1976 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

1976 Nebraska Cornhuskers football
Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl champion
Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, W 27–24 vs. Texas Tech
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 7
AP	No. 9
Record	9–3–1 (4–3 Big 8)
Head coach	Tom Osborne (4th season)
Offensive scheme	I formation
Defensive coordinator	Monte Kiffin (8th season)
Base defense	5–2
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1975 1977 →

1976 Big Eight Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 16 Colorado +	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
No. 14 Oklahoma State +	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
No. 5 Oklahoma +	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	2	–	1
No. 19 Iowa State	4	–	3	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
No. 9 Nebraska	4	–	3	–	0			9	–	3	–	1
Missouri	3	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Kansas	2	–	5	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Kansas State	0	–	7	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1976 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the 1976 NCAA Division I football season. The team was coached by Tom Osborne and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 11	7:30 pm	at LSU*	No. 1	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA		T 6–6	70,746	[1]
September 18	1:30 pm	at Indiana*	No. 8	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN		W 45–13	41,289
September 25	1:30 pm	TCU*	No. 6	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE		W 64–10	74,981
October 2	1:30 pm	Miami (FL)*	No. 5	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)		W 17–9	76,155
October 9	2:30 pm	at Colorado	No. 6	Folsom Field Boulder, CO (rivalry)		W 24–12	53,538
October 16	1:30 pm	Kansas State	No. 3	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)		W 51–0	76,150
October 23	2:25 pm	No. 17 Missouri	No. 3	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)	ABC	L 24–34	76,051
October 30	1:30 pm	at Kansas	No. 9	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS (rivalry)		W 31–3	47,327
November 6	1:30 pm	No. 13 Oklahoma State	No. 9	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE		W 14–10	76,272
November 13	1:30 pm	at Iowa State	No. 9	Cyclone Stadium Ames, IA		L 28–37	51,500
November 26	1:20 pm	No. 8 Oklahoma	No. 10	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)	ABC	L 17–20	74,284
December 4	11:30 pm	at Hawaii*	No. 13	Aloha Stadium Halawa, HI		W 68–3	33,737
December 31	7:08 pm	vs. No. 9 Texas Tech*	No. 13	Houston Astrodome Houston, TX (Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl)	TVS	W 27–24	48,618
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Source:^[2][3]

