1976 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

American college football season

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)

Period	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

Top rushers

Top receivers

^[7]

At Northwestern

At Michigan State

Oregon

At South Carolina

Vs. Navy

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

Period	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)

Period	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.

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