CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1976 Nebraska

9–⁠3–⁠1 (4–⁠3 Big Eight), coached by Tom Osborne, finished No. 9 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Nebraska in 1976, game by game: tied at LSU 6–6; won at Indiana 45–13; won vs. TCU 64–10; won vs. Miami 17–9; won at Colorado 24–12; won vs. Kansas State 51–0; lost vs. No. 17 Missouri 24–34; won at Kansas 31–3; won vs. No. 13 Oklahoma State 14–10; lost at Iowa State 28–37; lost vs. No. 8 Oklahoma 17–20; won at Hawai’i 68–3; won vs. No. 9 Texas Tech 27–24+65−10Tied 6–6 at LSU0LSUWon 45–13 at Indiana+32IndianaWon 64–10 vs. TCU+54TCUWon 17–9 vs. Miami+8MiamiWon 24–12 at Colorado+12ColoradoWon 51–0 vs. Kansas State+51Kansas StateLost 24–34 vs. No. 17 Missouri-10No. 17 MissouriWon 31–3 at Kansas+28KansasWon 14–10 vs. No. 13 Oklahoma State+4No. 13 Oklahoma StateLost 28–37 at Iowa State-9Iowa StateLost 17–20 vs. No. 8 Oklahoma-3No. 8 OklahomaWon 68–3 at Hawai’i+65Hawai’iWon 27–24 vs. No. 9 Texas Tech+3No. 9 Texas Tech
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 11atLSUT 6–⁠663%
Sep 18atIndianaW 45–⁠1380%
Sep 25vsTCUW 64–⁠1091%
Oct 2vsMiamiW 17–⁠983%
Oct 9atColoradoW 24–⁠1254%
Oct 16vsKansas StateW 51–⁠090%
Oct 23vs17MissouriL 24–⁠3474%
Oct 30atKansasW 31–⁠354%
Nov 6vs13Oklahoma StateW 14–⁠1069%
Nov 13atIowa StateL 28–⁠3760%
Nov 26vs8OklahomaL 17–⁠2052%
Dec 4atHawai’iW 68–⁠391%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvs9Texas TechAstro-Bluebonnet BowlW 27–⁠2448%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Texas Tech 27–⁠24 in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl; No. 9 in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Big Eight.

In program history: The 41st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 129 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 1
  2. Wk 2: 8
  3. Wk 3: 6
  4. Wk 4: 5
  5. Wk 5: 6
  6. Wk 6: 3
  7. Wk 7: 3
  8. Wk 8: 9
  9. Wk 9: 9
  10. Wk 10: 9
  11. Wk 11: 12
  12. Wk 12: 10
  13. Wk 13: 13
  14. Final: 9

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1976.

Consensus All-AmericanDave Butterfield, DB

Record
9–⁠3–⁠1
Conference
4–⁠3 tied for 4th in Big Eight
AP final
No. 9 peak No. 1
Points
416–⁠181
Coach
Tom Osborne
Elo
1690 +33 this season
SP+ rating
20.5 No. 17 of 132; offense No. 8, defense No. 38
SRS
20.3 No. 8 of 137 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Monte Kiffin
Offense
I formation
Defense
5–⁠2

Drafted in 1977

The 1977 draft
Rd 2Mike Fultz DTNew Orleans Saints
Rd 4Vince Ferragamo QBLos Angeles Rams
Rd 5Ray Phillips LBCincinnati Bengals
Rd 6Ron Pruitt DEBuffalo Bills
Rd 7Bob Lingenfelter OTCleveland Browns

All-Big Eight

7 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • Steve HoinsOTAP-2
  • Chuck MalitoWRAP-2
  • Ron PruittDTAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1976 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1976 Big Eight standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oklahoma5–⁠29–⁠2–⁠15
Oklahoma State5–⁠29–⁠314
Colorado5–⁠28–⁠416
Nebraska4–⁠39–⁠3–⁠19
Iowa State4–⁠38–⁠319
Missouri3–⁠46–⁠5
Kansas2–⁠56–⁠5
Kansas State0–⁠71–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.