1976 BC Lions season

The 1976 BC Lions finished in fourth place in the Western Conference with a 5–9–2 record and failed to make the playoffs.

1976 BC Lions season
Head coachCal Murphy
Home fieldEmpire Stadium
Results
Record5–9–2
Division place4th, West
Playoff finishdid not qualify
Uniform

The Lions platooned quarterbacks in 1976 in order to find the replacement for Don Moorhead who had 3 knee surgeries in two years and retired in July. These quarterbacks included journeymen Eric Guthrie, Rick Cassata, and UCLA star John Sciarra. However, the result was the Lions had by far the league's worst passing attack with only 2476 yards in passing offence and 46% completion percentage.

After only one win in the final 10 games, head coach Cal Murphy was fired in December after 18 months as head coach and a 10–14–2 record.

Defensive End Bill Baker won the Schenley award for Most Outstanding Defensive Player and rookie John Sciarra (who was converted from quarterback to slotback early in the season and was the Lions top receiver) won the Schenley Rookie award with 563 yards receiving.

Centre Al Wilson and Baker made the CFL All-star team for the second consecutive season.

Uniform changes included new orange-coloured facemask (the Lions were the first CFL team to introduce a coloured facemask, two years after the Kansas City Chiefs and then-San Diego Chargers did the same in the NFL), a double orange helmet stripe and new trimmed numbers to complete the look that most fans remember from the 1970s

Harry Spring is elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in the Builder category.

Offseason

CFL Draft
Rd Pick Player Position School

Preseason
Date Opponent Score Result

Regular season

Season standings
Western Football Conference
TeamGPWLTPFPAPts
Saskatchewan Roughriders16115042723822
Winnipeg Blue Bombers16106038431620
Edmonton Eskimos1696131136719
BC Lions1659230833612
Calgary Stampeders1621223164226

[1]

Season schedule
Week Date Opponent Score Result Record
1 July 22 vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders 35–8 Loss 0–1
2 July 29 vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers 39–14 Win 1–1
3 Aug 4 at Edmonton Eskimos 19–12 Loss 1–2
4 Aug 11 at Calgary Stampeders 13–9 Win 2–2
5 Aug 17 vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers 22–14 Win 3–2
6 Aug 24 vs. Ottawa Rough Riders 23–11 Win 4–2
7 Aug 30 at Montreal Alouettes 30–9 Loss 4–3
8 Sept 6 at Saskatchewan Roughriders 17–14 Loss 4–4
9 Sept 12 vs. Calgary Stampeders 30–15 Win 5–4
10 Sept 19 at Winnipeg Blue Bombers 22–20 Loss 5–5
11 Bye 5–5
12 Oct 2 vs. Edmonton Eskimos 27–27 Tie 5–5–1
13 Oct 11 at Edmonton Eskimos 16–12 Loss 5–6–1
14 Oct 17 vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders 28–15 Loss 5–7–1
15 Oct 24 at Calgary Stampeders 31–31 Tie 5–7–2
16 Oct 30 at Toronto Argonauts 25–16 Loss 5–8–2
17 Nov 6 vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers 23–17 Loss 5–9–2

[2]

Offensive leaders
PlayerPassing ydsRushing ydsReceiving ydsTD
Eric Guthrie13995901
Rick Cassata984000
Mike Strickland111935811
Lou Harris7841667
John Sciarra105925631
Merced Solis03291
Jim Young03272

Awards and records

1976 CFL All-Stars

References
  1. "CFL.ca". Archived from the original on 2009-07-22. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  2. "British Columbia Lions All-Time Canadian Football League (CFL) Records". Archived from the original on 2009-05-07. Retrieved 2009-03-08.
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