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1976 Purdue Boilermakers football team

American college football season

Field	Value
year	1976
team	Purdue Boilermakers
sport	football
conference	Big Ten Conference
short_conf	Big Ten
record	5–6
conf_record	4–4
head_coach	Alex Agase
hc_year	4th
mvp	Scott Dierking
captain	Scott Dierking
captain2	Blane Smith
stadium	Ross–Ade Stadium

The 1976 Purdue Boilermakers football team was an American football team that represented Purdue University in the 1976 Big Ten Conference football season. In their fourth and final season under head coach Alex Agase, the Boilermakers compiled a 5–6 record (4–4 against conference opponents) and finished in a four-way tie for third place in the Big Ten standings.

Running back Scott Dierking led the team with 1,000 rushing yards and 66 points scored. Dierking was also named by the Associated Press (AP) as a second-team All-American and by the AP and United Press International (UPI) as a first-team running back on the 1976 All-Big Ten Conference football team.

Other statistical leaders included quarterback Mark Vitali with 1,184 passing yards. In addition to Dierking, three other Purdue players received honors on the 1976 All-Big Ten team: offensive guard Connie Zelencik (AP-1, UPI-2); defensive end Blane Smith (AP-1, UPI-2); and defensive back Paul Beery (AP-2, UPI-1).

Schedule

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Game summaries

Northwestern

Scott Dierking 27 rushes, 151 yards

At Notre Dame

First quarter

ND – Dave Reeve 39-yard field goal, 0:47. ''Notre Dame 3–0. '''Drive:''''' Second quarter
ND – Mark McLane 33-yard pass from Al Hunter (Dave Reeve kick). ''Notre Dame 10–0. '''Drive:''''' Third quarter
ND – Rick Slager 1-yard run (Dave Reeve kick). ''Notre Dame 17–0. '''Drive:''''' Fourth quarter
ND – Al Hunter 2-yard run (kick failed). ''Notre Dame 23–0. '''Drive: 49 yards.''''' ;Top passers
PUR
ND ;Top rushers
PUR
ND ;Top receivers
PUR
ND

USC

Miami (OH)

Scott Dierking 28 rushes, 211 yards
John Skibinski 15 rushes, 121 yards

At Wisconsin

Paul Beery's fourth interception and Rock Supan's 20-yard field goal with a little over two minutes remaining lifted Purdue to victory.

Illinois

At Ohio State

At Michigan State

Michigan

Source: Palm Beach Post
PUR: Scott Dierking 38 rushes, 162 yards

At Iowa

Indiana

Roster

Alex Agase
George Catavolos (DB)
Fred Conti
Jack Ellis
Bob Geiger
Jerry Hartman
Pat Naughton
Tom Roggeman
Rick Venturi
Stan Parrish (GA)
Mike Wynn

Awards

Red Mackey Award: Mark Vitali

Statistics

Passing

Player	Comp	Att	Yards	TD	INT
Mark Vitali	73	172	1,184	0	16
Scott Dierking			92

Rushing

Player	Att	Yards	TD
Scott Dierking	201	1,000	11
John Skibinski	173	871
Mark Vitali	100	317

Receiving

Player	Rec	Yards
Reggie Arnold	16	287
Raymond Smith	11	233
John Skibinski	13	118

References

"1976 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". Sports Reference LLC.
Roy Damer. (December 25, 1975). "Lytle named Big 10 MVP: Purdue's Dierking is runnerup". Chicago Tribune.
(December 2, 1976). "Tony Dorsett tops AP All-American Team". Jefferson City Post Tribune.
(December 3, 1976). "Michigan, Ohio State Pace All-Big Ten Team". Toledo Blade (AP story).
(November 24, 1976). "Illini place two on All-Big 10". The Pantagraph.
"1976 Purdue Boilermakers Stats". Sports Reference LLC.
(September 12, 1976). "Runner Dierking, QB Vitali leads Purdue's 31–19 victory". The Anderson Herald.
(September 19, 1976). "Burgmeier's stellar defense play helps Irish spill Purdue, 23–0". The Des Moines Register.
(September 26, 1976). "Southern Cal downs Purdue". The Lima News.
(October 3, 1976). "Purdue crushes Redskins 42–20". The Times Recorder.
(October 10, 1976). "Purdue upstages Wisconsin, 18–16". The Post-Crescent.
(October 17, 1976). "Decoy Phillips lifts Illinois". The Times-Mail.
(October 24, 1976). "Buckeyes blast Boilermakers, 24–3". Evansville Courier and Press.
(October 31, 1976). "Smith gets MSU rolling". The Kalamazoo Gazette.
(November 7, 1976). "Purdue Stuns No. 1 Michigan". The Victoria Advocate (AP story).
(November 8, 1976). "Purdue stuns No. 1 Michigan, Pittsburgh may get top ranking". The Bulletin (AP story).
(November 14, 1976). "Hawkeye fumble give Boilermakers shutout". The Daily Nonpareil.
(November 21, 1976). "IU surprises Purdue to win Bucket". The Muncie Star.
. ["2022 Purdue Football Record Book"](https://purduesports.com/documents/2022/8/23/2022_Purdue_Record_Book.pdf). *Purdue University Athletics*.
Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 Sept 19. Pg. 14B. Retrieved 2021-Jan-11.
Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 Oct 09. Retrieved 2018-Dec-30.
Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 Nov 14.
Broyles, Bob and Paul Guido. ''50 Years of College Football: A Modern History of America's Most Colorful Sport''

Info: Wikipedia Source

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