1976 Navy Midshipmen football team

1976 NCAA Division I independents football records
	North Texas State (originally 6–5) was awarded a forfeit win after Mississippi State was found to be using an ineligible player.; Rankings from AP Poll

1976 Navy Midshipmen football
1976 Navy Midshipmen football
Conference	Independent
1976 record	4–7
Head coach	George Welsh (4th season);
Captain	Jeff Sapp, Kevin Sullivan
Home stadium	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium
	Seasons ← 1975 1977 →

The 1976 Navy Midshipmen football team represented the United States Naval Academy (USNA) as an independent during the 1976 NCAA Division I football season. The team was led by fourth-year head coach George Welsh.^[2]^[3]

Schedule[]

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 11		Rutgers	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	L 3–13	17,501	^[4]
September 18		at Connecticut	Memorial Stadium Storrs, CT	W 21–3
September 25		at No. 1 Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI	L 14–70	101,040
October 2		No. 15 Boston College	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	L 13–17	16,156
October 9		at Air Force	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy)	L 3–13
October 16		William & Mary	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	L 13–21
October 23		No. 2 Pittsburgh	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	L 0–45	26,346
October 30	1:30 p.m.	vs. No. 11 Notre Dame	Municipal Stadium Cleveland, OH (rivalry)	L 21–27
November 6		at Syracuse	Archbold Stadium Syracuse, NY	W 27–10	22,333
November 13		Georgia Tech	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	W 34–28	20,010
November 27		vs. Army	JFK Stadium Philadelphia, PA (Army–Navy Game)	W 38–10
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Personnel[]

1976 Navy Midshipmen football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
FB		Steve Chafin
OL		Jim Chamberlain
OL		Gene Cioni
OL		Ray Fritsch
RB		Joe Gattuso
OL		Cary Hithon
WB		Dave King	Fr
RB		Larry Klawinski
QB		John Kurowski
QB	`15`	Bob Leszczynski	So
WR		Phil McConkey
RB		Leon Miller
OL		Kevin Ryan
WR		Steve Scott
TE		Kevin Sullivan
RB		Reggie Thompson

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
LB		Otto Bulich
DB		Greg Byrd
DL		Pete Caulk
LB		Bob DeStafney
DB		Mike Galpin
DL		Kelvin Graham
DL		Jeff Hoobler
		Gregg Milo
MG		Jeff Sapp
DB		Larry Simpson
DL		John Snyder
DB		John Sturges

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
P		Art Ohanian
K		Bob Tata	So

Head coach

George Welsh

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Season summary[]

vs. Notre Dame[]

Navy Midshipmen (1–6) vs. #11 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5–1)

	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

at Syracuse[]

Georgia Tech[]

vs. Army[]

Army Cadets (5–5) vs. Navy Midshipmen (3–7)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Army	0	10	0	0	10
Navy	7	7	17	7	38

at JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Date: November 27
Game weather: Cloudy
Game attendance: 77,612
^[5]

Game information

First quarter

NAVY – Joe Gattuso 2-yard run (Bob Tata kick), 0:15. Navy 7–0. Drive: 51 yards.

Second quarter

ARMY – Greg King 11-yard run (Mike Castelli kick). Tie 7–7. Drive:
NAVY – Phil McConkey 11-yard pass from Bob Leszczynski (Bob Tata kick). Navy 14–7. Drive: 57 yards.
ARMY – Mike Castelli 37-yard field goal. Navy 14–10. Drive:

Third quarter

NAVY – Joe Gattuso 20-yard run (Bob Tata kick). Navy 21–10. Drive: 75 yards.
NAVY – Joe Gattuso 1-yard run (Bob Tata kick). Navy 28–10. Drive: 65 yards.
NAVY – Bob Tata 33-yard field goal. Navy 31–10. Drive:

Fourth quarter

NAVY – Dave King 16-yard pass from Bob Leszczynski (Bob Tata kick). Navy 38–10. Drive: 30 yards.

Top passers

ARMY – Leamon Hall – 13/31, 3 INT
NAVY – Bob Leszczynski – 2 TD

Top rushers

ARMY
NAVY – Joe Gattuso – 29 rushes, 128 yards, 3 TD

Top receivers

ARMY
NAVY

References[]

^ https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/1976-standings.html
^ "Football History" (PDF). United States Naval Academy. p. 194. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
^ "Navy Yearly Results (1975-1979)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on July 15, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
^ Jackson, James H. (September 12, 1976). "Middies Drop Opener, 13-3, to Rutgers". The Sunday Sun. Baltimore, Md. p. B1 – via Newspapers.com.
^ https://www.nytimes.com/1976/11/28/archives/navy-trounces-army-4th-year-in-row-3810-navy-trounces-army-4th-year.html "Navy Trounces Army 4th Year in Row, 38-10." New York Times. 1976 Nov 28. Retrieved 2021-Jan-12.

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[1] ttps://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/1976-standings.html

[FH-2] "Football History" (PDF). United States Naval Academy. p. 194. Retrieved July 12, 2015.

[CFDW-3] "Navy Yearly Results (1975-1979)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on July 15, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2015.

[4] Jackson, James H. (September 12, 1976). "Middies Drop Opener, 13-3, to Rutgers". The Sunday Sun. Baltimore, Md. p. B1 – via Newspapers.com.

[5] ttps://www.nytimes.com/1976/11/28/archives/navy-trounces-army-4th-year-in-row-3810-navy-trounces-army-4th-year.html "Navy Trounces Army 4th Year in Row, 38-10." New York Times. 1976 Nov 28. Retrieved 2021-Jan-12.

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[2]

[3]

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[5]

v t Navy Midshipmen football
Venues	Worden Field (1890–1923) Thompson Stadium (1924–1958) Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (1959–present) Memorial Stadium (alternate)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Army: Army–Navy Game (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy) Air Force (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy) Johns Hopkins Maryland: Crab Bowl Classic Notre Dame (Rip Miller Trophy) SMU (Gansz Trophy)
Culture & lore	Bill the Goat "Anchors Aweigh" "I believe that we will win!" Marching band "Navy ends the drought" 2007 North Texas game Salute That Navy Spirit Navy Blue and Gold
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders NFL draftees
Seasons	1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
National championship seasons in bold

1976 NCAA Division I independents football records
v t	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