1976 Houston Cougars football team

1976 Houston Cougars football
Houston's 1976 Southwest Conference championship trophy
SWC co-champion Cotton Bowl Classic champion
Cotton Bowl Classic, W 30–21 vs. Maryland
Conference	Southwest Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 4
Record	10–2 (7–1 SWC)
Head coach	Bill Yeoman (15th season)
Offensive scheme	Houston Veer
Defensive coordinator	Don Todd (5th season)
Home stadium	Houston Astrodome
Seasons ←  1975 1977  →

1976 Southwest Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Houston +	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 13 Texas Tech +	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 7 Texas A&M	6	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
Baylor	4	–	3	–	1			7	–	3	–	1
Texas	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	5	–	1
Arkansas	3	–	4	–	1			5	–	5	–	1
Rice	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
SMU	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
TCU	0	–	8	–	0			0	–	11	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1976 Houston Cougars football team, also known as the Houston Cougars, Houston, or UH, represented the University of Houston in the 1976 NCAA Division I football season. It was the 31st year of season play for Houston. The team was coached by 15th-year head football coach, Bill Yeoman. The team played its home games at the Astrodome, a 53,000-person capacity stadium off-campus in Houston. It was Houston's first year of season play as a full member of the Southwest Conference eligible as champions. Upon winning the conference as co-champions, the Cougars competed against the Maryland Terrapins in the Cotton Bowl Classic, and finished the post-season at an all-time highest national ranking in the history of the program. Senior defensive tackle Wilson Whitley received the Lombardi Award following the season. Future UH and Baylor head coach Art Briles played on the team.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 11	at Baylor		Baylor Stadium Waco, TX (rivalry)	ABC	W 23–5	37,500	[1]
September 18	at Florida *		Florida Field Gainesville, FL		L 14–49	49,820	[2]
September 25	No. 9 Texas A&M		Rice Stadium Houston, TX		W 21–10	70,001	[3]
October 9	West Texas State *		Houston Astrodome Houston, TX		W 50–7	23,498	[4]
October 16	at SMU	No. 19	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (rivalry)		W 29–6	28,204	[5]
October 23	No. 15 Arkansas	No. 14	Rice Stadium Houston, TX		L 7–14	47,192	[6]
October 30	TCU		Houston Astrodome Houston, TX		W 49–21	18,263	[7]
November 6	at No. 20 Texas	No. 19	Memorial Stadium Austin, TX		W 30–0	77,809	[8]
November 20	at No. 5 Texas Tech	No. 9	Jones Stadium Lubbock, TX (rivalry)	ABC	W 27–19	45,102	[9]
November 27	at Rice	No. 7	Rice Stadium Houston, TX (rivalry)		W 42–20	32,212	[10]
December 4	Miami (FL) *	No. 6	Houston Astrodome Houston, TX		W 21–16	20,849	[11]
January 1	vs. No. 4 Maryland *	No. 6	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic)	CBS	W 30–21	58,500	[12]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

at Baylor

See also: 1976 Baylor Bears football team and Baylor–Houston football rivalry

Game One – Houston Cougars (0–0) at Baylor Bears (0–0) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	0	0	6	17	23
Bears	5	0	0	0	5

at Baylor Stadium • Waco, Texas

• Date: September 11, 1976
• Game time: 3:20 p.m. CDT
• Game attendance: 37,500
• TV announcers (ABC): Verne Lundquist (play-by-play) and Lee Grosscup (color commentator)

Game information
First Quarter (0:00) BAY – (0:00) BAY – Second Quarter No scoring plays Third Quarter (0:00) HOU – Fourth Quarter (0:00) HOU – (0:00) HOU – (0:00) HOU –

Statistics	HOU	BAY
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Houston	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Baylor	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

at Florida

See also: 1976 Florida Gators football team

Game Two – Houston Cougars (1–0) at Florida Gators (0–1) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	0	7	7	0	14
Gators	14	14	14	7	49

at Florida Field • Gainesville, Florida

• Date: September 18, 1976
• Game time: 6:30 p.m. CDT
• Game attendance: 49,820

Game information
First Quarter (0:00) FLA – (0:00) FLA – Second Quarter (0:00) FLA – (0:00) FLA – (0:00) HOU – Third Quarter (0:00) FLA – (0:00) HOU – (0:00) FLA – Fourth Quarter (0:00) FLA –

Statistics	HOU	FLA
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Houston	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Florida	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

at Texas

See also: 1976 Texas Longhorns football team

Game Eight – No. 19 Houston Cougars (5–2) at No. 20 Texas Longhorns (3–2–1) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 19 Cougars	7	3	6	14	30
No. 20 Longhorns	0	0	0	0	0

at Memorial Stadium • Austin, Texas

• Date: November 6, 1976
• Game time: 3:30 p.m. CST
• Game attendance: 77,809

Game information
First Quarter (2:47) HOU – Second Quarter (0:36) HOU – Third Quarter (11:35) HOU – (2:58) HOU – Fourth Quarter (11:28) HOU – (3:51) HOU –

