1976 California Golden Bears football
ConferencePacific-8 Conference
Record5–6 (3–4 Pac-8)
Head coach
Home stadiumCalifornia Memorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1975
1977 →
1976 Pacific-8 Conference football standings
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
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

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]

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

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 11at No. 16 Georgia*No. 15
L 24–3647,000[5]
September 18at No. 4 Oklahoma*
L 17–2872,026[6]
September 25at Arizona State*
W 31–22
October 2San Jose State*
W 43–16
October 9Oregon
  • California Memorial Stadium
  • Berkeley, CA
W 27–1029,946[7]
October 16at Oregon State
L 9–1023,963[8]
October 23No. 4 UCLA
  • California Memorial Stadium
  • Berkeley, CA (rivalry)
L 19–3562,228
October 30at No. 4 USC
L 6–2060,323[9]
November 6at Washington
W 7–042,932[10]
November 13Washington State
  • California Memorial Stadium
  • Berkeley, CA
W 23–2230,000[11]
November 20Stanford
  • California Memorial Stadium
  • Berkeley, CA (Big Game)
L 24–2776,780
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[12]

Roster

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

[13]

References

  1. ^ "1976 California Golden Bears Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  2. ^ "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.
  3. ^ "Remembering Joe Roth / Cancer took dynamic QB 30 years ago". SFGate. February 19, 2007. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  4. ^ "Joe Roth Locker Dedication Nov. 9". calbears.com. Archived from the original on December 2, 2015. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
  5. ^ "Roth gets Cal off fast, Georgia steals it, 36–24". The Los Angeles Times. September 12, 1976. Retrieved October 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "1976 OU Football Season". Soonerstats. Soonerstats. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  7. ^ Oregon Football 2015 Media Guide (PDF). University of Oregon Athletics. p. 134.
  8. ^ "Year-By-Year Results". 2017 Oregon State Football Media Guide Football (PDF). Oregon State Athletics. p. 170.
  9. ^ USC Football 2017 Media Guide (PDF). University of Southern California Athletics. p. 70.
  10. ^ 2017 Washington Football Information (PDF). University of Washington Athletics. p. 197.
  11. ^ '16 Cougar Football (PDF). Washington State University Athletics. p. 81.
  12. ^ 2015 Football Information Guide (PDF). Cal Athletics. 2015. p. 165. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2016.
  13. ^ "1977 NFL Draft". Retrieved September 28, 2019.


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