1976 Northwestern
1–10 (1–7 Big Ten), coached by John Pont. Share
Schedule and results
- Biggest winBeat Michigan State 42–21Nov 13
By 21 points, its widest win.
| Date | Opponent | Result | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 11 | at Purdue | L 19–31 | 32% |
| Sep 18 | at 17North Carolina | L 0–12 | 28% |
| Sep 25 | vs Notre Dame | L 0–48 | 27% |
| Oct 2 | vs Arizona | L 15–27 | 28% |
| Oct 9 | at Indiana | L 0–7 | 36% |
| Oct 16 | vs 1Michigan | L 7–38 | 12% |
| Oct 23 | vs Wisconsin | L 25–28 | 40% |
| Oct 30 | at Iowa | L 10–13 | 25% |
| Nov 6 | vs Minnesota | L 10–38 | 31% |
| Nov 13 | vs Michigan State | W 42–21 | 21% |
| Nov 20 | at Illinois | L 6–48 | 24% |
Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.
How it ended: Lost to Illinois 48–6; unranked in the final AP poll; 10th in the Big Ten.
In program history: The 118th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).
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.
- Record
- 1–10
- Conference
- 1–7 10th in Big Ten
- AP final
- Unranked
- Points
- 134–311
- Coach
- John Pont
- Elo
- 1311 −81 this season
- SP+ rating
- -15.8 No. 117 of 132; offense No. 114, defense No. 118
- SRS
- −7.3 No. 102 of 137 major-college teams
- Recruiting class
- —
- Captains
- Greg Boykin, Randy Dean, Paul Maly and Pete Shaw
Drafted in 1977
The 1977 draft| Rd 5 | Randy Dean QB | New York Giants |
| Rd 6 | Pete Shaw DB | San Diego Chargers |
| Rd 7 | Greg Boykin RB | New Orleans Saints |
All-Big Ten
3 first teamFirst team
Scott YelvingtonWRAP-1; UPI-1- Paul MalyFront five
- Pete ShawDBAP-1; UPI-1
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 Ten standings
Conference page| Team | Conf. | Overall | AP final |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan | 7–1 | 10–2 | 3 |
 Ohio State | 7–1 | 9–2–1 | 6 |
| Minnesota | 4–4 | 6–5 | |
| Illinois | 4–4 | 5–6 | |
| Purdue | 4–4 | 5–6 | |
| Indiana | 4–4 | 5–6 | |
| Iowa | 3–5 | 5–6 | |
| Wisconsin | 3–5 | 5–6 | |
| Michigan State | 3–5 | 4–6–1 | |
| Northwestern | 1–7 | 1–10 |
Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.