The 1976 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

in the

1976 NCAA Division I football season The 1976 NCAA Division I football season ended with a championship for the Panthers of the University of Pittsburgh. Led by head coach Johnny Majors (voted the AFCA Coach of the Year), the Pitt Panthers brought a college football championship to ...

. Oklahoma was a member of the Big Eight Conference and played its home games in

Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, also known as Owen Field or The Palace on the Prairie, is the football stadium on the campus of the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. It serves as the home of the Oklahoma Sooners football tea ...

, where it has played its home games since 1923. The team posted a 9–2–1 overall record and a 5–2–0 conference record to earn a share of the Conference title under

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Barry Switzer Barry Layne Switzer (born October 5, 1937) is a former American football coach and player. He served for 16 years as head football coach at the University of Oklahoma and four years as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football Le ...

who took the helm in 1973. This was Switzer's fourth conference title in four seasons. The team was led by two All-Americans:

Zac Henderson Zachary Ryall Henderson (October 14, 1955 – April 20, 2020) was an American professional football player who played in the Canadian Football League for four years. Henderson played defensive back for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Toronto Argona ...

and Mike Vaughan. After tying with

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

and

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

for the conference title, it earned a trip to the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been pla ...

where it came out victorious against the

Wyoming Cowboys The Wyoming Cowboys and Cowgirls are the athletic teams that represent the University of Wyoming, located in Laramie. Wyoming is a member of the Mountain West Conference (MW) and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 17 NCAA-sanctioned sports ...

. During the season, it faced five ranked opponents (In order, #16

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, #15

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

, #19 Colorado, #11

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

and #10

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

). Four of its opponents finished the season ranked. It tied with Texas in the

Red River Shootout The Oklahoma–Texas football rivalry is a college football rivalry game between border rivals Oklahoma and Texas. The two teams first played each other in 1900, and the rivalry has been renewed annually and uninterrupted since 1929 for a tota ...

and lost to Oklahoma State and Colorado. The Sooners started the season with a 5–0–1 record. They also began and ended the season with four-game winning streaks. Sophomore

Daryl Hunt Daryl Lynn Hunt (November 3, 1956 – July 9, 2010) was a professional American football player, a linebacker for six seasons for the Houston Oilers appearing in 78 career regular season games after being selected by Houston during the 6th roun ...

's 177

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

that season would stand as the school record for five years and continues to be the second highest total behind Jackie Shipp's 189 in 1981.

Kenny King Kenneth, Ken or Kenny King may refer to: Ken King * Ken King (born 1971), American politician and businessman * Ken King (ice hockey) (1952–2020), Canadian sports executive Kenneth King * Kenneth George King or Jonathan King (born 1944), Englis ...

led the team in rushing with 839 yards, Dean Blevins led the team in passing with 384 yards, Steve Rhodes led the team in receiving with 160 yards,

Uwe von Schamann Uwe Detlef Walter von Schamann (born April 23, 1956) is a former professional American football placekicker. He played for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League, from 1979 to 1984. Early life Von Schamann was born in Berlin, West ...

and

Horace Ivory Horace Orlando Ivory (born August 8, 1954) is a former American football running back in the NFL from 1977 through 1982. He attended Nolan Catholic High School Nolan Catholic High School is a private, coeducational, college preparatory school, ...

led the team in scoring with 72 points, Hunt led the team in tackles with a record-setting 177 as well as

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

s with 4.

Schedule

Roster

Game summaries

Vanderbilt

California

Florida State

*Source: Eugene Register-Guard

Iowa State

Texas

Kansas

Oklahoma State

Colorado

Kansas State

Missouri

Nebraska

Fiesta Bowl

Rankings

Awards and honors

* All-American:

and Mike Vaughan

Postseason

NFL draft

The following players were drafted into the National Football League following the season.

References

External links

1976 season
at SoonerStats.com {{Big Eight Conference football champions Oklahoma Oklahoma Sooners football seasons Big Eight Conference football champion seasons Fiesta Bowl champion seasons Oklahoma Sooners football