1976 Washington Huskies football team

1976 Washington Huskies football
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
Record	5–6 (3–4 Pac-8)
Head coach	Don James (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Dick Scesniak (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Jim E. Mora (2nd season)
MVP	Robin Earl
Captains	Robin Earl Scott Phillips Charles Jackson Mike Baldassin
Home stadium	Husky Stadium
Seasons ←  1975 1977  →

1976 Pacific-8 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 USC $	7	–	0	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
No. 15 UCLA	6	–	1	–	0			9	–	2	–	1
Stanford	5	–	2	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
California	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Washington	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Washington State	2	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Oregon	1	–	6	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Oregon State	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1976 Washington Huskies football team represented the University of Washington in the 1976 NCAA Division I football season as a member of the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8). The Huskies were led by head coach Don James in his second year, and played their home games on campus at Husky Stadium in Seattle. They finished season with a record of five wins and six losses (5–6 overall, 3–4 in the Pac-8). ^[1] This was Washington's last losing season for 28 years, until 2004.

The Huskies defeated rivals Oregon and Washington State for a third consecutive year. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 11	Virginia *	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA		W 38–17	37,500–40,412	[5]
September 18	Colorado *	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	ABC	L 7–21	36,600	[6]
September 25	Indiana *	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA		L 13–20	40,425–42,206	[7]
October 2	Minnesota *	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA		W 38–7	37,994	[8]
October 9	at Oregon State	Parker Stadium Corvallis, OR		W 24–12	27,096	[9]
October 16	at Stanford	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		L 28–34	36,000	[10]
October 23	Oregon	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA (rivalry)		W 14–7	38,127	[11]
October 30	No. 3 UCLA	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA		L 21–30	47,719	[12]
November 6	California	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA		L 0–7	39,086	[13]
November 13	at No. 3 USC	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		L 3–20	49,264	[14]
November 20	vs. Washington State	Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, WA (Apple Cup)		W 51–32	35,800	[15]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[16]

Game summaries

Oregon State

Washington Huskies at Oregon State Beavers

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Washington	0	24	0	0	24
Oregon St	0	0	0	12	12

at Parker Stadium • Corvallis, Oregon

• Date: October 9
• Game attendance: 27,096
• ^[17]

Game information
Washington Moon 9/15, 88 yds, 2 int Steele 17 rush, 78 yds, 2 TD Phillips 5 rec, 40 yds Oregon St Richardson 5/14, 46 yds, int Redwine 18 rush, 70 yds Hammock 6 rec, 62 yds, TD

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP UW OSU 2 14:19 6 37 Washington 36-yard field goal by Robbins 3 0 2 10:02 Washington Brooks 20-yard blocked punt return for touchdown, Robbins kick good 10 0 2 3:49 9 57 Washington Steele 1-yard touchdown run, Robbins kick good 0 17 2 1:04 5 25 Washington Steele 3-yard touchdown run, Robbins kick good 24 0 4 9:59 2 7 Oregon St Hammock 6-yard touchdown reception from Grossart, 2-point run failed 24 6 4 0:19 3 10 Oregon St Fields 3-yard touchdown run, 2-point run failed 24 12 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 24 12

Roster

1976 Washington Huskies football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 1 Warren Moon Jr WR 6 Leon Garrett Sr QB 12 Tom Flick Fr QB 16 Cliff McBride RB 24 Joe Steele Fr RB 26 Ron Rowland Jr RB 32 Greg Martin So FB 42 Ron Gipson Fr C 58 Blair Bush Jr G 62 Phil Foreman Fr G 63 Jeff Toews So G 68 Dan Chavira Fr OT 70 Roger Westlund So OT 79 Carl Van Valkenberg Sr TE 86 Scott Greenwood So WR 91 Scott Phillips (C) Jr WR 93 Spider Gaines So TE 95 Don Wardlow Sr FB, TE 99 Robin Earl  (C) Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 5 Michael Jackson So CB 10 Lance Theoudele Fr CB 19 Mark Lee Fr CB 23 Nesby Glasgow So DB 46 Greg Grimes Fr LB 48 Antowaine Richardson Fr LB 53 Rob Gehring Sr LB 60 Mike Baldassin  (C) Sr DT 61 Chris Linnin Fr DT 65 Dave Browning So NG 66 Charles Jackson  (C) Sr DE 73 Doug Martin Fr LB 82 Bret Gagliardi Fr FS 96 Kyle Heinrich So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 3 Don Feleay Sr PK 7 Steve Robbins Jr	Head coach Don James (2nd year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Dick Scesniak (OC) Jim Mora (DC) Jim Lambright (LB) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

^{[18] [19]}

NFL draft selections

Three Washington Huskies were selected in the 1977 NFL draft, which lasted 12 rounds with 335 selections.

= Husky Hall of Fame [20]

Player	Position	Round	Overall	Franchise
Robin Earl	Running back	3rd	61	Chicago Bears
Charles Jackson	Defensive tackle	9th	241	Denver Broncos
Don Wardlow	Tight end	11th	305	Dallas Cowboys

References

1. "Earl, Rowland blast Cougars". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 21, 1976. p. 6C.
2. Withers, Bud (October 24, 1976). "The Ducks get disappointed again, 14-7". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1B.
3. "Steele's long dash leads Washington". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. October 24, 1976. p. D1.
4. Missildine, Harry (November 21, 1976). "UW explodes in 3rd, wins 51-32". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. D1.
5. "Rowland, Earl pace UW romp". The Spokesman-Review. September 12, 1976. Retrieved January 26, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
6. "Buff defense, fumbles stymie Huskies, 21–7". The Sunday Oregonian. September 19, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
7. "IU Holds Off Washington, 20–13". The Star Press . Muncie, Indiana. United Press International. September 26, 1976. p. C1. Retrieved December 28, 2023– via Newspapers.com .
8. "Huskies, Cougars have a fun Saturday". Tri-City Herald. October 3, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
9. "Huskies tip Beavers by 24–12 score". The Sacramento Bee. October 10, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
10. "Cardinals turn back Huskies". The Times-Standard. October 17, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
11. "Huskies down Ducks 14–7 on long TD run". Statesman Journal. October 24, 1976. Retrieved September 11, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
12. "Jinx? Ha! Brown peps UCLA past Washington". Independnent Press-Telegram. October 31, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
13. "Cal edges Huskies, 7–0". Statesman Journal. November 7, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
14. "USC defeats Huskies". The Columbian. November 14, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
15. "Rowland lits 1,000; UW trips WSU". The News Tribune. November 21, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
16. DeLassus, David. "Coaching Records Game-by-game: Don James, 1976". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on September 18, 2015. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
17. Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 Oct 09. Retrieved 2018-Dec-30.
18. "WSU vs. Washington (probable starters)". November 19, 1976. p. 21.
19. "Huskies vs. Cougars (rosters)". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). November 20, 1976. p. 17.
20. "The Husky Hall of Fame". gohuskies.com. Retrieved October 8, 2019.

External links

• Official game program: Washington vs. Washington State at Spokane – November 20, 1976