1976 Stanford Cardinals football team

1976 Stanford Cardinals football
ConferencePacific-8 Conference
Record6–5 (5–2 Pac-8)
Head coach
Defensive coordinatorNorb Hecker (5th season)
Home stadiumStanford 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 Stanford Cardinals football team represented Stanford University in the Pacific-8 Conference during the 1976 NCAA Division I football season. Led by fifth-year head coach Jack Christiansen, the Cardinals were 6–5 overall (5–2 in Pac-8, third) and played home games on campus at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California

After a disappointing season that started at 1–4,[1][2] Christiansen was fired the day before the last game of the season, the Big Game at Cal;[3] he coached that final game, which Stanford rallied to win in the final two minutes.[4][5]

With two seasons remaining on a five-year contract (at $27,500 annually),[3] Christiansen did not have a losing season at Stanford, was 30–22–3 (.573) overall, and 22–12–1 (.643) in conference. The Cardinals had five Pac-8 wins in each of his last four seasons, finishing no lower than third.

Bill Walsh, the offensive coordinator of the NFL's San Diego Chargers, was hired as head coach in December,[6][7][8] and led Stanford for the next two seasons, both ending with bowl wins.

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 11at No. 10 Penn State*
L 12–1561,645[9]
September 18at No. 1 Michigan*
L 0–51103,741[10]
September 25San Jose State*
W 28–2351,000[11]
October 2at Army*
L 20–2130,382[12]
October 9at No. 5 UCLA
L 20–3850,894[13]
October 16Washington
  • Stanford Stadium
  • Stanford, CA
W 34–2836,000[14]
October 23at Washington State
W 22–1624,300[15]
October 30Oregon State
  • Stanford Stadium
  • Stanford, CA
W 24–330,500[16]
November 6No. 4 USC
  • Stanford Stadium
  • Stanford, CA (rivalry)
L 24–4876,500[17]
November 13at Oregon
W 28–1718,000[18]
November 20at California
W 27–2476,780[19]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[20]

Roster

Source:[21][22]

NFL draft

Five Cardinals were selected in the 1977 NFL draft.

Player Position Round Overall Franchise
Tony Hill WR 3 62 Dallas Cowboys
Duncan McColl DE 4 97 Washington Redskins
Mike Michel K 5 113 Miami Dolphins
Gary Anderson OL 10 263 Detroit Lions
Mike Cordova QB 11 286 Philadelphia Eagles

References

  1. ^ "Pacific-8 Conference". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. (standings). October 10, 1976. p. 1C.
  2. ^ "Bruins intercept Cards, 38-20". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. UPI. October 10, 1976. p. 6C.
  3. ^ a b "'Chris' is sacked; a Card first". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. UPI. November 20, 1976. p. 1B.
  4. ^ "Late fumble produces Card win". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. November 21, 1976. p. D2.
  5. ^ "Late Stanford touchdown beats California, 27-24". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. November 21, 1976. p. 6C.
  6. ^ "Bill Walsh named Card grid mentor". Lodi News-Sentinel. California. UPI. December 13, 1976. p. 14.
  7. ^ "Stanford hires Walsh". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. December 13, 1976. p. 3C.
  8. ^ "Walsh ready to go". Lodi News-Sentinel. California. UPI. December 14, 1976. p. 6.
  9. ^ "Nittany Lions edge Stanford". Arizona Daily Star. September 12, 1976. Retrieved September 12, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Top-rated Michigan rolls to 51–0 win over Stanford". The Paducah Sun-Democrat. September 19, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Guy named Guy ignites Stanford". Contra Costa Times. September 26, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Army's comeback stuns Stanford". The Herald Statesman. October 3, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Stanford bombs out". Progress-Bulletin. October 10, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Cardinals turn back Huskies". The Times-Standard. October 17, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Cards nip Cougs at 0:29". The Olympian. October 24, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Stanford clips stubborn Oregon State, 24–3". The Sunday Oregonian. October 31, 1976. Retrieved September 13, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "No Bell, but USC still ringer". The Sacramento Bee. November 7, 1976. Retrieved September 13, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Stanford scuttles Webfoots". The Sunday Oregonian. November 14, 1976. Retrieved September 14, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Late Stanford touchdown beats California, 27–24". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. November 21, 1976. p. 6C. Retrieved September 14, 2025 – via Google News Archive.
  20. ^ "Stanford Game-by-Game Results; 1976–1980". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on April 7, 2013. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
  21. ^ "Cardinals vs. Cougars". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. (rosters). October 23, 1976. p. 13.
  22. ^ "The lineups". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. November 13, 1976. p. 1B.
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