The 1976 Montana State Bobcats football team represented the

Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 6 ...

in the 1976 NCAA Division II football season. The team was led by sixth-year head coach

Sonny Holland Allyn A. "Sonny" Holland (March 22, 1938 – December 3, 2022) was an American football player and coach. He was the head coach at his alma mater, Montana State University in Bozeman, from 1971 to 1977. Holland led the Bobcats to two Big Sky ...

and won the Division II national championship. The Bobcats played their home games on campus in Bozeman at Reno H. Sales Stadium. Entering August practices, the Bobcats were expected to finish in the middle of the conference standings. Led on the field by southpaw sophomore quarterback Paul Dennehy, Montana State went undefeated in the Big Sky and against all Division II opponents, falling only to

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

of Division I. Montana State finished their schedule with a 28–7 victory at

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

to end the regular season at 9–1.

Division II playoffs

In the Division II playoffs, the Bobcats hosted

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

in Bozeman in the quarterfinals and won by a point, 17–16. In the semifinals at Fargo, MSU defeated

North Dakota State North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as t ...

for a second time in 1976, by a much closer 10–3 score in the

Grantland Rice Bowl The Grantland Rice Bowl was an annual college football bowl game from 1964 through 1977, in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's College Division, for smaller universities and colleges, and later NCAA Division II, Division II. The ...

. In the

Pioneer Bowl The Pioneer Bowl was the name of some December college football bowl games played in two different eras. Between 1971 and 1982, the game was contested 10 times in Texas as an NCAA College Division regional final, or as a playoff game for Divisio ...

for the Division II title in

Wichita Falls, Texas Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the seat of government of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. Accordin ...

, the Bobcats defeated

Akron Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

24–13 and became the first Big Sky team to win a national title in football. the Bobcats went undefeated in the Big Sky and won the Division II national championship.

Schedule

References

{{NCAA Division II football national champion navbox

Montana State Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 68 fields, and doctoral degrees in 35 fiel ...

Montana State Bobcats football seasons NCAA Division II Football Champions Big Sky Conference football champion seasons Grantland Rice Bowl champion seasons

Montana State Bobcats football The Montana State Bobcats football program competes in the Big Sky Conference of the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivision for Montana State University. The program began in 1897 and has won three national championships (1956, 197 ...