Statistics	HOU	TEX
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Houston	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Texas	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

vs Maryland (Cotton Bowl Classic)

See also: 1976 Maryland Terrapins football team and 1977 Cotton Bowl Classic

1977 Cotton Bowl Classic: No. 4 Maryland Terrapins (11–0) vs No. 6 Houston Cougars (9–2) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 4 Terrapins	0	7	7	7	21
No. 6 Cougars	21	6	0	3	30

at Cotton Bowl • Dallas, Texas

• Date: January 1, 1977
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. CST
• Game attendance: 58,500
• Referee: James Artley (SEC)
• TV announcers (CBS): Lindsey Nelson (play-by-play) and Paul Hornung (color commentator)

Game information

First quarter (6:27) HOU – Dyral Thomas 11-yard run, (Lennard Coplin kick) (Drive: 11 plays, 80 yards, 0:00; Houston 7–0) (3:13) HOU – Alois Blackwell 33-yard run, (Lennard Coplin kick) (Drive: 3 plays, 38 yards, 0:00; Houston 14–0) (0:51) HOU – Alois Blackwell 1-yard run, (Lennard Coplin kick) (Drive: 5 plays, 24 yards, 0:00; Houston 21–0) Second quarter (9:36) MD – Mark Manges 6-yard run, (Ed Loncak kick) (Drive: 8 plays, 49 yards, 0:00; Houston 21–7) (0:55) HOU – Don Bass 33-yard pass from Danny Davis, (Lennard Coplin kick fail) (Drive: 8 plays, 35 yards, 0:00; Houston 27–7) Third quarter (1:41) MD – Eric Sievers 11-yard pass from Mark Manges, (Mike Sochko kick) (Drive: 7 plays, 97 yards, 0:00; Houston 27–14) Fourth quarter (8:46) MD – Tim Wilson 1-yard run, (Mike Sochko kick) (Drive: 6 plays, 30 yards, 0:00; Houston 27–21) (0:18) HOU – Lennard Coplin 28-yard field goal (Drive: 14 plays, 81 yards, 0:00; Houston 30–21)

Statistics	MD	HOU
First downs	17	20
Total yards	299	428
Rushing yards	120	320
Passing yards	179	108
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	17–32–0	5–8–0
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Maryland	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Houston	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

Poll rankings

Week-to-Week Rankings
Legend:██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week.

Poll	Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Final
AP	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	19	14	NR	19	12	9	7	6	4

Coaching staff

Name	Position	Alma mater (Year)	Year at Houston
Bill Yeoman	Head coach/offensive coordinator	Army (1948)	15th
Don Todd	Defensive coordinator	Hardin–Simmons (1964)	5th
Melvin Brown	Offensive backs coach	Oklahoma (1954)	15th
Clarence Daniel	Defensive backs coach	Huron (1955)	5th
Ronny Peacock	Defensive backs coach	Houston (1972)	3rd
Billy Willingham	Offensive line coach	TCU (1951)	10th
Elmer Redd	Offensive backfield coach	Prairie View A&M (1950)	7th
Gary Mullins	Linebackers coach	Houston (1972)	2nd
Joe Arenas	Wide receivers coach	Nebraska-Omaha (1951)	14th

References

1. "UH downs Baylor in SWC debut". The Kilgore News Herald. September 12, 1976. Retrieved March 29, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
2. "Florida eases past Houston by 49–14". The Odessa American. September 19, 1976. Retrieved October 29, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Cougars claw Aggies, 21–10". San Angelo Standard-Times. September 26, 1976. Retrieved March 29, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
4. "Houston skins Buffaloes". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. October 10, 1976. Retrieved March 29, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
5. "Houston Cougars whip SMU, 29–6". Del Rio News Herald. October 17, 1976. Retrieved March 29, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
6. "Razorbacks hand Cougars first SWC setback". The Odessa American. October 24, 1976. Retrieved March 29, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
7. "Houston Cougars rattle Horned Frogs". The Tyler Courier-Times. October 31, 1976. Retrieved March 29, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
8. "Cougars smother Longhorns 30–0". The Galveston Daily News. November 7, 1976. Retrieved March 29, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
9. "Sophomore q-back sparks Houston upset victory". Hobbs Daily News-Sun. November 21, 1976. Retrieved March 29, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
10. "Cougs boil Rice; Cotton Bowl bound". The Marshall News Messenger. November 28, 1976. Retrieved March 29, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
11. "Cougars quell Hurricanes". The Shreveport Times. December 5, 1976. Retrieved March 29, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
12. "Houston stuns Maryland in Cotton Bowl". The Marshall News Messenger. January 2, 1977. Retrieved January 26, 2024– via Newspapers.com.