1976 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

1976 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
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

^[6]

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

Pittsburgh

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

^[7]

At Northwestern

At Michigan State

Oregon

At South Carolina

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

^[8]

At Georgia Tech

Alabama

Miami (FL)

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]

Gator Bowl (vs Penn State)

References

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

This college football 1970s season article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] ttps://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.

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