1976 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

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1976 Iowa Hawkeyes football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record5–6 (3–5 Big Ten)
Head coach
Defensive coordinatorLarry Coyer (3rd season)
MVPButch Caldwell, Tom Grine
CaptainButch Caldwell, Tom Grine
Home stadiumKinnick Stadium
Seasons
← 1975
1977 →
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 1976 Iowa Hawkeyes football team was an American football team that represented the University of Iowa in the 1976 Big Ten Conference football season. In their third year under head coach Bob Commings, the Hawkeyes compiled a 5–6 record (3–5 against conference opponents) and finished in a three-way tie for seventh place in the Big Ten.[1]

Quarterback Butch Caldwell and tight end Tom Grine were selected as the team's most valuable players.[2] Caldwell led the team with 616 passing yards and 1,005 yards of total offense. Jon Lazar led the team in rushing with 392 yards.[3] Tom Rusk was selected by the conference coaches as a second-team linebacker on the UPI's 1976 All-Big Ten Conference football team.[4]

Schedule[edit]

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendance
September 11at IllinoisL 6–2449,515
September 18Syracuse*W 41–354,129
September 25at No. 11 Penn State*W 7–661,268
October 2at No. 13 USC*L 0–5555,518
October 9No. 10 Ohio State
  • Kinnick Stadium
  • Iowa City, IA
L 14–3459,170
October 16Indianadagger
  • Kinnick Stadium
  • Iowa City, IA
L 7–1457,465
October 23at MinnesotaW 22–1253,222
October 30Northwestern
  • Kinnick Stadium
  • Iowa City, IA
W 13–1051,800
November 6at WisconsinL 21–3879,120
November 13Purdue
  • Kinnick Stadium
  • Iowa City, IA
L 0–2144,763
November 20at Michigan StateW 30–1748,412
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[5]

Roster[edit]

1976 Iowa Hawkeyes football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
QB 17 Butch Caldwell (C) Sr
QB Tom McLaughlin Jr
RB 18 Dennis Mosley Fr
TE Tom Grine (C) Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DB 21 Jim Caldwell Sr
DB Rod Sears
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
P 98 Dan Matter
K   Nick Quartaro Sr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Game summaries[edit]

At Illinois[edit]

[6]

Syracuse[edit]

At Penn State[edit]

1 234Total
Hawkeyes 7 000 7
No. 11 Nittany Lions 0 006 6

Penn State missed a 25-yard field goal with 47 seconds left.[7]

At USC[edit]

Ohio State[edit]

Indiana[edit]

At Minnesota[edit]

Northwestern[edit]

At Wisconsin[edit]

Purdue[edit]

At Michigan State[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "1976 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  2. ^ Roy Damer (December 25, 1975). "Lytle named Big 10 MVP: Purdue's Dierking is runnerup". Chicago Tribune. p. 2-1.
  3. ^ "1976 Iowa Hawkeyes Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  4. ^ "Illini place two on All-Big 10". The Pantagraph. November 24, 1976. p. A11.
  5. ^ "1976 Iowa Hawkeyes Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  6. ^ "Iowa suffers casualties, errors" (PDF). Daily Iowan. September 13, 1976. p. 8. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  7. ^ Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 Sep 26. Retrieved 2018-Sep-23.