1976 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

The 1976 Iowa Hawkeyes football team was an American football team that represented the University of Iowa in the 1976 Big Ten Conference football season. In their third year under head coach Bob Commings, the Hawkeyes compiled a 5–6 record (3–5 against conference opponents) and finished in a three-way tie for seventh place in the Big Ten.

1976 Iowa Hawkeyes football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	5–6 (3–5 Big Ten)
Head coach	Bob Commings (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Larry Coyer (3rd season)
MVP	Butch Caldwell, Tom Grine
Captain	Butch Caldwell, Tom Grine
Home stadium	Kinnick Stadium

1976 Big Ten Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 3 Michigan +	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 6 Ohio State +	7	–	1	–	0			9	–	2	–	1
Minnesota	4	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Illinois	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Indiana	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Purdue	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Iowa	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Michigan State	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	6	–	1
Northwestern	1	–	7	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Quarterback Butch Caldwell and tight end Tom Grine were selected as the team's most valuable players. Caldwell led the team with 616 passing yards and 1,005 yards of total offense. Jon Lazar led the team in rushing with 392 yards. Tom Rusk was selected by the conference coaches as a second-team linebacker on the UPI's 1976 All-Big Ten Conference football team.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 11	at Illinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 6–24	49,515
September 18	Syracuse*	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	W 41–3	54,129
September 25	at No. 11 Penn State*	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	W 7–6	61,268
October 2	at No. 13 USC*	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 0–55	55,518
October 9	No. 10 Ohio State	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	L 14–34	59,170
October 16	Indiana	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	L 7–14	57,465
October 23	at Minnesota	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)	W 22–12	53,222
October 30	Northwestern	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	W 13–10	51,800
November 6	at Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	L 21–38	79,120
November 13	Purdue	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	L 0–21	44,763
November 20	at Michigan State	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	W 30–17	48,412
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1976 Iowa Hawkeyes football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 17 Butch Caldwell (C) Sr QB Tom McLaughlin Jr RB 18 Dennis Mosley Fr TE Tom Grine (C) Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 21 Jim Caldwell Sr DB Rod Sears	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 98 Dan Matter K   Nick Quartaro Sr	Head coach Bob Commings Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Game summaries

At Illinois

See also: 1976 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

Syracuse

See also: 1976 Syracuse Orange football team

At Penn State

1 2 3 4 Total • Hawkeyes 7 0 0 0 7 No. 11 Nittany Lions 0 0 0 6 6 Date: September 25 Location: Beaver Stadium, University Park, PA Game attendance: 61,268 Game weather: Sunny

Scoring summary Q1 IOWA Renn 2 yard run (Quartaro kick) IOWA 7–0 Q4 PSU Suhey 1 yard run (pass failed) IOWA 7–6

See also: 1976 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

Penn State missed a 25-yard field goal with 47 seconds left.

At Wisconsin

See also: 1976 Wisconsin Badgers football team and Iowa–Wisconsin football rivalry