1976 California Golden Bears football team
The 1976 California Golden Bears football team was an American football team that represented the University of California, Berkeley during the 1976 NCAA Division I football season. Under head coach Mike White, the team compiled an overall record of 5–6 and 3–4 in conference.[1][2]
1976 California Golden Bears football | |
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Conference | Pacific-8 Conference |
1976 record | 5–6 (3–4 Pac-8) |
Head coach | Mike White (5th season) |
Home stadium | California Memorial Stadium |
1976 Pacific-8 Conference football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The quarterback and leader of the previous season's team was Joe Roth. Because of that outstanding season he was one of the Heisman Trophy candidates at the beginning of the season. He had a great start, however halfway through it his performance started to drop. Unknown to almost everyone, Roth was diagnosed with melanoma the most dangerous form of skin cancer. Only coach White and his closest friends knew about it. With Roth continuing to play he still had a strong season and was named an All-American. His last game was in January 1977 at an all-star game in Japan and he died several weeks later in Berkeley. His former locker is dedicated in his honor and the annual home game against UCLA or USC is known as the Joe Roth game.[3][4]
Schedule
Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | Result | Attendance |
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September 11 | at No. 16 Georgia* | No. 15 | L 24–36 | 47,000 | |
September 18 | at No. 4 Oklahoma* | L 17–28 | 72,026[5] | ||
September 25 | at Arizona State* | W 31–22 | – | ||
October 2 | San Jose State* | W 43–16 | – | ||
October 9 | Oregon |
| W 27–10 | 29,946[6] | |
October 16 | at Oregon State | L 9–10 | 23,963[7] | ||
October 23 | No. 4 UCLA |
| L 19–35 | 62,228 | |
October 30 | at No. 4 USC | L 6–20 | 60,323[8] | ||
November 6 | at Washington | W 7–0 | 42,932[9] | ||
November 13 | Washington State |
| W 23–22 | 30,000[10] | |
November 20 | Stanford |
| L 24–27 | 76,780 | |
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Roster
- OT Ted Albrecht
- LB Jeff Barnes
- QB Fred Besana
- PK Jim Breech
- TE George Freitas
- DB Anthony Green
- LB Phil Heck
- DB Ken McAllister
- OG Greg Peters
- QB Joe Roth
- LB Burt Toler
- WR Wesley Walker
Draft picks
The following players were claimed in the 1977 NFL Draft.
Player | Position | Round | Pick | NFL Club |
Ted Albrecht | Offensive tackle | 1 | 15 | Chicago Bears |
Wesley Walker | Wide Receiver | 2 | 33 | New York Jets |
Fred Besana | Quarterback | 5 | 115 | Buffalo Bills |
Jeff Barnes | Linebacker | 5 | 139 | Oakland Raiders |
Phil Heck | Linebacker | 11 | 297 | Denver Broncos |
Greg Peters | Offensive guard | 12 | 332 | Dallas Cowboys |
References
- "1976 California Golden Bears Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
- "California 2015 Football Information Guide" (PDF). CalBears.com. Cal Golden Bears Athletics. p. 165. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2016. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
- "Remembering Joe Roth / Cancer took dynamic QB 30 years ago". SFGate. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
- "Joe Roth Locker Dedication Nov. 9". calbears.com. Archived from the original on December 2, 2015. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
- "1976 OU Football Season". Soonerstats. Soonerstats. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
- Oregon Football 2015 Media Guide (PDF). University of Oregon Athletics. p. 134.
- "Year-By-Year Results". 2017 Oregon State Football Media Guide Football (PDF). Oregon State Athletics. p. 170.
- USC Football 2017 Media Guide (PDF). University of Southern California Athletics. p. 70.
- 2017 Washington Football Information (PDF). University of Washington Athletics. p. 197.
- '16 Cougar Football (PDF). Washington State University Athletics. p. 81.
- 2015 Football Information Guide (PDF). Cal Athletics. 2015. p. 165. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2016.
- "1977 NFL Draft". Retrieved September 28, 2019.