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 (4th season)
MVP	Scott Dierking
Captain	Scott Dierking
Captain	Blane Smith
Home stadium	Ross–Ade Stadium
Seasons

1976 Big Ten football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#3/3 Michigan §	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
#6/5 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 / Coaches' Poll

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 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.

Running back Scott Dierking led the team with 1,000 rushing yards and 66 points scored. 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. Dierking was also named by the Associated Press (AP) as a second-team All-American and by the AP and United Press International (UPI) as a first-team running back on the 1976 All-Big Ten Conference football team.

Other statistical leaders included quarterback Mark Vitali with 1,184 passing yards. 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).

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	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 23-0	59,075
September 25	No. 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 No. 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	No. 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 released prior to the game

Roster

1976 Purdue Boilermakers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB Dierking, ScottScott Dierking (C) 7.0 !Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 48 Arrington, FredFred Arrington S Beery, PaulPaul Beery S Supan, RockRock Supan	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Alex Agase Coordinators/assistant coaches Rick Venturi Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

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

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

Game summaries

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.

Michigan

#1 Michigan at Purdue

by Quarter 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

Iowa

by Quarter 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

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

Awards

Red Mackey Award: Mark Vitali