1976 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

Schedule

Roster

Coaching staff

Rankings

External links

LSU

Indiana

TCU

Miami

Colorado

Kansas State

Missouri

Kansas

Oklahoma State

Iowa State

Oklahoma

Hawaii

Texas Tech

Awards

NFL and Pro Players

The 1976 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska in the 1976 college football season

1976 college football season

The 1976 college football season ended with a championship for the Panthers of the University of Pittsburgh. Coached by Johnny Majors , the Pitt Panthers brought a college football championship to the home of the defending pro football champions, the Steelers. Pitt also had the Heisman Trophy...

. The team was coached by Tom Osborne and played their home games in Memorial Stadium

Memorial Stadium, Lincoln

Memorial Stadium is located on the campus of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. It is the home of the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team....

in Lincoln, Nebraska

Lincoln, Nebraska

The City of Lincoln is the capital and the second-most populous city of the US state of Nebraska. Lincoln is also the county seat of Lancaster County and the home of the University of Nebraska. Lincoln's 2010 Census population was 258,379....

Name	Title	First year in this position	Years at Nebraska	Alma Mater
Tom Osborne	\|Head Coach Offensive Coordinator	1973	1964–1997	Hastings College Hastings College Hastings College is a private, undergraduate, four-year, residential liberal arts college in Hastings, Nebraska, USA.- History :The college was founded in 1882 by a group of men and women seeking to establish a Presbyterian college dedicated to high academic and cultural standards...
Monte Kiffin Monte Kiffin Monte Kiffin is an American football coach. He is widely considered to be one of the preeminent defensive coordinators in modern football, as well as one of the greatest defensive coordinators in NFL history...	\|Defensive Coordinator	1973	1967–1976	Nebraska University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln is a public research university located in the city of Lincoln in the U.S. state of Nebraska...
Cletus Fischer	\|Offensive Line		1960–1985	Nebraska University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln is a public research university located in the city of Lincoln in the U.S. state of Nebraska...
Jim Ross	\|		1962–1976
John Melton	\|Tight Ends Wingbacks	1973	1962–1988	Wyoming University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming is a land-grant university located in Laramie, Wyoming, situated on Wyoming's high Laramie Plains, at an elevation of 7,200 feet , between the Laramie and Snowy Range mountains. It is known as UW to people close to the university...
Mike Corgan	\|Running Backs	1962	1962–1982	Notre Dame University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
Warren Powers Warren Powers Warren Anthony Powers is a former American football coach. He was the head coach of the Missouri Tigers football program from 1978 to 1984. Prior to coming to Missouri, Powers was an assistant coach under both Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne at Nebraska...	\|Defensive Backs		1969–1976	Nebraska University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln is a public research university located in the city of Lincoln in the U.S. state of Nebraska...
Boyd Epley	\|Head Strength Coach	1969	1969–2003	Nebraska University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln is a public research university located in the city of Lincoln in the U.S. state of Nebraska...
Bill Myles	\|Linebackers	1975	1972–1976
Jerry Moore Jerry Moore Gerald Hundley "Jerry" Moore is the current head football coach of the Appalachian State University Mountaineers located in the town of Boone in Watauga County, North Carolina. He has filled the position since 1989. Moore has had a winning record in 19 out of the last 20 seasons. He led the...	\|Wide Receivers	1973	1973–1978	Baylor Baylor University Baylor University is a private, Christian university located in Waco, Texas. Founded in 1845, Baylor is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.-History:...
George Darlington	\|		1973–2002	Rutgers Rutgers University Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
Milt Tenopir	\|Offensive Line	1974	1974–2002	Sterling Sterling College (Kansas) Sterling College is a Christ-centered, four-year liberal arts college located in Sterling, Kansas with a mission "to develop creative and thoughtful leaders who understand a maturing Christian faith." The school is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and...
Guy Ingles	\|Freshman Head Coach	1976	1976–1978	Nebraska University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln is a public research university located in the city of Lincoln in the U.S. state of Nebraska...

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

Blackshirts (football)

The Blackshirts are the first-string defensive unit players for the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team.-History:The term originally dates back to the early 1960s and refers to the black practice jerseys that Nebraska's first-string defenders began to wear during practice...

, 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.

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 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

Vince Ferragamo

Vince Anthony Ferragamo is a former professional football player, a quarterback in the National Football League and Canadian Football League.-College career:...

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.

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.

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.

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

Vince Ferragamo

Vince Anthony Ferragamo is a former professional football player, a quarterback in the National Football League and Canadian Football League.-College career:...

tied the school single-game touchdown record for the second time this season while the Blackshirts

Blackshirts (football)

put up their only shutout of 1976.

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.

Kansas took the brunt of Nebraska's frustration following their loss to Missouri the week prior, as the Blackshirts

Blackshirts (football)

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.

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 haltfime, 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

Blackshirts (football)

held from there on out to secure the victory.

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.

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

Dean Blevins

Dean Blevins is an American sportscaster. He is the main sportscaster for KWTV, the CBS affiliate in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He also is a co-host of an afternoon radio show on the Sports Animal called "The Total Dominance Hour."...

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.

