1976 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

1976 Iowa Hawkeyes football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record5–6 (3–5 Big Ten)
Head coach
Defensive coordinatorLarry Coyer (3rd season)
MVPs
  • Butch Caldwell
  • Tom Grine
Captains
  • Butch Caldwell
  • Tom Grine
Home stadiumKinnick Stadium
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
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 as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1976 Big Ten football season. In their third year under head coach Bob Commings, the Hawkeyes compiled a 5–6 record (3–5 in conference games), finished in a three-way tie for seventh place in the Big Ten, and were outscored by a total of 234 to 161.[1][2]

The 1975 Hawkeyes gained 2,144 rushing yards and 972 passing yards. On defense, they gave up 2,072 rushing yards and 1,151 passing yards.[3]

Quarterback Butch Caldwell and tight end Tom Grine were selected as the team's most valuable players.[4] 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.[5] Tom Rusk was selected by the conference coaches as a second-team linebacker on the UPI's 1976 All-Big Ten Conference football team.[6] Grine and defensive back Jim Caldwell were the team captains.[7]

The team played its home games at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. Home attendance totaled 267,327, an average of 53,465 per game.[8]

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendance
September 11at Illinois
L 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 16Indiana
  • Kinnick Stadium
  • Iowa City, IA
L 7–1457,465
October 23at Minnesota
W 22–1253,222
October 30Northwestern
  • Kinnick Stadium
  • Iowa City, IA
W 13–1051,800
November 6at Wisconsin
L 21–3879,120
November 13Purdue
  • Kinnick Stadium
  • Iowa City, IA
L 0–2144,763
November 20at Michigan State
W 30–1748,412
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[9]

Game summaries

At Illinois

See also: 1976 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

[10]

Syracuse

See also: 1976 Syracuse Orange football team

At Penn State

Team 1 234Total
• Hawkeyes 7 000 7
No. 11 Nittany Lions 0 006 6
Scoring summary
Q1IOWARenn 2 yard run (Quartaro kick)IOWA 7–0
Q4PSUSuhey 1 yard run (pass failed)IOWA 7–6
See also: 1976 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

Penn State missed a 25-yard field goal with 47 seconds left.[11]

At USC

Ohio State

Indiana

At Minnesota

Northwestern

At Wisconsin

See also: 1976 Wisconsin Badgers football team and Iowa–Wisconsin football rivalry

Purdue

At Michigan State

Roster

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
  • Redshirt

References

  1. ^ "1976 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  2. ^ "2022 Iowa Football Media Guide" (PDF). University of Iowa. p. 242. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
  3. ^ 2022 Iowa Football Media Guide, p. 161.
  4. ^ Roy Damer (December 25, 1975). "Lytle named Big 10 MVP: Purdue's Dierking is runnerup". Chicago Tribune. p. 2-1.
  5. ^ "1976 Iowa Hawkeyes Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  6. ^ "Illini place two on All-Big 10". The Pantagraph. November 24, 1976. p. A11.
  7. ^ 2022 Iowa Football Media Guide, p. 220.
  8. ^ 2022 Iowa Football Media Guide, p. 260.
  9. ^ "1976 Iowa Hawkeyes Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  10. ^ "Iowa suffers casualties, errors" (PDF). Daily Iowan. September 13, 1976. p. 8. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  11. ^ Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 Sep 26. Retrieved 2018-Sep-23.
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