CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1976 Northern Illinois

1–⁠10 (0–⁠6 Mid-American Conference), coached by Pat Culpepper.

Schedule and results

Northern Illinois in 1976, game by game: lost at Wichita State 0–21; lost vs. Western Michigan 6–37; lost at Long Beach State 0–37; lost at Indiana State 10–28; won vs. Illinois State 7–3; lost at Southern Illinois 0–54; lost vs. Ball State 7–33; lost at Toledo 2–17; lost vs. Central Michigan 9–31; lost at Ohio 15–63; lost at Kent State 0–42+7−54Lost 0–21 at Wichita State-21Wichita StateLost 6–37 vs. Western Michigan-31Western MichiganLost 0–37 at Long Beach State-37Long Beach StateLost 10–28 at Indiana State-18Indiana StateWon 7–3 vs. Illinois State+4Illinois StateLost 0–54 at Southern Illinois-54Southern Illino…Lost 7–33 vs. Ball State-26Ball StateLost 2–17 at Toledo-15ToledoLost 9–31 vs. Central Michigan-22Central MichiganLost 15–63 at Ohio-48OhioLost 0–42 at Kent State-42Kent State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 11atWichita StateL 0–⁠2143%
Sep 18vsWestern MichiganL 6–⁠3758%
Sep 25atLong Beach StateL 0–⁠3714%
Oct 9atIndiana StateL 10–⁠2854%
Oct 16vsIllinois StateW 7–⁠370%
Oct 23atSouthern IllinoisL 0–⁠5434%
Oct 30vsBall StateL 7–⁠3318%
Nov 6atToledoL 2–⁠1725%
Nov 13vsCentral MichiganL 9–⁠3127%
Nov 20atOhioL 15–⁠6312%
Nov 25atKent StateL 0–⁠4210%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Kent State 42–⁠0; unranked in the final AP poll; 10th in the Mid-American Conference.

In program history: The 56th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 61 on file).

Record
1–⁠10
Conference
0–⁠6 10th in Mid-American Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
56–⁠366
Coach
Pat Culpepper
Elo
1176 −179 this season
SP+ rating
-30.2 No. 132 of 132; offense No. 131, defense No. 124
SRS
−34.4 No. 137 of 137 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Jack Dean
Captains
Tim Dacy, Tim Miller, Don Palochko and Vince Smith
Most valuable player
Don Palochko and Vince Smith

Drafted in 1977

The 1977 draft
Rd 5Ken Moore TEMinnesota Vikings

1976 Mid-American Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ball State4–⁠18–⁠3
Kent State6–⁠28–⁠4
Ohio6–⁠27–⁠4
Western Michigan6–⁠37–⁠4
Central Michigan4–⁠37–⁠4
Bowling Green4–⁠36–⁠5
Miami (OH)2–⁠43–⁠8
Toledo2–⁠63–⁠8
Eastern Michigan1–⁠52–⁠9
Northern Illinois0–⁠61–⁠10

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