1976 Northwestern Wildcats football team

The 1976 Northwestern Wildcats team represented Northwestern University during the 1976 Big Ten Conference football season. In their fourth year under head coach John Pont, the Wildcats compiled a 1–10 record (1–7 against Big Ten Conference opponents) and finished in last place in the Big Ten Conference.^[2]

1976 Northwestern Wildcats football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	1–10 (1–7 Big Ten)
Head coach	John Pont (4th season)
Captains	Greg Boykin[1] (2nd year) Randy Dean Paul Maly Pete Shaw
Home stadium	Dyche 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

The team's offensive leaders were quarterback Randy Dean with 1,384 passing yards, Pat Geegan with 537 rushing yards, and Scott Yelvington with 649 receiving yards.^[3] Yelvington received first-team All-Big Ten honors from both the Associated Press and the United Press International.^[4][5]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 11	at Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	L 19–31	46,311
September 18	at North Carolina*	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	L 0–12	41,000	[6]
September 25	Notre Dame*	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL (rivalry)	L 0–48	44,396
October 2	Arizona*	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 15–27	23,097	[7]
October 9	at Indiana	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	L 0–7	34,889
October 16	No. 1 Michigan	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL (rivalry)	L 7–38	31,045	[8]
October 23	Wisconsin	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 25–28	24,580
October 30	at Iowa	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	L 10–13	51,800
November 6	Minnesota	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 10–38	15,183
November 13	Michigan State	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 42–21	15,204
November 20	at Illinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	L 6–48	34,500
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1976 Northwestern Wildcats football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OT 68 Tony Ardizzone Jr WR 83 Mark Bailey Jr QB 15 Steve Breitbell So RB 32 Greg Boykin (C) Sr QB 3 Randy Dean (C) Sr DB 2 Robert Dean Sr FB 39 Harold Gilmore So OL 63 Dan Henderson So OT 72 Don Herzog Sr C 61 Carl Peterson Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DE 35 Kevin Berg Fr CB 18 Steve Bobowski Jr FS 14 Jim Hutchings Sr CB 6 Guy Knafelc So LB 52 Paul Maly Sr SS 22 Pete Shaw (C) Sr DT 74 Norm Wells Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach John Pont Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

References

1. "Year-by-Year Results" (PDF). 2007. p. 148. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 16, 2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
2. "1976 Northwestern Wildcats Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
3. "1976 Northwestern Wildcats Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
4. "Michigan, Ohio State Pace All-Big Ten Team". Toledo Blade (AP story). December 3, 1976. p. 27.
5. "Illini place two on All-Big 10". The Pantagraph. November 24, 1976. p. A11.
6. "North Carolina stops Northwestern, 12–0". The Indianapolis Star. September 19, 1976. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Arizona sub directs win over Northwestern". The Courier-Journal. October 3, 1976. Retrieved October 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Things are too easy so far for Michigan". Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon. October 17, 1976.