American college football season
The 1976 Purdue Boilermakers football team was an American football team that represented Purdue University in the 1976 Big Ten Conference football season . In their fourth and final season under head coach Alex Agase , the Boilermakers compiled a 5–6 record (4–4 against conference opponents) and finished in a four-way tie for third place in the Big Ten standings.[1]
Running back Scott Dierking led the team with 1,000 rushing yards and 66 points scored.[2] He was selected by his teammates as the team's most valuable player and finished second to Rob Lytle in the voting for the Chicago Tribune Silver Football , awarded to the Big Ten's most valuable player.[3] Dierking was also named by the Associated Press (AP) as a second-team All-American[4] and by the AP and United Press International (UPI) as a first-team running back on the 1976 All-Big Ten Conference football team .[5] [6]
Other statistical leaders included quarterback Mark Vitali with 1,184 passing yards.[2] In addition to Dierking, three other Purdue players received honors on the 1976 All-Big Ten team: offensive guard Connie Zelencik (AP-1, UPI-2); defensive end Blane Smith (AP-1, UPI-2); and defensive back Paul Beery (AP-2, UPI-1).[5] [6]
Schedule [ edit ] Date Opponent Site Result Attendance Source September 11 Northwestern W 31–1946,311 September 18 at Notre Dame * L 0–2359,075 September 25 No. 19 USC * Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN L 13–3165,425 October 2 Miami (OH) * Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN W 42–2055,102 October 9 at Wisconsin W 18–1679,111 October 16 Illinois Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (rivalry ) L 17–2166,716 October 23 at No. 9 Ohio State L 3–2487,898 October 30 at Michigan State L 13–4552,222 November 6 No. 1 Michigan Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN W 16–1457,205 [7] [8] November 13 at Iowa W 21–044,763 November 20 Indiana L 14–2063,220 *Non-conference game HomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
[9]
Personnel [ edit ] 1976 Purdue Boilermakers football team roster Players Coaches Offense Pos. # Name Class WR Reggie Arnold QB Steve Barr RB Scott Dierking (C) Sr TE Tim Eubank G Tom Gibson OT John Lafary OT Jim LeFeber RB Bennie Leverett RB Rick Moss WR Jappy Oliver FB John Skibinski WR Raymond Smith RB Ricky Smith WR Jesse Townsend C Jay Venzin QB Mark Vitali C Rich Wetendorf TE Nigel Wirgowski G Connie Zelencik
Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 48 Fred Arrington DT Chris Barr S Paul Beery DE Kim Cripe DT Cleveland Crosby CB Pat Harris CB Jerome King MG Ken Loushin LB Bob Mannella LB Kevin Motts CB , RB Mike Northington DE Blane Smith (C) S , K Rock Supan
Special teams Pos. # Name Class P Dave Eagin K Scott Sovereen K John Turner
Head coach Coordinators/assistant coaches George Catavolos (DB) Fred Conti Jack Ellis Bob Geiger Jerry Hartman Pat Naughton Tom Roggeman Rick Venturi Mike Wynn Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt
Game summaries [ edit ] Northwestern [ edit ] At Notre Dame [ edit ] Game information First quarter
ND – Dave Reeve 39-yard field goal, 0:47. Notre Dame 3–0. Drive: Second quarter
ND – Mark McLane 33-yard pass from Al Hunter (Dave Reeve kick). Notre Dame 10–0. Drive: Third quarter
ND – Rick Slager 1-yard run (Dave Reeve kick). Notre Dame 17–0. Drive: Fourth quarter
ND – Al Hunter 2-yard run (kick failed). Notre Dame 23–0. Drive: 49 yards. Top passers Top rushers Top receivers
[10]
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Miami (OH) [ edit ] Scott Dierking 28 rushes, 211 yards John Skibinski 15 rushes, 121 yards At Wisconsin [ edit ] Paul Beery's fourth interception and Rock Supan's 20-yard field goal with a little over two minutes remaining lifted Purdue to victory.[11]
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(January 2021 )
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At Michigan State [ edit ] This section is empty. You can help by
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Michigan [ edit ] #1 Michigan at Purdue 1 2 3 4 Total Michigan 7 0 7 0 14 • Purdue 7 6 0 3 16
Scoring summary 1 MICH Leach 8-yard run (Wood kick) MICH 7-0 1 PUR Dierking 4-yard run (Supan kick) Tied 7-7 2 PUR Dierking 25-yard run (kick blocked) PUR 13-7 3 MICH Smith 65-yard pass from Leach (Wood kick) MICH 14-13 4 4:20 PUR Supan 23-yard field goal PUR 16-14
PUR: Scott Dierking 38 rushes, 162 yards
At Iowa [ edit ] 1 2 3 4 Total • Purdue 6 8 7 0 21 Iowa 0 0 0 0 0
Scoring summary 1 Purdue Vitali 3-yard run (kick failed) Purdue 6-0 2 Purdue Vitali 20-yard run (Dierking run) Purdue 14-0 3 Purdue Vitali 1-yard run (Supan kick) Purdue 21-0
[12]
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(January 2021 )
Statistics [ edit ] Passing [ edit ] Player Comp Att Yards TD INT Mark Vitali 73 172 1,184 0 16 Scott Dierking 92
Rushing [ edit ] Player Att Yards TD Scott Dierking 201 1,000 11 John Skibinski 173 871 Mark Vitali 100 317
Receiving [ edit ] Player Rec Yards TD Reggie Arnold 16 287 Raymond Smith 11 233 John Skibinski 13 118
[13]
Red Mackey Award: Mark Vitali
References [ edit ] ^ "1976 Big Ten Conference Year Summary" . SR/College Football . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 24, 2017 . ^ a b "1976 Purdue Boilermakers Stats" . SR/College Football . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 1, 2017 . ^ Roy Damer (December 25, 1975). "Lytle named Big 10 MVP: Purdue's Dierking is runnerup" . Chicago Tribune . p. 2-1. ^ "Tony Dorsett tops AP All-American Team" . Jefferson City Post Tribune . December 2, 1976. p. 13. ^ a b "Michigan, Ohio State Pace All-Big Ten Team" . Toledo Blade (AP story) . December 3, 1976. p. 27. ^ a b "Illini place two on All-Big 10" . The Pantagraph . November 24, 1976. p. A11. ^ "Purdue Stuns No. 1 Michigan" . The Victoria Advocate (AP story) . November 7, 1976. ^ "Purdue stuns No. 1 Michigan, Pittsburgh may get top ranking" . The Bulletin (AP story) . November 8, 1976. ^ "2022 Purdue Football Record Book" (PDF) . Purdue University Athletics. p. 89. Retrieved January 29, 2023 . ^ Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 Sept 19. Pg. 14B. Retrieved 2021-Jan-11. ^ Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 Oct 09. Retrieved 2018-Dec-30. ^ Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 Nov 14. ^ Broyles, Bob and Paul Guido. 50 Years of College Football: A Modern History of America's Most Colorful Sport
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