1976 Michigan State Spartans football team

The 1976 Michigan State Spartans football team is an American football team that represented Michigan State University in the 1976 Big Ten Conference football season. In their first season under head coach Darryl Rogers, the Spartans compiled a 4–6–1 overall record (3–5 against Big Ten opponents) and finished in a three-way tie for seventh place in the Big Ten Conference.^[1][2]

1976 Michigan State Spartans football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	4–6–1 (3–5 Big Ten)
Head coach	Darryl Rogers (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Bob Padilla (1st season)
MVP	Rich Baes
Captain	Rich Baes, Tommy Hannon
Home stadium	Spartan Stadium
Seasons ← 1975 1977 →

1976 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 3 Michigan +	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 6 Ohio State +	7	–	1	–	0			9	–	2	–	1
Minnesota	4	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Illinois	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Indiana	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Purdue	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Iowa	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Michigan State	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	6	–	1
Northwestern	1	–	7	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Seven Spartans were selected by either the Associated Press (AP) or the United Press International (UPI) for the 1976 All-Big Ten Conference football teams: tight end Mike Cobb (AP-1, UPI-1); defensive back Tommy Hannon (AP-1, UPI-1); flanker Kirk Gibson (AP-2, UPI-2); center Al Pitts (AP-2, UPI-2); defensive tackle Larry Bethea (AP-2, UPI-2); offensive tackle Tony Bruggenthies (AP-2); and defensive end Otto Smith (UPI-2).^[3][4]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 11	at No. 4 Ohio State	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	L 21–49	86,509
September 18	Wyoming*	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	W 21–10	57,183	[5]
September 25	at NC State*	Carter Stadium Raleigh, NC	T 31–31	38,300	[6]
October 2	No. 18 Notre Dame*	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)	L 6–24	77,081
October 9	at No. 1 Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	L 10–42	104,211
October 16	Minnesota	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 10–14	56,166
October 23	at Illinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 31–23	52,680
October 30	Purdue	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	W 45–13	52,222
November 6	Indiana	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)	W 23–0	50,376
November 13	at Northwestern	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 21–42	15,204
November 20	Iowa	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 17–30	48,412
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

• DB No. 16 Mark Anderson, Fr.
• TE Mike Cobb, Sr.
• RB Jim Earley, Jr.
• WR Kirk Gibson, So.
• LB No, 57 Larry Savage, Fr.

Game summaries

Michigan

Week 5: Michigan State at Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total Michigan State 10 0 0 0 10 • Michigan 14 14 7 7 42 Date: October 9, 1976 Location: Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI Game attendance: 104,211

Scoring summary 1 MSU Nielsen 24-yard field goal MSU 3-0 1 MICH Lytle 75-yard run (Wood kick) MICH 7-3 1 MICH Huckleby 38-yard run (Wood kick) MICH 14-3 1 MSU Brammer 10-yard pass from E. Smith (Nielsen kick) MICH 14-10 2 MICH Leach 3-yard run (Wood kick) MICH 21-10 2 MICH Huckleby 1-yard run (Wood kick) MICH 28-10 3 MICH Huckleby 2-yard run (Wood kick) MICH 35-10 4 MICH Zuver 60-yard interception return (Wood kick) MICH 42-10

On October 9, 1976, Michigan State played its cross-state rival Michigan in the annual battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy. The Wolverines had won six straight games with the last victory for the Spartans dating back to 1969. Michigan extended the streak to seven games with a 42-10 victory at Michigan Stadium.^[7] Michigan's 42 points was the most it had scored against Michigan State since 1947.^[8]

Fullback Rob Lytle rushed for 180 yards on 10 carries, including a 45-yard gain on a fake punt and a 75-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. After the game, Bo Schembechler said of Lytle, "If that guy isn't an All-American, I don't know who is."^[9] Lytle added, "All backs like to break away on a long one like that. It was the longest run I've had at Michigan. In fact, I think this was my biggest day ever."^[9] Harlan Huckleby rushed for 126 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries. Russell Davis added 91 yards on 13 carries. In all, the Wolverines rushed for 442 yards on 62 carries against the Spartans. Quarterback Rick Leach completed five of seven passes for 93 yards and rushed for 36 yards on 11 carries.^[7] Wolfman Jerry Zuver scored Michigan's final touchdown on a 60-yard interception return in the fourth quarter.^[8]

In the AP Poll released on the Monday after the game, Michigan retained its #1 ranking with 57 out of 60 first-place votes and 1,194 points out of a possible 1,200 points. Pittsburgh was ranked #2 with the remaining three first-place votes.^[10]

References

1. "Michigan State Yearly Results (1975-1979)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on July 14, 2015. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
2. "2015 Michigan State Football Media Guide" (PDF). Michigan State University. p. 146. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 17, 2016. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
3. "Michigan, Ohio State Pace All-Big Ten Team". Toledo Blade (AP story). December 3, 1976. p. 27.
4. "Illini place two on All-Big 10". The Pantagraph. November 24, 1976. p. A11.
5. "MSU plusses are negative to Wyoming". The Flint Journal. September 19, 1976. Retrieved October 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Wolfpack, Spartans tie". The High Point Enterprise. September 26, 1976. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Michigan Football Statistic Archive Query Page". MGoBlue.com. University of Michigan. Archived from the original on November 12, 2007. Retrieved December 2, 2012.(To retrieve team statistics, enter the applicable year in the "Enter Year" box under the heading "Games & Totals by Season." Press "Display Season." At the next prompt, click the box for "Michigan State" and then click icon for "Display Chosen Game Stats".)
8. "Michigan Romps Over Mich. State". The New York Times. October 10, 1976.
9. "Michigan runs away from Spartans, 42-10". Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon. October 10, 1976. p. 8C.
10. "Terps Fifth As Michigan Remains No. 1". The News and Courier (AP story). October 12, 1976. p. 1-C.