Altman, Dick (So.) WB Anderson, Rene #2 (Jr.) RCB Andrews, George #96 (So.) DE Anthony, Monte #49 (Jr.) IB Avery, Scott #93 (Sr.) DT Barnett, Bill #97 (So.) DT Belka, Jim #47 (Sr.) LB Berns, Richard #35 (So.) IB Bishop, Keith #53 (So.) C Bloom, Jeff (So.) C Brannon, Mike (So.) DT Brock, Dan #94 (Sr.) DT Brown, Kenny #22 (So.) WB Bryant, Bill #95 (So.) DT Burns, Ed #17 (Sr.) QB Burton, Mike (So.) DB Butterfield, Dave #34 (Sr.) LCB Cabell, Jake #24 (Sr.) LCB Carpenter, Jeff #37 (Jr.) LB Cass, Dan (So.) LCB Clark, Kelvin #73 (So.) OT Cole, Lawrence #92 (So.) DE Cooley, Lawrence #67 (So.) OG Cotton, Barney #54 (So.) C Craig, Curtis #33 (Jr.) WB Davis, Tom #52 (Jr.) C Donnell, Dodie #45 (Jr.) FB Dufresne, Mark #88 (Jr.) TE Eichelberger, Percy #44 (Sr.) SLB Eveland, Al #43 (Sr.) PK Everett, Earl #9 (Sr.) WB Ewing, Ben #26 (So.) WLB Ferragamo, Vince #15 (Sr.) QB Fischer, Tim #16 (Jr.) LCB Fultz, Mike #72 (Sr.) DT Galano, Bobby (So.) OG Garcia, Randy #18 (Jr.) QB Gast, Reg #82 (Jr.) DE Gillespie, Dave #28 (Sr.) IB		Glenn, Steve #71 (So.) OT Goodspeed, Mark (So.) DT Hager, Tim #10 (So.) QB Hansen, Jeff #48 (So.) S Harvey, Ted #31 (Jr.) RCB Havekost, John (So.) OG Hayes, Bob #76 (Jr.) OT Henson, Zac #79(Jr..) OLK Higgs, Gary #46 (Sr.) FB Hipp, I.M. #32 (So.) IB Hoins, Steve #78 (Sr.) OT Horn, Brian (So.) TE Horn, Rod #55 (So.) MG Humphrey, Lawrence (Unk) OT Ingram, John #19 (So.) S Jorgensen, Greg #63 (Jr.) OG Kennedy, Mike #11 (So.) QB Kroneberger, Jon #64 (So.) OT Kujath, Kim #36 (Jr.) FB Kunz, Lee #38 (So.) SLB LaFever, Dan (Fr.) WLB Lee, Oudious #65 (So.) MG Lehigh, Pat #6 (So.) LCB Lessman, Randy #39 (Sr.) P Lindquist, Steve #68 (So.) OG Lingenfelter, Bob #70 (Sr.) OT Link, Rob (So.) TE Loken, Rocke #87 (Jr.) SE Long, Doug (So.) SLB Malito, Chuck #89 (Sr.) SE Markus, Steve #56 (Jr.) SLB Nitzel, Ron #85 (Sr.) SE Ohrt, Tom #74 (So.) OT Payne, Dennis #13 (So.) S Phillips, Ray #80 (Sr.) DE Pillen, Clete #61 (Sr.) SLB Pillen, Jim #29 (So.) MON Plucknett, John #50 (Sr.) MG Poeschl, Randy #75 (So.) DT Potadle, Paul (So.) OT		West, Dave #91 (Sr.) DT Pullen, Jeff #66 (Jr.) MG Rick, Randy #90 (Jr.) DE Ridder, Tom (So.) DE Roehrs, Kelvin (So.) MG Ruud, John (So.) WLB Saalfeld, Kelly (So.) OT Samuel, Tony #98 (Jr.) DE Schmidt, Dan #51 (Sr.) OG Selko, John #83 (So.) TE Shamblin, Dave #81 (Sr.) SE Smith, Kent #23 (Jr.) MON Smith, Tim #84 (So.) SE Sorley, Tom #12 (So.) QB Stark, Jared #86 (Jr.) TE Steiner, Dan #58 (So.) OG Steward, Keith #40 (So.) FB Stewart, Byron #30 (So.) IB Stewart, Eric (So.) S Stovall, Rod #5 (Jr.) RCB Stroh, Mark (So.) DE Sukup, Dean #3 (So.) PK Theissen, Gordon (So.) DE Thomas, Bobby #8 (Sr.) SE Valasek, Larry #4 (Jr.) S VanderMeer, Ron #1 (Sr.) PK Vanous, Russ #25 (Jr.) P Vering, Tom #57 (So.) WLB Waldemore, Stan #62 (Jr.) OG Walderzak, Paul #77 (So.) OT Walton, Darrell #7 (So.) WB Washington, Mike #42 (So.) FB West, Bruce #85 (Sr.) /DE Weinmaster, Kerry (So.) MG Wightman, Jim #59 (Jr.) WLB Williquette, Jim #41 (So.) RCB Young, Larry #14 (So.) MON Young, Willie (So.) C Zabrocki, Dale #21 (Jr.) IB

Name	Title	First year in this position	Years at Nebraska	Alma mater
Tom Osborne	Head Coach Offensive Coordinator	1973	1964–1997	Hastings College
Monte Kiffin	Defensive Coordinator	1973	1967–1976	Nebraska
Cletus Fischer	Offensive Line		1960–1985	Nebraska
Jim Ross			1962–1976
John Melton	Linebackers	1973	1962–1988	Wyoming
Mike Corgan	Running Backs	1962	1962–1982	Notre Dame
Warren Powers	Defensive Backs		1969–1976	Nebraska
Boyd Epley	Head Strength Coach	1969	1969–2003	Nebraska
Bill Myles	Linebackers	1975	1972–1976
Jerry Moore	Wide Receivers	1973	1973–1978	Baylor
George Darlington	Defensive Ends		1973–2002	Rutgers
Milt Tenopir	Offensive Line	1974	1974–2002	Sterling
Guy Ingles	Freshman Head Coach	1976	1976–1978	Nebraska

#1 Nebraska at LSU [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total #1 Nebraska 6 0 0 0 6 LSU 0 0 3 3 6 Date: 1976-09-11 Location: Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Game start: 7:30 pm CST Game attendance: 70,746

Top-ranked Nebraska quickly found the scoreboard with a touchdown just four minutes into the game, but a failed extra point attempt was the first sign of trouble to come, as the Cornhuskers failed to score again against a fierce LSU defense. The Tigers also struggled to make headway against the tenacious Blackshirts, managing just one field goal in each of the final two quarters, which resulted in a less than stellar beginning of the season for Nebraska as they were forced to settle for a 6-6 tie. LSU drove into field goal range in the closing seconds, but Mike Conway missed from 44 yards out.

