1976 Purdue Boilermakers football team

1976 Purdue Boilermakers football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
1976 record	5-6 (4-4 Big Ten)
Head coach	Alex Agase
MVP	Scott Dierking
Captain	Scott Dierking
Captain	Blane Smith
Home stadium	Ross-Ade Stadium

1976 Big Ten football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#3 Michigan +	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
#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 1976 Purdue Boilermakers football team represented Purdue University in the 1976 college football season.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 11		Northwestern		Ross-Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN		W 31-19	46,311
September 18		at Notre Dame*		Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN (Shillelagh Trophy)		L 23-7	59,075
September 25		#19 USC*		Ross-Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN		L 31-13	65,425
October 2		Miami (OH)*		Ross-Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN		W 42-20	55,102
October 9		at Wisconsin		Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI		W 18-16	79,111
October 16		Illinois		Ross-Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN (Purdue Cannon)		L 21-17	66,716
October 23		at #9 Ohio State		Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH		L 24-3	87,898
October 30		at Michigan State		Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI		L 45-13	52,222
November 6		#1 Michigan		Ross-Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN		W 16-14	57,205
November 13		at Iowa		Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA		W 21-0	44,763
November 20		Indiana		Ross-Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN (Old Oaken Bucket)		L 20-14	63,220
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll.

^[1]

Starters

Offense

POS	Name	Name
QB	Mark Vitali
TB	Scott Dierking
FB	John Skibinski
SE	Raymond Smith	Jesse Townsend
FL	Reggie Arnold
TE	Nigel Wirgowski
LT	John LeFeber
LG	Tom Gibson
C	Jay Venzin	Rich Wetendorf
RG	Connie Zelencik
RT	Dave Lafary

Defense

POS	Name	Name
LDE	Blane Smith
LDT	Cleveland Crosby
MG	Ken Loushin
RDT	Chris Barr
RDE	Kim Cripe
LB	Bob Mannella
LB	Fred Arrington	Kevin Motts
CB	Jerome King
CB	Mike Northington	Pat Harris
SS	Paul Beery
FS	Rock Supan

^[1]

Coaching staff

Head Coach: Alex Agase

Assistants: George Catavolos (Secondary), Fred Conti, Jack Ellis, Bob Geiger, Jerry Hartman, Pat Naughton, Tom Roggeman, Rick Venturi, Mike Wynn ^[1]

Game notes

Michigan

#1 Michigan at Purdue

1 2 3 4 Total Michigan 7 0 7 0 14 • Purdue 7 6 0 3 16 Date: Saturday, November 6 Location: Ross-Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, Indiana Source: Palm Beach Post

Scoring summary 1 MICH Leach 8-yard run (Wood kick) MICH 7-0 1 PUR Dierking 4-yard run (Supan kick) Tied 7-7 2 PUR Dierking 25-yard run (kick blocked) PUR 13-7 3 MICH Smith 65-yard pass from Leach (Wood kick) MICH 14-13 4 4:20 PUR Supan 23-yard field goal PUR 16-14

• PUR: Scott Dierking 38 Rush, 162 Yds ^[2]

Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total • Purdue 6 8 7 0 21 Iowa 0 0 0 0 0 Date: November 13 Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa

Scoring summary 1 Purdue Vitali 3-yard run (kick failed) Purdue 6-0 2 Purdue Vitali 20-yard run (Dierking run) Purdue 14-0 3 Purdue Vitali 1-yard run (Supan kick) Purdue 21-0

^[3]

Statistics

Passing

Player	Comp	Att	Yards	TD	INT
Mark Vitali	73	172	1,184	0	16
Scott Dierking			92

Rushing

Player	Att	Yards	TD
Scott Dierking	201	1,000	11
John Skibinski	173	871
Mark Vitali	100	317

Receiving

Player	Rec	Yards	TD
Reggie Arnold	16	287
Raymond Smith	11	233
John Skibinski	13	118

^{[1] [4]}

Awards

Red Mackey Award: Mark Vitali ^[1]

References

1. 2010 Purdue football information guide
2. 2011 Purdue football information guide.
3. Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 Nov 14.
4. Broyles, Bob and Paul Guido. 50 Years of College Football: A Modern History of America's Most Colorful Sport