The 1976 Peach Bowl was a postseason college football match between the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,473 ...

and the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the ''Tar Heel ...

at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

on December 30, 1976. This game started at 2:30pm ET with at the time a sell out crowd at the Atlanta stadium with a total of 54,132 people in the stands. The University of Kentucky represented the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) and North Carolina represented the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC) in the competition. This was Kentucky's first post season bowl game in 25 years since playing TCU for the Cotton Bowl in the 1952 season making Kentucky very motivated for a win against North Carolina. The game was the final competition of the 1976 football season for each team and resulted in a 21–0 Kentucky victory led by Kentucky running back 'Rod Stewart'. North Carolina were the under dogs heading into the game with the Vegas line favoring Kentucky by 6 points. Kentucky's losses consisted of Kansas, Mississippi State, Georgia, and Maryland while North Carolina's consisted of NC State and Missouri. Although Kentucky stood with a worse record, it was believed North Carolina was one of the worst 9-2 teams due to their weak strength of schedule. North Carolina entered the game with a 9–2 record and a ranking of #18 in the Associated Press poll after having been ranked as high as #14 during the season; Kentucky entered with a record of 7–4 and unranked. Neither team scored during the first half. Two Kentucky drives ended deep in North Carolina territory with no score.2001 Kentucky Wildcats Football Media Guide, '1976 Peach Bowl', p. 166 The second half consisted of numerous turnovers from North Carolina starting in the third quarter with UNC quarterback Matt Kupec fumbling at their own 21; Kentucky's James Ramey recovered. Seven plays later Kentucky running back Rod Stewart took it in for his first out of three touchdowns from a yard out. John Pierce's PAT gave Kentucky a 7–0 lead. Starting out the fourth quarter, Kentucky drove 57 yards in 9 plays and with Stewart scoring his second touchdown on an easy 13-yard TD run. Pierce's PAT put the Wildcats up 14–0 with much of the 4th quarter still left to play. North Carolina was still unable to answer all throughout the 4th. The wildcats defense shut them out and forcing a total of 5 turnovers at the end the game. Kentucky's last scoring drive consisted a very short drive and ended in another Rod Stewart touchdown from 3 yards out on 4th down. After Pierce's third and final PAT made it Kentucky 21, North Carolina 0. Kentucky's defense was not the part of the team that dominated. Kentucky's offense also out gained North Carolinas offense 334 total yards to North Carolina's 108 total yards. Rod Stewarts 104 rushing yards on only 19 carries earned him game MVP along with tying a peach bowl record for most touchdowns(3). Rod Stewart finished the season with a total of 711 rushing yards on 146 carries making it his best season out of his college career and would later get drafted to the nil in 1979 to the Buffalo Bills. Kentucky linebacker Mike Martin was also named the game's defensive MVP. After the game, North Carolina fell out of the AP Top 20 and Kentucky finished the season ranked #18. The following season Kentucky went 10–1 and finished #6 in the final AP poll; North Carolina finished the season 8–3–1 after a loss in the Liberty Bowl.

Sources

* 2001 Kentucky Wildcats Football Media Guide, '1976 Peach Bowl', p. 166

References

{{North Carolina Tar Heels bowl game navbox

Peach Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. Since 1997, it has been sponsored by Chick-fil-A and is officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. From 2006 to 2013, it was officially re ...

Peach Bowl Kentucky Wildcats football bowl games North Carolina Tar Heels football bowl games December 1976 sports events in the United States