1979 BYU Cougars football team

1979 BYU Cougars football
WAC champion
Holiday Bowl, L 37–38 vs. Indiana
Conference Western Athletic Conference
Ranking
Coaches No. 12
AP No. 13
1979 record 11–1 (7–0 WAC)
Head coach LaVell Edwards (8th season)
Home stadium Cougar Stadium
1979 WAC football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 13 BYU $ 7 –0 –0  11 –1 –0
Utah 5 –2 –0  6 –6 –0
San Diego State 4 –2 –0  8 –3 –0
Hawaii 3 –3 –0  6 –5 –0
New Mexico 3 –4 –0  6 –6 –0
Colorado State 3 –4 –0  4 –7 –1
Wyoming 2 –5 –0  4 –8 –0
UTEP 0 –7 –0  2 –9 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1979 BYU Cougars football team represented Brigham Young University (BYU) for the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Cougars were led by eighth-year head coach LaVell Edwards and played their home games at Cougar Stadium in Provo, Utah. The team competed as a member of the Western Athletic Conference, winning the conference title for the fourth consecutive year with a conference record of 7–0. BYU finished the regular season with an undefeated record of 11–0. BYU was invited to the 1979 Holiday Bowl, where they lost to Indiana. They were ranked 13th in the final AP Poll and 12th in the final Coaches Poll.


Schedule

Date Opponent# Rank# Site TV Result Attendance
September 8 at No. 14 Texas A&M* Rice Stadium • Houston W 18–17   40,000
September 15 Weber State* Cougar Stadium • Provo, Utah W 48–3   33,161
September 29 UTEP Cougar Stadium • Provo, Utah W 31–7   34,724
October 5 Hawaii No. 20 Cougar Stadium • Provo, Utah W 38–15   34,741
October 13 at Utah State* No. 16 Romney Stadium • Logan, Utah W 48–24   28,094
October 20 at Wyoming No. 13 War Memorial Stadium • Laramie, Wyoming W 54–14   14,723
October 27 New Mexico No. 11 Cougar Stadium • Provo, Utah W 59–7   33,921
November 3 at Colorado State No. 11 Hughes Stadium • Fort Collins, Colorado W 30–7   25,612
November 9 at Long Beach State* No. 11 Memorial Stadium • Long Beach, California W 31–17   20,051
November 17 Utah No. 10 Cougar Stadium • Provo, Utah W 27–0   40,236
November 24 at San Diego State No. 10 San Diego Stadium • San Diego ABC W 63–14   46,121
December 21 vs. Indiana* No. 9 San Diego Stadium • San Diego (Holiday Bowl) L 37–38   52,500
*Non-conference game. daggerHomecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll.

[1]

Game summaries

Game 1: Texas A&M

1 234Total
• BYU 0 378 18
Texas A&M 7 073 17

[2]

The game was played at Rice Stadium because Kyle Field was being renovated.

QB Marc Wilson had undergone an emergency appendectomy and had lost weight during the week of the game.

The defense carried the offense that was still finding its rhythm with a blocked punt and a goal line stand. The ailing Wilson drove BYU down the field to score with 52 seconds left to pull within 17-16. Coach Edwards let the team decide whether to go for the tie or the win and they chose the latter. The attempt was converted and BYU put itself in the national spotlight with a major upset.

[3]

Utah

1 234Total
Utah 0 000 0
• BYU 17 370 27

Marc Wilson threw for 374 yards as BYU clinched at least a share of the WAC title and set up a showdown with San Diego State for the following week. Wilson set an NCAA record for the most passing yards against a single opponent in two games and tied Rice's Tommy Kramer 1976 record for 300-yard passing games in a season with seven.

[4]

Game 12: Holiday Bowl (vs. Indiana)

Marc Wilson 28/43, 380 yards, 2 TD, TD rushing [5]

Roster

1979 BYU Cougars football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
TE 85 Clay Brown Jr
T 72 Nick Eyre Jr
RB 36 Eric Lane Jr
QB 9 Jim McMahon So
T 64 Andy Reid Jr
QB 6 Marc Wilson Sr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DT 78 Chuck Ehin Fr
DE 83 Mat Mendenhall Sr
DE 77 Mike Morgan Fr
LB 41 Glen Redd Jr
LB 59 Kyle Whittingham So
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

Roster

References

  1. ↑ "1979 Football season – CougarStats". Archived from the original on 2010-09-04. Retrieved 2010-12-26.
  2. ↑ "Late Pass Enables BYU to Upset A&M." Palm Beach Post. 1979 Sept 9.
  3. ↑ BYU Football Talk
  4. ↑ "BYU stays unbeaten, Wilson breaks records." Eugene Register-Guard. 1979 Nov 18.
  5. ↑ "1979". Holidaybowl.com. Archived from the original on 2012-12-16. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
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