1976 Ottawa Rough Riders season
Introduction The '''1976 Ottawa Rough Riders''' finished in first place in the Eastern Conference with a 9–6–1 record and won the Grey Cup. This would be the last time in their franchise history that they would win the Grey Cup. The Ottawa Redblacks would subsequently win the 104th Grey Cup game at the conclusion of the 2016 CFL season, ending a 40-year Grey Cup drought for the City of Ottawa, which begun subsequent to their Grey Cup victory in 1976 (this ended what was arguably the longest Grey Cup drought in the CFL, though the City of Ottawa was without a CFL team between 1997 and 2001 and again between 2006 and 2013).
Offseason ===1976 CFL Draft===In the first round of the 1976 CFL Draft, Ottawa selected Bill Hatanaka. Bob O'Billovich was hired as an assistant coach.
Preseason  Week  Date  Opponent  Score  Result  Record A  June 28  vs. Edmonton Eskimos  40–25  Win  1–0 B  July 5  vs. Montreal Alouettes  26–22  Loss  1–1 C  July 8  at Calgary Stampeders  39–37  Loss  1–2 D  July 14  at Toronto Argonauts  20–9  Win  2–2
Regular season ===Standings===+ Eastern Football Conference Team  GP  W  L  T  PF  PA  Pts '''Ottawa Rough Riders'''  16  9  6  1  411  346  19 '''Hamilton Tiger-Cats'''  16  8  8  0  269  348  16  '''Montreal Alouettes'''  16  7  8  1  305  273  15Toronto Argonauts  16  7  8  1  289  354  15===Schedule=== Week  Date  Opponent  Score  Result  Record 1  July 21  at Hamilton Tiger-Cats  42–16  Win  1–0 2  July 27  vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers  38–27  Win  2–0 3  Aug 3  vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders  29–16  Loss  2–1 4  Aug 11  at Toronto Argonauts  27–16  Win  3–1 4  Aug 16  vs. Montreal Alouettes  45–9  Win  4–1 5  Aug 21  at Edmonton Eskimos  20–18  Win  5–1 6  Aug 24  at BC Lions  23–11  Loss  5–2 7  Sept 1  vs. Toronto Argonauts  40–27  Win  6–2 8  Sept 11  vs. Montreal Alouettes  21–13  Win  7–2 9  Sept 19  vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats  28–21  Loss  7–3 10  Sept 26  at Montreal Alouettes  23–2  Loss  7–4 11  Oct 2  at Toronto Argonauts  20–20  Tie  7–4–1 12  ''Bye'' 13  Oct 16  vs. Calgary Stampeders  37–36  Win  8–4–1 14  Oct 24  at Hamilton Tiger-Cats  48–10  Win  9–4–1 15  Oct 31  vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats  25–6  Loss  9–5–1 16  Nov 6  at Montreal Alouettes  26–17  Loss  9–6–1
Postseason ===Playoffs=== Round  Date  Opponent  Score  Result  Record East Final  Nov 21  vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats  17–15  Win  10–6–1 Grey Cup  Nov 28  Saskatchewan Roughriders  23–20  Win  11–6–1===Grey Cup===In the final minute, Saskatchewan punted into a strong wind. Ottawa would have the ball on the Saskatchewan 35-yard line. With 44 seconds left, Ottawa quarterback Tom Clements passed to tight end Tony Gabriel, and Ottawa was at Saskatchewan's 20 yard line. The next pass would win the game, as Gabriel caught the ball in the end zone for the game-winning touchdown. Teams 1 Q 2 Q 3 Q 4 Q Final Saskatchewan Roughriders 0 17 3 0 20 '''Ottawa Rough Riders''' 10 0 3 10 '''23'''
Player stats ===Passing=== Player  Attempts  Completions  Percentage    Yards    Touchdowns   InterceptionsTom Clements327  19659.928562013Condredge Holloway10659 55.797396===Receiving=== Player  Games Played  Receptions  Yards    Average    Long   TouchdownsJeff Avery16 21 33816.1622Tony Gabriel16 72  132018.36214Art Green  53 5089.6312===Rushing=== Player  Rushes  Yards  Average     Touchdowns    LongArt Green23412575.41369
Awards and honours * CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award – Tony Gabriel (TE)* Grey Cup Most Valuable Player, Tom Clements, (QB)* Tom Clements, All-Eastern Quarterback* Art Green, Running Back, CFL All-Star* Tony Gabriel, Tight End, CFL All-Star* Mark Kosmos, Linebacker, CFL All-Star*Jim Reid, Fullback, Rookie of the Year Award
References