1976 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

1976 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Gator Bowl champion
Gator Bowl, W 20–9 vs. Penn State
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 12
AP	No. 12
Record	9–3
Head coach	Dan Devine (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Merv Johnson (2nd season)
Captains	Willie Fry Mark McLane
Home stadium	Notre Dame Stadium
Seasons ←  1975 1977  →

1976 NCAA Division I independents football records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Pittsburgh			–					12	–	0	–	0
No. 17 Rutgers			–					11	–	0	–	0
San Diego State			–					10	–	1	–	0
No. 12 Notre Dame			–					9	–	3	–	0
Colgate			–					8	–	2	–	0
Boston College			–					8	–	3	–	0
Cincinnati			–					8	–	3	–	0
Memphis State			–					7	–	4	–	0
North Texas State *			–					7	–	4	–	0
Southern Illinois			–					7	–	4	–	0
Penn State			–					7	–	5	–	0
Villanova			–					6	–	4	–	1
South Carolina			–					6	–	5	–	0
Virginia Tech			–					6	–	5	–	0
Army			–					5	–	6	–	0
Florida State			–					5	–	6	–	0
Illinois State			–					5	–	6	–	0
Richmond			–					5	–	6	–	0
West Virginia			–					5	–	6	–	0
Georgia Tech			–					4	–	6	–	1
Temple			–					4	–	6	–	0
Air Force			–					4	–	7	–	0
Dayton			–					4	–	7	–	0
Louisville			–					4	–	7	–	0
Marshall			–					4	–	7	–	0
Navy			–					4	–	7	–	0
Indiana State			–					3	–	7	–	0
Hawaii			–					3	–	8	–	0
Holy Cross			–					3	–	8	–	0
Miami (FL)			–					3	–	8	–	0
Syracuse			–					3	–	8	–	0
Utah State			–					3	–	8	–	0
Northeast Louisiana			–					2	–	9	–	0
Southern Miss			–					2	–	9	–	0
Tulane			–					2	–	9	–	0
North Texas State (originally 6–5) was awarded a forfeit win after Mississippi State was found to be using an ineligible player. [1] Rankings from AP Poll

The 1976 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1976 NCAA Division I football season.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 11	4:20 p.m.	No. 9 Pittsburgh	No. 11	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	ABC	L 10–31	59,075
September 18	2:30 p.m.	Purdue		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		W 23–0	59,075
September 25	2:30 p.m.	at Northwestern		Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL (rivalry)		W 48–0	44,396
October 2	1:30 p.m.	at Michigan State	No. 18	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)		W 24–6	77,081
October 16	2:30 p.m.	Oregon	No. 14	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN		W 41–0	59,075
October 23	1:10 p.m.	at No. 19 South Carolina	No. 12	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC		W 13–6	56,721	[2]
October 30	1:00 p.m.	vs. Navy	No. 11	Municipal Stadium Cleveland, OH (rivalry)		W 27–21	61,172
November 6	1:30 p.m.	at Georgia Tech	No. 11	Grant Field Atlanta, GA (rivalry)		L 14–23	50,079	[3]
November 13	12:50 p.m.	No. 10 Alabama	No. 18	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN	ABC	W 21–18	59,075	[4] [5]
November 20	1:30 p.m.	Miami (FL)	No. 13	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		W 40–27	59,075
November 27	4:00 p.m.	at No. 3 USC	No. 13	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	ABC	L 13–17	76,561
December 27	9:00 p.m.	vs. No. 20 Penn State	No. 15	Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl, rivalry)	ABC	W 20–9	67,827
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

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Personnel

1976 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB Willard Browner TE 83 Doug Buth Sr OL Mike Carney RB Tom Domin TE 87 John Driscoll Jr RB 40 Terry Eurick Jr RB Vagas Ferguson QB Gary Forystek WR 82 Kris Haines So WR Speedy Hart RB 30 Jerome Heavens So OL Ted Horansky RB 25 Al Hunter Jr OT 62 Dave Huffman So G 65 Ernie Hughes Jr WR 80 Dan Kelleher Sr RB 21 Dan Knott Jr QB Rusty Lisch  Fr TE 81 Ken MacAfee Jr OT 71 Steve McDaniel Jr RB Mark McLane (C) G 60 Howard Meyer So QB 3 Joe Montana So G 57 Elton Moore Sr RB 14 Steve Orsini Jr RB Steve Schmitz QB 11 Rick Slager OT 50 Bob Tull Jr OL Harry Woebkenberg	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB Doug Becker S 20 Luther Bradley Jr S 33 Jim Browner So DE 89 Ross Browner Jr DB Ted Burgmeier DL Mike Calhoun S 28 Ross Christensen Jr LB 24 Nick DeCicco Jr DT 72 Ken Dike Jr S 41 John Dubenetzky Sr LB 42 Tom Eastman Sr DE 94 Willie Fry  (C) Jr LB 55 Bob Golic So S 10 Randy Harrison Jr LB 58 Steve Heimkreiter So LB 51 Pete Johnson Jr LB 54 Marv Russell Sr DB Dave Waymer Fr DT 74 Jeff Weston Jr   Tony Zappala	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K Dave Reeve P 7 Joe Restic So	Head coach Dan Devine Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: 2021-Jan-07

