1976 Rice Owls football team

The 1976 Rice Owls football team was an American football team that represented Rice University in the Southwest Conference during the 1976 NCAA Division I football season. In their first year under head coach Homer Rice, the team compiled a 3–8 record.^[1][2]

1976 Rice Owls football
Conference	Southwest Conference
Record	3–8 (2–6 SWC)
Head coach	Homer Rice (1st season)
Home stadium	Rice Stadium
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

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 18	Utah*	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	W 43–22	17,000	[3]
September 25	at No. 15 LSU*	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	L 0–31	67,260	[4]
October 2	Texas	Rice Stadium Houston, TX (rivalry)	L 15–42	57,000
October 9	at TCU	Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX	W 26–23
October 16	No. 10 Texas Tech	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	L 13–37	23,500
October 23	at Texas A&M	Kyle Field College Station, TX	L 34–57	47,354
October 30	at No. 14 Arkansas	Razorback Stadium Fayetteville, AR	L 16–41	43,908
November 6	SMU	Rice Stadium Houston, TX (rivalry)	W 41–34	18,000
November 13	Baylor	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	L 6–38	10,000
November 20	at Florida*	Florida Field Gainesville, FL	L 22–50	53,275	[5]
November 27	No. 7 Houston	Rice Stadium Houston, TX (rivalry)	L 20–42	32,212
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1976 Rice Owls football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 80 Doug Cunningham Jr QB 9 Tommy Kramer Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 67 Kevin O’Connell Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Homer Rice Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

References

1. "1976 Rice Owls Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
2. "2020 Rice Football Media Guide" (PDF). Rice University. 2020. p. 136. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
3. "Rice Owls rip Utah, 43–22". The Odessa American. September 19, 1976. Retrieved October 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Robiskie LSU rip Rice, 31–0". The Montgomery Advertiser. September 26, 1976. Retrieved October 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Gators regain scoring punch". Panama City News-Herald. November 21, 1976. Retrieved October 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.