1976 UNLV Rebels football team

The 1976 UNLV Rebels football team was an American football team that represented the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) as an independent during the 1976 NCAA Division II football season. In their first year under head coach Tony Knap, the Rebels compiled a record if 9–3.^[1]

1976 UNLV Rebels football
NCAA Division II Quarterfinal, L 6–27 vs. Akron
Conference	Independent
Record	9–3
Head coach	Tony Knap (1st season)
Home stadium	Las Vegas Stadium
Seasons ← 1975 1977 →

1976 NCAA Division II independents football records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 Northern Michigan ^			–					11	–	2	–	0
No. 3 Akron ^			–					10	–	3	–	0
No. 7 UNLV ^			–					9	–	3	–	0
No. 4 Delaware ^			–					8	–	3	–	1
Nevada			–					8	–	3	–	0
Portland State			–					8	–	3	–	0
Tennessee State			–					7	–	2	–	1
American International			–					6	–	3	–	0
Northern Colorado			–					6	–	3	–	0
Madison			–					7	–	4	–	0
Santa Clara			–					7	–	4	–	0
Western Carolina			–					6	–	4	–	0
Chattanooga			–					6	–	4	–	1
Southern Connecticut State			–					5	–	4	–	0
Central State (OH)			–					6	–	5	–	0
Lehigh			–					6	–	5	–	0
Arkansas–Pine Bluff			–					5	–	5	–	0
Central Connecticut			–					5	–	5	–	0
Lafayette			–					5	–	5	–	0
Eastern Illinois			–					5	–	6	–	0
Bucknell			–					4	–	5	–	0
Youngstown State			–					4	–	6	–	0
Kentucky State			–					3	–	7	–	1
Nebraska–Omaha			–					3	–	8	–	0
Northeastern			–					2	–	7	–	0
^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from Associated Press poll

Hired in late January, the 61-year-old Knap was previously the head coach for Utah State from 1963 to 1966 and Boise State from 1968 to 1975.^[2][3]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 11	Montana		Las Vegas Stadium Whitney, NV	W 21–19	13,848	[4]
September 18	South Dakota		Las Vegas Stadium Whitney, NV	W 28–26	13,031
September 25	at Weber State	No. 9	Wildcat Stadium Ogden, UT	W 33–16	13,602	[5]
October 2	Idaho State	No. 4	Las Vegas Stadium Whitney, NV	W 31–17	13,702	[6]
October 9	at Pacific (CA)	No. 2	Pacific Memorial Stadium Stockton, CA	L 13–38	9,327
October 16	Nebraska–Omaha	No. T–5	Las Vegas Stadium Whitney, NV	W 63–42	13,213
October 23	at Northern Arizona	No. T–5	Lumberjack Stadium Flagstaff, AZ	L 28–31	6,860	[7]
October 30	Cal Poly		Las Vegas Stadium Whitney, NV	W 28–10	11,136–11,138	[8][9]
November 6	Boise State		Las Vegas Stadium Whitney, NV	W 31–26	14,066	[10]
November 13	Missouri Southern	No. 9	Las Vegas Stadium Whitney, NV	W 28–3	11,320
November 20	Nevada	No. 7	Las Vegas Stadium Whitney, NV (Fremont Cannon)	W 49–33	14,270
November 37	at No. 3 Akron	No. 7	Rubber Bowl Akron, OH (NCAA Division II Quarterfinal)	L 6–27	6,562
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[11]