1976 Purdue Boilermakers football team

1976 Purdue Boilermakers football
Conference Big Ten Conference
1976 record 5–6 (4–4 Big Ten)
Head coach Alex Agase (4th season)
MVP Scott Dierking
Captain Scott Dierking
Captain Blane Smith
Home stadium Ross–Ade Stadium
1976 Big Ten football standings
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 1976 Purdue Boilermakers football team was an American football team that represented Purdue University in the 1976 Big Ten Conference football season. In their fourth season under head coach Alex Agase, the Boilermakers compiled a 5–6 record (4–4 against conference opponents) and finished in a four-way tie for third place in the Big Ten standings.[1]

Running back Scott Dierking led the team with 1,000 rushing yards and 66 points scored.[2] He was selected by his teammates as the team's most valuable player and finished second to Rob Lytle in the voting for the Chicago Tribune Silver Football, awarded to the Big Ten's most valuable player.[3] Dierking was also named by the Associated Press (AP) as a second-team All-American[4] and by the AP and United Press International (UPI) as a first-team running back on the 1976 All-Big Ten Conference football team.[5][6]

Other statistical leaders included quarterback Mark Vitali with 1,184 passing yards.[2] In addition to Dierking, three other Purdue players received honors on the 1976 All-Big Ten team: offensive guard Connie Zelencik (AP-1, UPI-2); defensive end Blane Smith (AP-1, UPI-2); and defensive back Paul Beery (AP-2, UPI-1).[5][6]

Schedule

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Result Attendance
September 11 Northwestern Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, IN W 31-19   46,311
September 18 at Notre Dame* Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN (Shillelagh Trophy) L 23-7   59,075
September 25 No. 19 USC* Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN L 31-13   65,425
October 2 Miami (OH)* Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN W 42-20   55,102
October 9 at Wisconsin Camp Randall StadiumMadison, WI W 18-16   79,111
October 16 Illinoisdagger Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN (Purdue Cannon) L 21-17   66,716
October 23 at No. 9 Ohio State Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH L 24-3   87,898
October 30 at Michigan State Spartan StadiumEast Lansing, MI L 45-13   52,222
November 6 No. 1 Michigan Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN W 16-14   57,205
November 13 at Iowa Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA W 21-0   44,763
November 20 Indiana Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN (Old Oaken Bucket) L 20-14   63,220
*Non-conference game. daggerHomecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll.

[7]

Starters

Offense

POS Name Name
QB Mark Vitali
TB Scott Dierking
FB John Skibinski
SE Raymond Smith Jesse Townsend
FL Reggie Arnold
TE Nigel Wirgowski
LT John LeFeber
LG Tom Gibson
C Jay Venzin Rich Wetendorf
RG Connie Zelencik
RT Dave Lafary

Defense

POS Name Name
LDE Blane Smith
LDT Cleveland Crosby
MG Ken Loushin
RDT Chris Barr
RDE Kim Cripe
LB Bob Mannella
LB Fred Arrington Kevin Motts
CB Jerome King
CB Mike Northington Pat Harris
SS Paul Beery
FS Rock Supan

[7]

Coaching staff

Head Coach: Alex Agase

Assistants: George Catavolos (Secondary), Fred Conti, Jack Ellis, Bob Geiger, Jerry Hartman, Pat Naughton, Tom Roggeman, Rick Venturi, Mike Wynn [7]

Game summaries

Michigan

#1 Michigan at Purdue
1 234Total
Michigan 7 070 14
Purdue 7 603 16

Iowa

1 234Total
Purdue 6 870 21
Iowa 0 000 0

[9]

Statistics

Passing

Player Comp Att Yards TD INT
Mark Vitali 73 172 1,184 0 16
Scott Dierking 92

Rushing

Player Att Yards TD
Scott Dierking 201 1,000 11
John Skibinski 173 871
Mark Vitali 100 317

Receiving

Player Rec Yards TD
Reggie Arnold 16 287
Raymond Smith 11 233
John Skibinski 13 118

[7] [10]

Awards

Red Mackey Award: Mark Vitali [7]

References

  1. "1976 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  2. 1 2 "1976 Purdue Boilermakers Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  3. Roy Damer (December 25, 1975). "Lytle named Big 10 MVP: Purdue's Dierking is runnerup". Chicago Tribune. p. 2-1.
  4. "Tony Dorsett tops AP All-American Team". Jefferson City Post Tribune. December 2, 1976. p. 13.
  5. 1 2 "Michigan, Ohio State Pace All-Big Ten Team". Toledo Blade (AP story). December 3, 1976. p. 27.
  6. 1 2 "Illini place two on All-Big 10". The Pantagraph. November 24, 1976. p. A11.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 2010 Purdue football information guide
  8. 2011 Purdue football information guide.
  9. Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 Nov 14.
  10. Broyles, Bob and Paul Guido. 50 Years of College Football: A Modern History of America's Most Colorful Sport
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