#8 Nebraska at Indiana [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total • #8 Nebraska 14 10 14 7 45 Indiana 0 0 7 6 13 Date: 1976-09-18 Location: Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, Indiana Game attendance: 41,289

Nebraska pushed Indiana around all day to make up for the previous week's disappointing tie game, running out ahead 38-0 before Indiana managed to score. Indiana had the slight edge in the air, but without enough points to back it up, the 248-89 Cornhusker domination on the ground told the story of the game.

TCU at #6 Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total TCU 10 0 0 0 10 • #6 Nebraska 14 24 19 7 64 Date: 1976-09-25 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 74,981

TCU proposed to make it a game by scoring first, and was still in it with a slight 10-14 lag at the end of the 1st quarter, but the Horned Frogs proceeded to fall apart as the Cornhuskers quickly rolled off 50 unanswered points to steamroll their way to a 64-10 romp in the Lincoln home opener. Nebraska QB Vince Ferragamo tied the Nebraska record of four touchdowns in a game (by halftime), while ground responsibilities were widely shared as 5th-string IB Byron Stewart ended up with the day's rushing lead at 64 yards.

Miami at #5 Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Miami 6 0 0 3 9 • #5 Nebraska 0 0 7 10 17 Date: 1976-10-02 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 76,155

A hard-hitting game saw several players leaving the field with injuries as Nebraska fought from behind for the second week in a row, after having to start the 2nd half down 0-6. The Cornhuskers eventually wore the Hurricanes down in the end, putting up 10 more points while Miami was only able to add a field goal in their failed attempt to hold the lead.

#6 Nebraska at Colorado [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total • #6 Nebraska 0 7 7 10 24 Colorado 3 9 0 0 12 Date: 1976-10-09 Location: Folsom Field, Boulder, Colorado Game attendance: 53,538

Colorado never did find the end zone, but Buffalo PK Mark Zetterberg split the uprights four times to account for all of Colorado's scores to put Nebraska behind 7-12 at the half. Those 12 points were not nearly enough to overcome the Nebraska 2nd half effort which ran off an additional 17 unanswered points to pull away from Colorado for the win.

Kansas State at #3 Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Kansas State 0 0 0 0 0 • #3 Nebraska 10 20 14 7 51 Date: 1976-10-16 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 76,150

Nebraska smashed Kansas State to celebrate homecoming, holding the Wildcats to a painful -45 yards of negative progress on the ground, as the Cornhuskers did not even have to defend their side of the field until late in the 3rd quarter when Nebraska gave up an interception. Still missing several players from injuries sustained in the previous two games, the Cornhusker machine rolled on anyway, as Nebraska QB Vince Ferragamo tied the school single-game touchdown record for the second time this season while the Blackshirts put up their only shutout of 1976.

#17 Missouri at #3 Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total • #17 Missouri 7 16 0 11 34 #3 Nebraska 6 12 3 3 24 Date: 1976-10-23 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 76,051

Missouri arrived in Lincoln on the way to owning an impressive upset thanks to a record-setting play. Nebraska was behind 18-23 at the half, but had obtained two field goals to pull ahead 24-23 at the start of the 4th quarter. The Tigers than scored on a spectacular 98-yard pass play and successful 2-point conversion to take the momentum back just two minutes later, and iced the win with 1:19 remaining on the game clock when they added 3 more on a field goal, handing the Cornhuskers their first loss of the season.

#9 Nebraska at Kansas [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total • #9 Nebraska 7 14 7 3 31 Kansas 0 0 0 3 3 Date: 1976-10-30 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lawrence, Kansas Game attendance: 47,327

Kansas took the brunt of Nebraska's frustration following their loss to Missouri the week prior, as the Blackshirts only allowed the Jayhawks to cross midfield twice all day, while the Cornhusker offense accumulated 483 yards of total offense in the one-sided game. The lone Kansas score was a field goal against Nebraska reserves in the 4th quarter.

#13 Oklahoma State at #9 Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total #13 Oklahoma State 0 3 7 0 10 • #9 Nebraska 0 0 7 7 14 Date: 1976-11-06 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 76,272

Both teams struggled to make progress against each other at the start as both defenses protected their end zones, and by the half only Oklahoma State had managed to put any points up, with a field goal midway through the 2nd quarter. The defensive battle continued after halftime, but the Cornhuskers were finally able to secure a 3rd-quarter touchdown, only to have the Cowboys answer it four minutes later and retake the lead 10-7. Nebraska was uncharacteristically losing the ground war, as Oklahoma State piled up a 291-121 edge in yards, and so turned to the air and found results as they amassed a 235-34 passing yardage lead, which included the game-winning touchdown pass with almost 12 minutes still remaining in the 4th quarter. The Blackshirts held from there on out to secure the victory.

