kentucky stood at 1-5 on the season and the firing of head coach Bill Curry

Bill Curry

William Alexander "Bill" Curry is an American football coach and former player. He is the current head coach at Georgia State University, which began competing in college football in 2010...

 was announced. The Wildcats responded by reeling off three victories in a row: 24-17 against Georgia, 24-21 against Mississippi State and 25-0 against Vanderbilt. A 56-10 loss to Tennessee ended the season with the Wildcats at 4-7.

Kentucky's victories over Georgia and Mississippi State kept those two teams out of bowl games, as each finished 5-6 due to their losses to Kentucky. Kentucky's 25-0 shutout of Vanderbilt on November 16 was the team's first shutout since a 21-0 win against #25 Ole Miss on October 2, 1993. Kentucky played four road games against ranked teams in 1996. Kentucky's three game SEC win streak (Georgia, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt) was its first since 1993 (South Carolina, Ole Miss, LSU). This was the first college season for highly touted freshman quarterback Tim Couch

Tim Couch

Timothy Scott "Tim" Couch is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at the University of Kentucky...

, who later went on to be a finalist for the Heisman Trophy

Heisman Trophy

The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...

 and was the #1 overall pick in the 1999 NFL Draft

1999 NFL Draft

The 1999 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 17-18, 1999...

.

Schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Wildcats points	Opponents	Record
1	Aug. 31	(0-0, 5-6)	Loss	14	38	0-1
2	Sept. 7	at (0-1, 6-5)	Loss	3	24	0-2
3	Sept. 21	(2-0, 3-8)	Win	3	0	1-2
4	Sept. 28	at #1 Florida 1996 Florida Gators football team The 1996 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. This was the team's seventh season under head coach Steve Spurrier...  (3-0, 12-1)	Loss	0	65	1-3
5	Oct. 5	at #13 Alabama 1996 Alabama Crimson Tide football team The 1996 Alabama Crimson Tide football team represented the University of Alabama for the 1996–97 college football season, competing in the Western Division in the Southeastern Conference. Gene Stallings led the Crimson Tide to a 10–3 record in his final year with the program...  (4-0, 10-3)	Loss	7	35	1-4
6	Oct. 12	South Carolina 1996 South Carolina Gamecocks football team The 1996 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina in the Southeastern Conference during the college football 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Gamecocks were led by head coach Brad Scott and played their home games in Williams-Brice Stadium in...  (2-3, 6-5)	Loss	14	25	1-5
7	Oct. 19	at #17 LSU 1996 LSU Tigers football team The 1996 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. LSU finished with a 10–2 overall record after defeating Clemson Tigers, 10–7, in the Peach Bowl...  (4-1, 10-2)	Loss	14	41	1-6
8	Oct. 26	Georgia (3-3, 5-6)	Win	24	17	2-6
9	Nov. 9	(3-4, 5-6)	Win	24	21	3-6
10	Nov. 16	(2-7, 2-9)	Win	25	0	4-6
11	Nov. 23	at #9 Tennessee 1996 Tennessee Volunteers football team 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 Phillip Fulmer was the head coach of the...  (7-2, 10-2)	Loss	10	56	4-7

Team players in the 1997 NFL Draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL Club
Van Hiles	Defensive back	5	141	Chicago Bears 1997 Chicago Bears season The 1997 Chicago Bears season was their 78th regular season completed in the National Football League. The club posted a 4-12 record under head coach Dave Wannstedt. It was the club's first 4 win season since the club posted a 4-10 record in 1975.-Schedule:...
Chris Ward	Defensive end	7	205	Baltimore Ravens 1997 Baltimore Ravens season The 1997 Baltimore Ravens season was the team's second year in the National Football League. While the Ravens failed to finished above 5th in AFC Central they improved from 4–12–0 in 1996 to 6–9–1.-NFL Draft:-Schedule:-Roster:-Staff:-References:...

Postseason

Leading rusher Derick Logan, the SEC Freshman Player of the Year, did not return. Head coach Bill Curry was replaced by Hal Mumme

Hal Mumme

Hal Clay Mumme is an American college football coach. He is currently the head coach at McMurry University.- Playing career :...

. Sometime-starting quarterback Billy Jack Haskins transferred to Rhode Island after Mumme announced that Tim Couch

Tim Couch

Timothy Scott "Tim" Couch is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at the University of Kentucky...

would take the starting spot.