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

Frank Solich

Frank Solich is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach at Ohio University, a position he has held since the 2005 season...

in 1965. Nebraska SE Chuck Malito's 166 receiving yards also set a new single game school record, and Nebraska QB Vince Ferragamo

Vince Ferragamo

Vince Anthony Ferragamo is a former professional football player, a quarterback in the National Football League and Canadian Football League.-College career:...

broke David Humm

David Humm

David Henry Humm is a former professional football player, a quarterback in the NFL from 1975-84 for the Oakland Raiders, Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Colts, and Los Angeles Raiders...

's 1972 season touchdown record of 18 when he pushed his season total to 20.

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

Award	Name(s)
All-America 1st team	Dave Butterfield, Vince Ferragamo Vince Ferragamo Vince Anthony Ferragamo is a former professional football player, a quarterback in the National Football League and Canadian Football League.-College career:... , 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.

Name	Team
George Andrews George Andrews (American football) George Eldon Andrews, II is a former American football linebacker. He is a graduate of the University of Nebraska who played in the National Football League from 1979–1984 for the Los Angeles Rams.-High school:...	Los Angeles Rams
Bill Barnett Bill Barnett William Perry Barnett is a former professional American football player who played defensive tackle for six seasons for the Miami Dolphins in the National Football League. He currently lives in Lincoln, NE as a copyright maintaining a residence in northern MN for fishing expeditions....	Miami Dolphins Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
Rick Berns	Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football franchise based in Tampa, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League – they are the only team in the division not to come from the old NFC West...
Ed Burns	New Orleans Saints New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....
Kelvin Clark Kelvin Clark Kelvin Wayne Clark is a former professional American football guard/tackle in the National Football League. He played for seven seasons for the Denver Broncos and the New Orleans Saints....	Denver Broncos Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
Barney Cotton Barney Cotton Barney Cotton is the Associate Head Coach and Offensive Line Coach for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers football team.-Early life:Barney Cotton was born in Omaha, Nebraska on September 30, 1956, and graduated from Omaha Burke High School....	Cincinnati Bengals Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...
Tom Davis	Toronto Argonauts Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League. The Toronto, Ontario based team was founded in 1873 and is one of the oldest existing professional sports teams in North America, after the Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta...
Vince Ferragamo Vince Ferragamo Vince Anthony Ferragamo is a former professional football player, a quarterback in the National Football League and Canadian Football League.-College career:...	Los Angeles Rams
Mike Fultz	New Orleans Saints New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....
Mark Goodspeed	St. Louis Cardinals St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
Rod Horn	Cincinnati Bengals Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...
Lee Kunz	Chicago Bears Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
Oudious Lee	St. Louis Cardinals St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
Bob Lingenfelter	Cleveland Browns Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
Ray Phillips	Cincinnati Bengals Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...
Stan Waldemore Stan Waldemore Stan Waldemore is a former American football offensive tackle and offensive guard in the National Football League for the New York Jets from 1978-1984. He played in 62 games throughout his professional career. He went to the University of Nebraska....	New York Jets New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

Altman, Dick (So.) WB

Anderson, Rene #2 (Jr.) RCB

Andrews, George
George Andrews (American football)
George Eldon Andrews, II is a former American football linebacker. He is a graduate of the University of Nebraska who played in the National Football League from 1979–1984 for the Los Angeles Rams.-High school:...

#96 (So.) DE

Anthony, Monte #49 (Jr.) IB

Avery, Scott #93 (Sr.) DT

Barnett, Bill
Bill Barnett
William Perry Barnett is a former professional American football player who played defensive tackle for six seasons for the Miami Dolphins in the National Football League. He currently lives in Lincoln, NE as a copyright maintaining a residence in northern MN for fishing expeditions....

#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
Jake Cabell
-Playing history:Cabell played Cornerback for the Nebraska Cornhuskers under head coach Bob Devaney, recruited in the class of 1974 and playing during the 1975-1976 seasons. Cabel was a junior college transfer because he played for one year at Ferrum College in Ferrum, Virginia, where he earned an...

#24 (Sr.) LCB

Carpenter, Jeff #37 (Jr.) LB

Cass, Dan (So.) LCB

Clark, Kelvin
Kelvin Clark
Kelvin Wayne Clark is a former professional American football guard/tackle in the National Football League. He played for seven seasons for the Denver Broncos and the New Orleans Saints....

#73 (So.) OT

Cole, Lawrence #92 (So.) DE

Cooley, Lawrence #67 (So.) OG

Cotton, Barney
Barney Cotton
Barney Cotton is the Associate Head Coach and Offensive Line Coach for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers football team.-Early life:Barney Cotton was born in Omaha, Nebraska on September 30, 1956, and graduated from Omaha Burke High School....

#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
Vince Ferragamo
Vince Anthony Ferragamo is a former professional football player, a quarterback in the National Football League and Canadian Football League.-College career:...

#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

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

Pruitt, Ron #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

Spaeth, Ken #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
Stan Waldemore
Stan Waldemore is a former American football offensive tackle and offensive guard in the National Football League for the New York Jets from 1978-1984. He played in 62 games throughout his professional career. He went to the University of Nebraska....

#62 (Jr.) OG

Walderzak, Paul #77 (So.) OT

Walton, Darrell #7 (So.) WB

Washington, Mike #42 (So.) FB

Webb, Mitchell #99 (So.) MG

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

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