Tags: National Collegiate Athletic Association Team Season.
The 1996 UCF Golden Knights football season was Gene McDowell’s twelfth as the head coach of the Golden Knights. McDowell’s 1986 team compiled a 6–5 overall record. The season marked UCF’s first as a member of Division I-A officially joining on September 1 1996. At that time the Knights became the first football program to play in four different NCAA divisions (III II I-AA and I-A).Quarterback Daunte Culpepper led the team to rank 16th in the nation in passing offense.
