CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1976 Utah

3–⁠8 (3–⁠3 Western Athletic Conference), coached by Tom Lovat.

Schedule and results

Utah in 1976, game by game: lost at Rice 22–43; lost vs. Oregon 13–21; won vs. UTEP 38–14; lost at Iowa State 14–44; lost at Utah State 17–28; lost at Wyoming 22–45; lost vs. Arizona 35–38; won vs. New Mexico 34–31; won at Arizona State 31–28; lost vs. BYU 12–34; lost at LSU 7–35+24−30Lost 22–43 at Rice-21RiceLost 13–21 vs. Oregon-8OregonWon 38–14 vs. UTEP+24UTEPLost 14–44 at Iowa State-30Iowa StateLost 17–28 at Utah State-11Utah StateLost 22–45 at Wyoming-23WyomingLost 35–38 vs. Arizona-3ArizonaWon 34–31 vs. New Mexico+3New MexicoWon 31–28 at Arizona State+3Arizona StateLost 12–34 vs. BYU-22BYULost 7–35 at LSU-28LSU
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 18atRiceL 22–⁠4332%
Sep 25vsOregonL 13–⁠2146%
Oct 2vsUTEPW 38–⁠1454%
Oct 9atIowa StateL 14–⁠4419%
Oct 16atUtah StateL 17–⁠2835%
Oct 23atWyomingL 22–⁠4522%
Oct 30vsArizonaL 35–⁠3822%
Nov 6vsNew MexicoW 34–⁠3132%
Nov 13atArizona StateW 31–⁠2817%
Nov 20vsBYUL 12–⁠3420%
Nov 27atLSUL 7–⁠3517%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to LSU 35–⁠7; unranked in the final AP poll; 4th in the Western Athletic Conference.

In program history: The 124th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

Record
3–⁠8
Conference
3–⁠3 4th in Western Athletic Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
245–⁠361
Coach
Tom Lovat
Elo
1309 −31 this season
SP+ rating
-20.8 No. 129 of 132; offense No. 68, defense No. 130
SRS
−13.1 No. 114 of 137 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

1976 Western Athletic Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
BYU6–⁠19–⁠3
Wyoming6–⁠18–⁠4
Arizona State4–⁠34–⁠7
Utah3–⁠33–⁠8
Arizona3–⁠45–⁠6
New Mexico3–⁠44–⁠7
Colorado State2–⁠46–⁠5
UTEP0–⁠71–⁠11

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