The Daily Nole

76 Days Until FSU Football: 1976 Begins Bobby Bowden Era at Florida State

Garnet and Great Archive Collection

We stand just 76 days away from Florida State football taking the field against Virginia Tech. As part of the offseason, we’re doing a countdown that highlights players, games, and specific moments from Florida State football history.

On Monday, it was former linebacker Derrick Brooks recording 77 tackles in back-to-back All-American years.

Today, it’s the 1976 season, which was the Bobby Bowden’s first-ever at FSU.

Bowden was a decently well-known coach by the mid-70s, having taken over at West Virginia from 1970 to 1975 and leading the Mountaineers to a pair of Peach Bowl appearances. When Florida State hired him, Bowden knew that he was walking in to a program which had seen marked decline under Larry Jones and Darrell Mudra. The Seminoles had gone a combined 19-37 in the five seasons prior to Bowden’s arrival.

His first season in 1976 was surprisingly successful compared to the previous half-decade. The Seminoles went just 5-6 and missed a bowl game, but Florida State made genuine strides in becoming a competitive team.

The season started out with three straight losses to Memphis, Miami and No. 4 Oklahoma. The loss to Miami was a 47-0 clobbering, while the defeat to Oklahoma was a much closer 24-9 affair. Still, moral victories only get a coach so far, and Bowden knew that he wasn’t hired to lose blowouts.

The team was able to win its first home game of the season with a 20-10 victory over Kansas State. It followed that up with an 28-9 upset win at No. 13 Boston College. It would be Bowden’s first win over a ranked team at Florida State, but certainly not his last.

Florida State hit another rough patch the next week with a close 33-26 loss to the No. 12 Florida Gators. The Seminoles then lost two more in the next two weeks against Auburn and Clemson.

But the Seminoles ended the year on a high note by winning three straight against Southern Mississippi, North Texas State, and Virginia Tech.

Amidst the mediocre results, there were still some commendable players. Tight end Ed Beckman, offensive tackle Jon Thames, and wide receiver Kurt Unglaub were each named All-Americans by various publications. Running back Larry Key flew under the radar but proved to be one of Bowden’s favorite weapons. He ran for 712 yards and four touchdowns on the year.

All in all, the 1976 squad was solid proof that Bowden could greatly succeed at FSU. He helped turn a bad team into a competitive one that didn’t let early setbacks ruin their season. Oddly enough, it turned out to be the only losing season in Bowden’s 34-year Florida State career.

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