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
1976 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

1976 Big Ten Conference 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 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
September 11	at Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	L 19–31
September 18	at North Carolina*	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	L 0–12
September 25	Notre Dame*	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL (rivalry)	L 0–48
October 2	Arizona*	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 15–27
October 9	at Indiana	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	L 0–7
October 16	No. 1 Michigan	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 7–38
October 23	Wisconsin	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 25–28
October 30	at Iowa	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	L 10–13
November 6	Minnesota	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 10–38
November 13	Michigan State	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 42–21
November 20	at Illinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Sweet Sioux Tomahawk)	L 6–48
*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 T 68 Tony Ardizzone Jr RB 32 Greg Boykin (C) Sr QB 3 Randy Dean (C) Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class SS 22 Pete Shaw (C) Sr DT 74 Norm Wells Fr DB Robert Dean Sr	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 2019-03-16. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
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.