1996 North Texas Mean Green football team
The 1996 North Texas Mean Green football team represented the University of North Texas in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Mean Green played their home games at the Fouts Field in Denton, Texas, and competed in the Big West Conference. They were led by third-year head coach Matt Simon. The team finished the regular season with a 5-6 overall record with a 3-2 mark in Big West play.
| 1996 North Texas Mean Green football | |
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| Conference | Big West Conference |
| 1996 record | 5-6 (3-2 Big West) |
| Head coach |
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| Defensive coordinator | Fred Bleil (1st season) |
| Home stadium | Fouts Field (Capacity: 30,500) |
| 1996 Big West Conference football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nevada + | 4 | – | 1 | 9 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah State + | 4 | – | 1 | 6 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Idaho | 3 | – | 2 | 6 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Texas | 3 | – | 2 | 5 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boise State | 1 | – | 4 | 2 | – | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Mexico State | 0 | – | 5 | 1 | – | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Return to a Division I-A conference
The 1996 campaign marked the first time North Texas had been in a Division I-A conference since leaving the Missouri Valley Conference after the 1974 season. The Mean Green had competed as a Division I-A independent from 1975-1982, before dropping down to the Division I-AA Southland Conference from 1983-1994. North Texas spent the 1995 season as a transitional Division I-A member and thus competed as an Independent.
Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Site | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 7 | Illinois State* | W 20-14 | |
| September 14 | at No. 18 Arizona State* | L 7-52 | |
| September 21 | at Texas A&M* | L 0-55 | |
| September 28 | Army* | L 10-27 | |
| October 5 | at Northern Illinois* | W 24-21 | |
| October 12 | Vanderbilt* |
| L 7-19 |
| October 19 | New Mexico State |
| W 13-0 |
| October 26 | Nevada |
| L 13-40 |
| November 2 | at Utah State | L 13-21 | |
| November 9 | at Boise State | W 30-27 | |
| November 16 | Idaho |
| W 24-17 |
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Schedule source:[1]
Roster
| 1996 North Texas Mean Green football team roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Offense
35 Starsky Banks RB 6-2 217 Fr. Richmond, TX
72 Warren Barber OL 6-2 250 Fr. Dallas, TX
70 Jayson Blaine OL 6-5 275 Sr. Phoenix, AR
20 Michael Boone RB 5-9 179 So
83 Fred McKinney WR 6-0 185 Fr. Flower Mound, TX
31 David Medina RB 5-10 176 So. Houston, TX
14 Jason Mills QB 6-4 195 Jr. Denton, TX
62 David Morgan OL 6-3 250 Fr
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Defense
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Special teams
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