#9 Nebraska at Iowa State [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total #9 Nebraska 7 6 0 15 28 • Iowa State 17 3 0 17 37 Date: 1976-11-13 Location: Cyclone Stadium, Ames, Iowa Game attendance: 51,500

Turnovers took a brutal toll on Nebraska, as the Cornhuskers fumbled eight times and gave up an interception in Ames. For the second week in a row, Nebraska was forced to go to the air for results as the Cyclones held them to just 77 rushing yards, but it was not enough, as Nebraska fell behind 0-10 early on and never recovered the lead in a heartbreaking road loss to an unranked team following their thrilling finish against #13 Oklahoma State the week before.

#8 Oklahoma at #10 Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total • #8 Oklahoma 7 0 0 13 20 #10 Nebraska 0 3 14 0 17 Date: 1976-11-26 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 76,247

Nebraska was outrushed on the day, lagging Oklahoma 185-357 on the ground and once again resorting to an air attack to stay in the game, yet the Cornhuskers were in the lead 17-13 when Oklahoma resorted to an unexpected air attack of their own to win. The Sooners had only thrown two passes in the last two games combined, but used two pass plays in the final minutes to pull out the surprise win. One pass, a 47-yarder from reserve Oklahoma HB Woodie Shepherd, was the first of his career, while the other was tossed by backup Oklahoma QB Dean Blevins 10 yards and then lateraled for an additional 22-yard gain. The Cornhuskers, felled by passes from a ground-based team they had not defeated since 1971, was knocked out of the Orange Bowl.

#13 Nebraska at Hawaii [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total • #13 Nebraska 27 6 21 14 68 Hawaii 0 0 3 0 3 Date: 1976-12-04 Location: Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, Hawaii Game attendance: 33,737

In a lightly attended Honolulu game with more Cornhusker fans in attendance than locals, Nebraska punished Hawaii with a 47-0 lead before allowing the Rainbows to obtain their lone points of the day on a field goal near the end of the 3rd quarter, which was answered by an additional 21 straight Cornhusker points to close the game. Nebraska's 655 yards of total offense was a new all-time school record, as was the 211 single game yards accumulated by IB Rick Berns, which succeeded the mark of 204 set by Frank Solich in 1965. Nebraska SE Chuck Malito's 166 receiving yards also set a new single game school record, and Nebraska QB Vince Ferragamo broke David Humm's 1972 season touchdown record of 18 when he pushed his season total to 20.

#13 Nebraska at #9 Texas Tech [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total • #13 Nebraska 7 7 13 0 27 #9 Texas Tech 3 14 7 0 24 Date: 1976-12-31 Location: Astrodome, Houston, Texas Game attendance: 48,618

Nebraska was behind 17-14 at the half, and Texas Tech increased their lead shortly after the start of the 3rd when they posted another touchdown, and things were looking bleak for the Cornhuskers as the Red Raiders seemed to have an answer for everything Nebraska came up with. Then, two minutes later, Nebraska found the end zone to pull within 4 points, and after managing to force Texas Tech into a punt that was partially blocked, the Cornhuskers scored again two minutes later to take the lead, and held on for the win.

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
AP	1	8	6	5	6	3	3	9	9	9	12	10	13	9
Coaches														7

^[4]

Award	Name(s)
All-America 1st team	Dave Butterfield, Vince Ferragamo, Mike Fultz
All-America 2nd team	Clete Pillen
All-America honorable mention	Greg Jorgensen, Bob Lingenfelter, Ray Phillips, Ron Pruitt, Dan Schmidt
Big 8 Defensive Player of the Year	Clete Pillen
All-Big 8 1st team	Dave Butterfield, Vince Ferragamo, Mike Fultz, Bob Lingenfelter, Ray Phillips, Clete Pillen, Dan Schmidt
All-Big 8 2nd team	Al Eveland, Steve Hoins, Chuck Malito, Ron Pruitt, Ken Spaeth
All-Big 8 honorable mention	Tom Davis, Greg Jorgensen, Dave Shamblin, Bobby Thomas, Larry Valasek

The following Nebraska players who participated in the 1976 season later moved on to the next level and joined a professional or semi-pro team as draftees or free agents.^[5]

Name	Team
George Andrews	Los Angeles Rams
Bill Barnett	Miami Dolphins
Rick Berns	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Ed Burns	New Orleans Saints
Kelvin Clark	Denver Broncos
Barney Cotton	Cincinnati Bengals
Tom Davis	Toronto Argonauts
Vince Ferragamo	Los Angeles Rams
Mike Fultz	New Orleans Saints
Mark Goodspeed	St. Louis Cardinals
Rod Horn	Cincinnati Bengals
Lee Kunz	Chicago Bears
Oudious Lee	St. Louis Cardinals
Bob Lingenfelter	Cleveland Browns
Ray Phillips	Cincinnati Bengals
Stan Waldemore	New York Jets