1976 California Golden Bears football team

1976 California Golden Bears football
ConferencePacific-8 Conference
Record5–6 (3–4 Pac-8)
Head coach
Home stadiumCalifornia Memorial Stadium
1976 Pacific-8 Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 USC $ 7 – 0 – 0 11 – 1 – 0
No. 15 UCLA 6 – 1 – 0 9 – 2 – 1
Stanford 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
California 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Washington 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Washington State 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
Oregon 1 – 6 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Oregon State 1 – 6 – 0 2 – 10 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1976 California Golden Bears football team was an American football team that represented the University of California, Berkeley in the Pacific-8 Conference during the 1976 NCAA Division I football season. Under fifth-year head coach Mike White, the Golden Bears compiled an overall record of 5–6 and 3–4 in conference.[1][2]

The leader of the previous season's team was quarterback Joe Roth, a junior college transfer, who was a Heisman Trophy candidate as a senior in 1976. Roth had a great start, however halfway through it his performance started to drop. Unknown to almost everyone, he was diagnosed with melanoma the most dangerous form of skin cancer; only head coach White and his closest friends knew about it. With Roth continuing to play, he still had a strong season and was named an All-American. His last game was in January 1977 at an all-star game in Japan and he died several weeks later in Berkeley.[3][4] His former locker is dedicated in his honor and the annual home game against UCLA or USC is known as the Joe Roth game.[5][6]

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 11at No. 16 Georgia*No. 15
L 24–3647,000[7]
September 18at No. 4 Oklahoma*
L 17–2871,286[8]
September 25at Arizona State*
W 31–2250,876[9][10]
October 2San Jose State*
W 43–1642,120[11][12]
October 9Oregon
  • California Memorial Stadium
  • Berkeley, CA
W 27–1037,950[13]
October 16at Oregon State
L 9–1023,963[14][15][16]
October 23No. 4 UCLA
  • California Memorial Stadium
  • Berkeley, CA (rivalry)
L 19–3562,228[17]
October 30at No. 4 USC
L 6–2060,323[18]
November 6at Washington
W 7–039,086[19]
November 13Washington State
  • California Memorial Stadium
  • Berkeley, CA
W 23–2230,000[20]
November 20Stanford
  • California Memorial Stadium
  • Berkeley, CA (Big Game)
L 24–2776,780[21]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[22]

Roster

Draft picks

Six Golden Bears were selected in the 1977 NFL draft.

Player Position Round Pick NFL club
Ted Albrecht Offensive tackle 1 15 Chicago Bears
Wesley Walker Wide receiver 2 33 New York Jets
Fred Besana Quarterback 5 115 Buffalo Bills
Jeff Barnes Linebacker 5 139 Oakland Raiders
Phil Heck Linebacker 11 297 Denver Broncos
Greg Peters Offensive guard 12 332 Dallas Cowboys

[23]

References

  1. ^ "1976 California Golden Bears Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  2. ^ "California 2015 Football Information Guide" (PDF). CalBears.com. Cal Golden Bears Athletics. p. 165. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2016. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  3. ^ "Cal's Roth dies of cancer at age 21". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. UPI. February 20, 1977. p. 2C.
  4. ^ "Cal's Joe Roth loses long battle with cancer". Indianapolis Star. Associated Press. February 20, 1977. p. 10, sec. 2.
  5. ^ "Remembering Joe Roth / Cancer took dynamic QB 30 years ago". SFGate. February 19, 2007. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  6. ^ "Joe Roth Locker Dedication Nov. 9". calbears.com. Archived from the original on December 2, 2015. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
  7. ^ "Roth gets Cal off fast, Georgia steals it, 36–24". The Los Angeles Times. September 12, 1976. Retrieved October 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Sooners let air out of Cal 28–17". The Wichita Eagle & Beacon. September 19, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Golden Bears snarl, wreck Arizona State, 31–22". Santa Cruz Sentinel. September 26, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Cal riddles Sun Devils to post 31–22 victory". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. September 26, 1976. p. 5B. Retrieved September 14, 2025 – via Google News Archive.
  11. ^ "Track star leads Bears past Sparts". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. UPI. October 3, 1976. p. 3C. Retrieved September 14, 2025 – via Google News Archive.
  12. ^ "Cal bombs San Jose". The Sacramento Bee. October 3, 1976. Retrieved September 13, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Withers, Bud (October 10, 1976). "California finally breaks Oregon, 27–10". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. p. 1C. Retrieved September 14, 2025 – via Google News Archive.
  14. ^ Conrad, John (October 17, 1976). "Beaver defense gives Fertig his first win". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. p. 1B. Retrieved September 14, 2025 – via Google News Archive.
  15. ^ Kayfes, Dave (October 17, 1976). "Roth goes down against OSU – like Bears". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. p. 5B. Retrieved September 14, 2025 – via Google News Archive.
  16. ^ "Beavers shock Cal, 10–9". The Olympian. October 17, 1976. Retrieved September 13, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Dankworth comes back, and so do the Bruins". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. wire service reports. October 24, 1976. p. 4B. Retrieved September 14, 2025 – via Google News Archive.
  18. ^ "No. 4 USC wins 20–6". The Billings Gazette. October 31, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Cal edges Huskies, 7–0". Statesman Journal. November 7, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Cal holds on to beat WSU by 1". Statesman Journal. November 14, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Late Stanford touchdown beats California, 27–24". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. November 21, 1976. p. 6C. Retrieved September 14, 2025 – via Google News Archive.
  22. ^ 2015 Football Information Guide (PDF). Cal Athletics. 2015. p. 165. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2016.
  23. ^ "1977 NFL Draft". Retrieved September 28, 2019.
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