The 1976 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1976 Big Ten Conference football season. In their eighth year under head coach Bo Schembechler, the Wolverines finished the season with a 10–2 record, won the Big Ten Conference championship, and played in the 1977 Rose Bowl. The Wolverines outscored their opponents 432 to 95 and ranked first in the country in total offense (448.1 yards per game), scoring offense (38.7 points per game), and scoring defense (7.2 points per game). In the final AP and UPI Polls, Michigan was ranked No 3.
Highlights of the season included a 51–0 victory over Stanford in which three Michigan running backs rushed for over 100 yards. Michigan's 70–14 victory over Navy was the worst defeat in the history of the Naval Academy's football program. Michigan spent most of the season ranked No. 1 in the polls, but a 16–14 loss to Purdue in the ninth game of the season dropped the Wolverines out of the top spot. In the final game of the regular season, Michigan defeated Ohio State, 22–0, to win the Big Ten championship. The game marked the first time the Buckeyes had been held scoreless since 1964. In the 1977 Rose Bowl, Michigan lost to USC, 14–6, as the Wolverines completed only four passes and were held to 155 rushing yards.
On offense, senior running back Rob Lytle was selected as the team's most valuable player, finished third in voting for the Heisman Trophy, and led the Wolverines with 1,469 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns. Lytle finished the season as Michigan's all-time career rushing leader with 3,307 rushing yards gained from 1974 to 1976. Quarterback Rick Leach passed for 973 yards and 13 touchdowns and rushed for another 638 yards and 10 touchdowns.(To retrieve team statistics, enter the applicable year in the "Enter Year" box under the heading "Games & Totals by Season." Press "Display Season." At the next prompt, click the icon for "Display Season Totals".) His 13 touchdown passes tied a team record set by Bob Chappuis in 1947. Harlan Huckleby added 912 rushing yards, and wing back Jim Smith caught 26 passes for 714 yards and six touchdowns.
Lytle, Smith, offensive right guard Mark Donahue, and offensive right tackle Bill Dufek were selected as first-team All-Americans. On defense, Calvin O'Neal started all 12 games at middle linebacker, led the team with 139 tackles, and was a consensus first-team All-American. Nine Michigan players were selected as first-team All-Big Ten Conference players. Twenty-one players from the 1976 team went on to play in the National Football League, and another (Rick Leach) was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the 1979 NFL draft, but opted instead to play Major League Baseball.
Schedule
Season summary Week 1: Wisconsin
Michigan opened the season on September 11, 1976, with a 40–27 victory over Wisconsin.(To retrieve team statistics, enter the applicable year in the "Enter Year" box under the heading "Games & Totals by Season." Press "Display Season." At the next prompt, click the box for "Wisconsin" and then click icon for "Display Chosen Game Stats".) Michigan scored two points on a safety on the second play from scrimmage as Wisconsin running back Mike Morgan fumbled the handoff on a reverse play and the ball rolled out of the end zone. Harlan Huckleby then extended the lead to 9-0 with a 56-yard touchdown run on Michigan's third play from scrimmage. Michigan led the game 23–0 at the end of the first quarter and held on for a 40–27 win.
Michigan's offense was led by tailback Harlan Huckleby who rushed for 131 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries. Rick Leach completed six of eight passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns. Leach also rushed for 84 yards on nine carries. Wing back Jim Smith scored two touchdowns and netted 174 yards in the game, including gains on kickoff and punt returns, receptions, and reverse plays. Team captain Rob Lytle gained 76 yards on 16 attempts, but also fumbled three times. Mike Kenn and Gerry Szara were credited with leading an offensive line that "completely controlled the line of scrimmage."
Defensively, the game was a disappointment for Michigan. Wisconsin's 27 points was the most allowed by a Michigan team since 1969, and Wisconsin's 426 yards of offense was the most allowed by Michigan since before Bo Schembechler took over as head coach. After the game, Schembechler told the press: "Twenty seven points that's what we usually give up in the first half of the season. I wasn't happy with the movement, I wasn't happy with the pursuit, I wasn't happy with the tackling, I wasn't happy with the playing of the ball in the secondary and I wasn't happy with the heat we put on the passer."
In the AP Poll released after the game, Michigan was ranked #1 with Ohio State at #2. Michigan's move to #1 was aided by upsets of Alabama and Texas and a tie between Nebraska and LSU.
Week 2: Stanford
On September 18, 1976, Michigan played Stanford at Michigan Stadium. Michigan and Stanford had played to a 19–19 tie in 1975, and the Associated Press picked the rematch as its "Upset Special of the Week", predicting a Stanford win by a 24–20 score. Instead, Michigan defeated Stanford by a score of 51–0.(To retrieve team statistics, enter the applicable year in the "Enter Year" box under the heading "Games & Totals by Season." Press "Display Season." At the next prompt, click the box for "Stanford" and then click icon for "Display Chosen Game Stats".)
