1976 California Golden Bears football team
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Article ImagesThe 1976 California Golden Bears football team was an American football team that represented the University of California, Berkeley in the Pacific-8 Conference during the 1976 NCAA Division I football season. Under fifth-year head coach Mike White, the Golden Bears 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 |
Record | 5–6 (3–4 Pac-8) |
Head coach |
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Home stadium | California Memorial Stadium |
Seasons |
Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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 leader of the previous season's team was quarterback Joe Roth, a junior college transfer, who was a Heisman Trophy candidate as a senior in 1976. Roth had a great start, however halfway through it his performance started to drop. Unknown to almost everyone, he was diagnosed with melanoma the most dangerous form of skin cancer; only head 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.[3][4] His former locker is dedicated in his honor and the annual home game against UCLA or USC is known as the Joe Roth game.[5][6]
Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | Result | Attendance | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
September 11 | at No. 16 Georgia* | No. 15 | L 24–36 | 47,000 | [7] | |
September 18 | at No. 4 Oklahoma* | L 17–28 | 72,026 | [8] | ||
September 25 | at Arizona State* | W 31–22 | 50,876 | [9] | ||
October 2 | San Jose State* | W 43–16 | [10] | |||
October 9 | Oregon |
| W 27–10 | 29,946 | [11][12] | |
October 16 | at Oregon State | L 9–10 | 23,963 | [13][14][15] | ||
October 23 | No. 4 UCLA |
| L 19–35 | 62,228 | [16] | |
October 30 | at No. 4 USC | L 6–20 | 60,323 | [17] | ||
November 6 | at Washington | W 7–0 | 42,932 | [18] | ||
November 13 | Washington State |
| W 23–22 | 30,000 | [19] | |
November 20 | Stanford |
| L 24–27 | 76,780 | [20] | |
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- 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 Burl Toler
- WR Wesley Walker
Six Golden Bears were selected 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 |
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Cal's Roth dies of cancer at age 21". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). UPI. February 20, 1977. p. 2C.
- ^ "Cal's Joe Roth loses long battle with cancer". Indianapolis Star. Associated Press. February 20, 1977. p. 10, sec. 2.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Joe Roth Locker Dedication Nov. 9". calbears.com. Archived from the original on December 2, 2015. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
- ^ "Roth gets Cal off fast, Georgia steals it, 36–24". The Los Angeles Times. September 12, 1976. Retrieved October 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "1976 OU Football Season". Soonerstats. Soonerstats. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
- ^ "Cal riddles Sun Devils to post 31-22 victory". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 26, 1976. p. 5B.
- ^ "Track star leads Bears past Sparts". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). UPI. October 3, 1976. p. 3C.
- ^ Withers, Bud (October 10, 1976). "California finally breaks Oregon, 27-10". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1C.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Conrad, John (October 17, 1976). "Beaver defense gives Fertig his first win". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1B.
- ^ Kayfes, Dave (October 17, 1976). "Roth goes down against OSU – like Bears". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 5B.
- ^ "Dankworth comes back, and so do the Bruins". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire service reports. October 24, 1976. p. 4B.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Late Stanford touchdown beats California, 27-24". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 21, 1976. p. 6C.
- ^ 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.