ASU welcomes back 1996 Rose Bowl team at 30th anniversary over family weekend

TEMPE — Arizona State’s 1996 football team that went 11-1 and made the Rose Bowl reunited at its 30th anniversary and was recognized during Saturday’s game against Colorado.

ASU, ranked No. 2 in the nation at the time, came up just shy of beating No. 4 Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. Jake Plummer’s go-ahead touchdown in the last two minutes was outdone by one from Ohio State quarterback Joe Germaine in the last 20 seconds for a 20-17 final.

“We’ve got almost 40 to 50 members of this team back for a dinner that we’ll be a part of and then get a chance to recognize them at halftime,” ASU athletic director Graham Rossini told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo Thursday. “It’s almost 30 years to the date of when they clinched that Rose Bowl berth and hard to believe that was 30 years ago.

“I remember watching this team play on TV … and have gotten to know Jake Plummer really well as I’ve gotten back to ASU and get to point out to him that he’s a big reason I wanted to come to ASU in the first place.”

Head coach Kenny Dillingham said Monday he planned to bring the 1996 team into the locker room around the current team so the younger players get a better understanding of the legacy that they can leave.

“The cool part is, I mean, in my opinion, like some of the guys that were here two years ago (and won a Big 12 title), they’re going to get to do that in 30 years too,” Dillingham said.

“So it’s going to be cool to see this team in ‘96 come back to our guys and tell them what ASU football means to them, while our guys and the culture and the root of these guys hunt to become a team that gets to do that one day: to leave a legacy and to leave a memory that one day you can come back as a whole unit.”

The anniversary coincided with the Sun Devils’ family weekend, which drew a sold-out attendance after a streak of 10 sellouts was broken at the previous home game.

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