1996 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team
# 1996 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team

The 1996 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team represented East Tennessee State University as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 1996 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by Mike Cavan in his fifth and final season as head coach, the Buccaneers compiled an overall record of 10–3 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, placing second in the SoCon behind Marshall. East Tennessee State advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship playoffs, where they beat Villanova in the first round before falling to Montana in the quarterfinals.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| August 29 | | Liberty* | | Memorial CenterJohnson City, TN | | W 55–27 | |
| September 7 | 4:00 pm | East Carolina* | | Dowdy–Ficklen StadiumGreenville, NC | | L 21–45 | 25,512 |
| September 14 | | Glenville State* | | Memorial CenterJohnson City, TN | | W 49–17 | |
| September 21 | | VMI | | Memorial CenterJohnson City, TN | | W 38–0 | 4,711 |
| September 28 | | Western Carolina | | Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire StadiumCullowhee, NC | | W 49–10 | |
| October 5 | | No. 4 Appalachian State | | Memorial CenterJohnson City, TN | | W 31–10 | 10,416 |
| October 12 | | The Citadel | No. 16 | Johnson Hagood StadiumCharleston, SC | | W 41–21 | 16,212 |
| October 26 | | No. 8 Furman | No. 14 | Memorial CenterJohnson City, TN | | W 21–19 | 6,904 |
| November 2 | | Georgia Southern | No. 9 | Paulson StadiumStatesboro, GA | | W 17–14 | 12,611 |
| November 9 | 2:00 pm | No. 1 Marshall | No. 7 | Memorial CenterJohnson City, TN | WSAZ | L 10–34 | 13,131 |
| November 16 | | Chattanooga | No. 11 | Finley StadiumChattanooga, TN | | W 28–24 | 6,190 |
| November 30 | | No. 11 Villanova* | No. 8 | Memorial CenterJohnson City, TN (NCAA Division I-AA First Round) | | W 35–29 | 4,939 |
| December 7 | | No. 2 Montana* | No. 8 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT (NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal) | | L 14–44 | 15,025 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||||