Game summaries

Purdue

Purdue Boilermakers (1–0) at Notre Dame Fighting Irish (0–1)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Purdue	0	0	0	0	0
Notre Dame	3	7	7	6	23

at Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Indiana

• Date: September 18
• Game attendance: 59,075
• Recap/Box

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 PUR ND Top rushers PUR ND Top receivers PUR ND

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At Northwestern

See also: 1976 Northwestern Wildcats football team

Vs. Navy

Navy Midshipmen (1–6) vs. #11 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5–1)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Notre Dame	3	21	0	3	27
Navy	0	14	0	7	21

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

• Date: October 30
• Game attendance: 61,172
• Recap/Box Score

Game information

First quarter ND – Dave Reeve 47-yard field goal. Notre Dame 3–0. Drive: Second quarter NAVY – Dave King 17-yard pass from Bob Leszcyznski (Bob Tata kick). Navy 7–3. Drive: NAVY – Larry Klawinski 1-yard run (Bob Tata kick). Navy 14–3. Drive: ND – Dan Kelleher 58-yard pass from Rick Slager (Dave Reeve kick). Navy 14–10. Drive: ND – Al Hunter 5-yard run (Dave Reeve kick). Notre Dame 17–14. Drive: 60 yards. ND – Al Hunter 28-yard pass from Rick Slager (Dave Reeve kick). Notre Dame 24–14. Drive: Third quarter No scoring Fourth quarter NAVY – Reggie Thompson 1-yard run (Bob Tata kick). Notre Dame 24–21. Drive: ND – Dave Reeve 24-yard field goal. Notre Dame 27–21. Drive: Top passers ND NAVY – Bob Leszcyznski – 21/45, 294 yards, TD, INT Top rushers ND NAVY Top receivers ND – Dan Kelleher – 7 receptions, 162 yards, TD NAVY

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At USC

#13 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8–2) at #3 USC Trojans (9–1)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Notre Dame	0	0	0	13	13
USC	0	7	7	3	17

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California

• Date: November 27
• Game attendance: 76,561
• TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson, Ara Parseghian
• Recap/Box

Game information

First quarter No scoring Second quarter USC – Shelton Diggs 6-yard pass from Rob Hertel (Glen Walker kick). USC 7–0. Drive: 10 plays, 67 yards. Third quarter USC – Randy Simmrin 63-yard pass from Vince Evans (Glen Walker kick), 13:30. USC 14–0. Drive: Fourth quarter ND – Vagas Ferguson 17-yard pass from Rusty Lisch (Dave Reeve kick), 14:06. USC 14–7. Drive: 4 plays, 68 yards. USC – Glen Walker 46-yard field goal. USC 17–7. Drive: ND – Rusty Lisch 1-yard run (two-point conversion failed). USC 17–13. Drive: 76 yards. Top passers ND USC – Vince Evans – 6/14, 106 yards, TD Top rushers ND USC – Ricky Bell – 21 rushes, 75 yards Top receivers ND USC – Randy Simmrin – 6 receptions, 121 yards, TD

Rick Slager started the game but was replaced by Rusty Lisch after Slagler injured his shoulder. ^[9]

References

1. https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/1976-standings.html
2. "3 brothers, Irish stop Gamecocks". The Charlotte Observer. October 24, 1976. Retrieved January 26, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Georgia Tech stuns Irish". The Lynchburg News. November 7, 1976. Retrieved January 26, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
4. Martin, Steve (November 13, 1976). "Tide rally falls short, Irish win". The Tuscaloosa News. p. 1A. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
5. "Notre Dame air attack too much for Alabama". The Ledger. Associated Press. November 13, 1976. p. 5C. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
6. "1976 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Schedule and Results".
7. Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 Sept 19. Pg. 14B. Retrieved 2021-Jan-11.
8. Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 Oct 31.
9. Notre Dame Football Review - USC. Retrieved 2021-Jan-07.