Three Michigan running backs rushed for at least 100 yards in the game. Harlan Huckleby led the group with 160 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. Russell Davis added 115 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries, including an 85-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Rob Lytle had 101 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries. Rick Leach completed only two of eight passes for 15 yards, but added 70 rushing yards and a touchdown on seven carries. One of Leach's completions went three yards to tight end Gene Johnson for a touchdown in the third quarter. In total, the Wolverines gained 531 rushing yards against the Cardinal. On defense, Michigan intercepted three Stanford passes. Calvin O'Neal led the team with 11 total tackles. Place-kicker Bob Wood converted on six of seven extra point attempts and kicked a 49-yard field goal in the second quarter. The game marked the first time a Stanford team had been shut out since 1967.
On the Wednesday before the Stanford game, the #1-ranked Michigan team received a visit from President Gerald Ford. Ford, who was the most valuable player of the 1934 Michigan Wolverines football team, spent time with team during a practice session and later ate with the team. Ford noted, "They're an awful lot bigger today. Not only are they bigger but they're better." Split end Curt Stephenson later recalled the dinner:"A tray appeared with a big New York steak in front of the President. . . . What happened next is kind of a blur. President Ford started to choke and the secret service started to circle the table. I don't know why, but in one immediate action, I reached back and gave him a good whack on the back. A hunk of beef flew out and across the table. The President turned to me and said, 'Thanks'. . . . From that point on, there were about six agents who were giving me eagle eyes." Later that day, Ford formally opened his reelection campaign with a speech to a boisterous crowd of 14,000 at Crisler Arena.
Week 3: Navy
On September 25, 1976, Michigan faced Navy at Michigan Stadium. Two days before the game, the schools' most famous alumni (Gerald Ford of Michigan and Jimmy Carter of the Naval Academy) faced off in a presidential debate. The Associated Press reported that a survey of registered voters gave Ford a slight edge over Carter in the debate, but noted that things were "not expected to be that close" when the two schools met on the football field. In fact, Michigan defeated Navy by a 70-14 score. The game marked the worst defeat in the history of the Naval Academy's football program. The point total was also the highest by a Michigan team since an 85-0 win over the University of Chicago in 1939.
Navy took an early lead on a touchdown by quarterback John Kurowski and led 14-12 halfway through the second quarter. Michigan tied the score with its second safety of the second quarter and outscored 49–0 in the second half to put the game out of reach.
Quarterback Rick Leach completed 8 of 12 passes for 179 yards and led the scoring with two rushing touchdowns and two passing touchdowns. A total of nine players scored for the Wolverines. On offense, touchdowns were scored by Leach, Rob Lytle, Lawrence Reid, Kevin King, Stacy Johnson, Jim Smith, and Gene Johnson. Middle linebacker Calvin O'Neal also scored a touchdown on a 29-yard return after intercepting a Navy pass. Place-kicker Bob Wood tied a Michigan record with a 41-yard field goal, his third of the season, and converted all nine extra point kicks. Jim Smith caught four passes for 147 yards and added another 55 yards on kickoff and punt returns.(To retrieve team statistics, enter the applicable year in the "Enter Year" box under the heading "Games & Totals by Season." Press "Display Season." At the next prompt, click the box for "Navy" and then click icon for "Display Chosen Game Stats".) Harlan Huckleby rushed for 79 yards on 11 carries but did not score and left the game early after sustaining a shoulder injury.
After the game, Bo Schembechler denied running up the score, having used 53 players in the game. Schembechler told the press told the press that his squad was not a great team and that he would prefer not to be ranked #1.
Week 4: Wake Forest
On October 2, 1976, Michigan faced the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in the team's fourth consecutive home game at Michigan Stadium. In the week before the game, Wake Forest head coach Chuck Mills noted that he had heard that Bear Bryant endorsed Gerald Ford and joked, "I'm withholding my endorsement until after the Michigan game to see what kind of hosts they are." The Wolverines shut out the Demon Deacons by a score of 31–0.
Rob Lytle rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries and also caught two passes for 21 yards. With the total, Lytle moved past Tom Harmon for fourth place on Michigan's all-time career rushing list. Harlan Huckleby added 89 yards, and quarterback Rick Leach completed only three of 14 passes and threw three interceptions.(To retrieve team statistics, enter the applicable year in the "Enter Year" box under the heading "Games & Totals by Season." Press "Display Season." At the next prompt, click the box for "Wake Forest" and then click icon for "Display Chosen Game Stats".) Commenting on Leach's passing, one sportswriter noted: "[W]hen the Wolverines are rolling up a shutout, and 340 yards rushing, hardly anybody notices the passing. Maybe that's a good thing. ... [Leach] was wild high, and wild low, but in games like these it really doesn't matter." Bo Schembechler told the press after the game: "You people like passing and there it is. That's how we keep the score down."
Week 5: Michigan State
On October 9, 1976, Michigan played its cross-state rival Michigan State in the annual battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy. The Wolverines had won six straight games with the last victory for the Spartans dating back to 1969. Michigan extended the streak to seven games with a 42–10 victory at Michigan Stadium.(To retrieve team statistics, enter the applicable year in the "Enter Year" box under the heading "Games & Totals by Season." Press "Display Season." At the next prompt, click the box for "Michigan State" and then click icon for "Display Chosen Game Stats".) Michigan's 42 points was the most it had scored against Michigan State since 1947.