1976 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 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 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
1976 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 →

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
September 11	4:20 p.m.	No. 9 Pittsburgh	No. 11	Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, IN (rivalry)	ABC	L 10–31
September 18	2:30 p.m.	Purdue		Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, IN (Shillelagh Trophy)		W 23–0
September 25	2:30 p.m.	at Northwestern		Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL (rivalry)		W 48–0
October 2	1:30 p.m.	at Michigan State	No. 18	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (Megaphone Trophy)		W 24–6
October 16	2:30 p.m.	Oregon	No. 14	Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, IN		W 41–0
October 23	1:10 p.m.	at No. 19 South Carolina	No. 12	Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC		W 13–6
October 30	1:00 p.m.	vs. Navy	No. 11	Cleveland Municipal Stadium Cleveland, OH (rivalry)		W 27–21
November 6	1:30 p.m.	at Georgia Tech	No. 11	Grant Field Atlanta, GA		L 14–23
November 13	12:50 p.m.	No. 10 Alabama	No. 18	Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, IN	ABC	W 21–18
November 20	1:30 p.m.	Miami (FL)	No. 13	Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, IN		W 40–27
November 27	4:00 p.m.	at No. 3 USC	No. 13	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Jeweled Shillelagh)	ABC	L 13–17
December 27	9:00 p.m.	vs. No. 20 Penn State	No. 15	Gator Bowl Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl)	ABC	W 20–9
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[2]

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
OG	`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)
OG	`60`	Howard Meyer	So
QB	`3`	Joe Montana	So
OG	`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

Season summary[]

Pittsburgh[]

Purdue[]

Purdue Boilermakers (1–0) at Notre Dame Fighting Irish (0–1)

	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

^[3]

at Northwestern[]

at Michigan State[]

Oregon[]

at South Carolina[]

vs. Navy[]

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

^[4]

at Georgia Tech[]

Alabama[]

Miami (FL)[]

at USC[]

#13 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8–2) at #3 USC Trojans (9–1)

	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: ABC
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.^[5]

Gator Bowl (vs Penn State)[]

References[]

^ https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/1976-standings.html
^ "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 .

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

[2] "1976 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Schedule and Results".

[3] Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 Sept 19. Pg. 14B. Retrieved 2021-Jan-11.

[4] Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 Oct 31.

[5] Notre Dame Football Review - USC. Retrieved 2021-Jan-07.

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Culture & lore	History Band of the Fighting Irish Irish Guard Notre Dame Box Notre Dame Leprechaun "Notre Dame, Our Mother" "Notre Dame Victory March" Play Like a Champion Today Subway Alumni T formation Tall Grass Game 1946 "Game of the Century" 1966 "Game of the Century" Catholics vs. Convicts 30 for 30 film 1993 "Game of the Century" Bush Push Navy ends the drought 2020 ACC Championship Game The Spirit of Notre Dame Knute Rockne, All American Notre Dame Football on NBC Rudy
People	Head coaches Starting quarterbacks Four Horsemen NFL draftees Statistical leaders Team captains
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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