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1976 Purdue Boilermakers football team

The 1976 Purdue Boilermakers football team was an American football team that represented Purdue University in the 1976 Big Ten Conference football season. In their fourth and final season under head coach Alex Agase, the Boilermakers compiled a 5–6 record (4–4 against conference opponents) and finished in a four-way tie for third place in the Big Ten standings.[1]

Running back Scott Dierking led the team with 1,000 rushing yards and 66 points scored.[2] He was selected by his teammates as the team's most valuable player and finished second to Rob Lytle in the voting for the Chicago Tribune Silver Football, awarded to the Big Ten's most valuable player.[3] Dierking was also named by the Associated Press (AP) as a second-team All-American[4] and by the AP and United Press International (UPI) as a first-team running back on the 1976 All-Big Ten Conference football team.[5][6]

Other statistical leaders included quarterback Mark Vitali with 1,184 passing yards.[2] In addition to Dierking, three other Purdue players received honors on the 1976 All-Big Ten team: offensive guard Connie Zelencik (AP-1, UPI-2); defensive end Blane Smith (AP-1, UPI-2); and defensive back Paul Beery (AP-2, UPI-1).[5][6]

Schedule

[9]

Personnel

Game summaries

Northwestern

At Notre Dame

Purdue Boilermakers (1–0) at Notre Dame Fighting Irish (0–1)

at Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Indiana

  • Date: September 18
  • Game attendance: 59,075
  • Recap/Box

[10]

USC

Miami (OH)

At Wisconsin

Paul Beery's fourth interception and Rock Supan's 20-yard field goal with a little over two minutes remaining lifted Purdue to victory.[11]

Illinois

At Ohio State

At Michigan State

Michigan

At Iowa

[12]

Indiana

Statistics

Passing

Rushing

Receiving

[13]

Awards

Red Mackey Award: Mark Vitali

References

  1. ^ "1976 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  2. ^ a b "1976 Purdue Boilermakers Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  3. ^ Roy Damer (December 25, 1975). "Lytle named Big 10 MVP: Purdue's Dierking is runnerup". Chicago Tribune. p. 2-1.
  4. ^ "Tony Dorsett tops AP All-American Team". Jefferson City Post Tribune. December 2, 1976. p. 13.
  5. ^ a b "Michigan, Ohio State Pace All-Big Ten Team". Toledo Blade (AP story). December 3, 1976. p. 27.
  6. ^ a b "Illini place two on All-Big 10". The Pantagraph. November 24, 1976. p. A11.
  7. ^ "Purdue Stuns No. 1 Michigan". The Victoria Advocate (AP story). November 7, 1976.
  8. ^ "Purdue stuns No. 1 Michigan, Pittsburgh may get top ranking". The Bulletin (AP story). November 8, 1976.
  9. ^ "2022 Purdue Football Record Book" (PDF). Purdue University Athletics. p. 89. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
  10. ^ Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 Sept 19. Pg. 14B. Retrieved 2021-Jan-11.
  11. ^ Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 Oct 09. Retrieved 2018-Dec-30.
  12. ^ Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 Nov 14.
  13. ^ Broyles, Bob and Paul Guido. 50 Years of College Football: A Modern History of America's Most Colorful Sport