1973 BYU Cougars football team

1973 BYU Cougars football
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Record	5–6 (3–4 WAC)
Head coach	LaVell Edwards (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Dave Kragthorpe (4th season)
Offensive scheme	West Coast
Defensive coordinator	Dick Felt (2nd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Cougar Stadium
Seasons ←  1972 1974  →

1973 Western Athletic Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 9 Arizona State +	6	–	1	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
Arizona +	6	–	1	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
Utah	4	–	2	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
BYU	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
New Mexico	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Wyoming	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Colorado State	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
UTEP	0	–	7	–	0			0	–	11	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1973 BYU Cougars football team represented Brigham Young University during the 1973 NCAA Division I football season. The Cougars were led by second-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, finishing tied for fourth with a conference record of 3–4.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 15	Colorado State	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	L 13–21	28,255	[1]
September 29	Oregon State *	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	W 37–14	27,434	[2]
October 6	at Utah State *	Romney Stadium Logan, UT (Beehive Boot)	L 7–13	15,046	[3]
October 13	Iowa State *	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	L 24–26	25,580	[4]
October 20	at No. 12 Arizona State	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	L 12–52	47,137	[5]
October 27	at Wyoming	War Memorial Stadium Laramie, WY	L 21–41	18,746	[6]
November 3	New Mexico	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	W 56–21	11,412	[7]
November 10	Arizona	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	L 10–24	19,597	[8]
November 17	Weber State *	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	W 45–14	14,548	[9]
November 24	at Utah	Robert Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT (rivalry)	W 46–22	18,243	[10]
December 1	at UTEP	Sun Bowl El Paso, TX	W 63–0	6,100	[11]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[12]

Game summaries

Colorado State

See also: 1973 Colorado State Rams football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams	0	0	7	14	21
Cougars	0	0	7	6	13

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Colorado State	Passing	Jan Stuebbe	15/34, 211 yards, INT
	Rushing	Scot MacLachlan	23 rushes, 54 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Willie Miller	4 receptions, 89 yards
BYU	Passing	Randy Litchfield	12/22, 135 yards, 3 INT
	Rushing	Randy Litchfield	11 rushes, 32 yards, TD
	Receiving	Jay Miller	6 receptions, 63 yards

Oregon State

See also: 1973 Oregon State Beavers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Beavers	7	7	0	0	14
Cougars	14	7	7	9	37

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Oregon State	Passing	Alvin White	15/41, 193 yards, INT
	Rushing	Ray Taroli	13 rushes, 70 yards
	Receiving	Dick Maurer	3 receptions, 50 yards
BYU	Passing	Randy Litchfield	12/23, 118 yards, TD
	Rushing	Gil Gillenwater	30 rushes, 136 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Sam LoBue	1 reception, 68 yards, TD

At Utah State

See also: 1973 Utah State Aggies football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	0	7	0	0	7
Aggies	7	3	0	3	13

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
BYU	Passing	Randy Litchfield	8/17, 91 yards, 3 INT
	Rushing	Mark Terranova	15 rushes, 76 yards, TD
	Receiving	Jay Miller	8 receptions, 99 yards
Utah State	Passing	Tom Wilson	3/6, 22 yards
	Rushing	Archie Gibson	22 rushes, 143 yards, TD
	Receiving	Kelley Deist	1 reception, 12 yards

Iowa State

See also: 1973 Iowa State Cyclones football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cyclones	10	10	3	3	26
Cougars	7	0	7	10	24

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Iowa State	Passing	Buddy Hardeman	9/18, 123 yards
	Rushing	Buddy Hardeman	16 rushes, 88 yards
	Receiving	Keith Krepfle	4 receptions, 95 yards
BYU	Passing	Gary Sheide	30/47, 445 yards, 3 TD, 4 INT
	Rushing	Mark Terranova	20 rushes, 111 yards
	Receiving	Jay Miller	13 receptions, 193 yards, TD

At No. 12 Arizona State

See also: 1973 Arizona State Sun Devils football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	0	0	6	6	12
No. 12 Sun Devils	16	13	16	7	52

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
BYU	Passing	Gary Sheide	22/39, 169 yards, TD, INT
	Rushing	Mark Terranova	13 rushes, 74 yards
	Receiving	Jay Miller	14 receptions, 95 yards, TD
Arizona State	Passing	Danny White	17/25, 303 yards, 3 TD
	Rushing	Woody Green	17 rushes, 128 yards
	Receiving	Morris Owens	6 receptions, 173 yards, TD

At Wyoming

See also: 1973 Wyoming Cowboys football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	0	0	0	21	21
Cowboys	0	10	21	10	41

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
BYU	Passing	Gary Sheide	18/39, 317 yards, 2 TD, INT
	Rushing	David Coon	17 rushes, 51 yards
	Receiving	Jay Miller	7 receptions, 117 yards
Wyoming	Passing	Steve Cockreham	13/24, 208 yards, 3 TD
	Rushing	Bruce Williams	17 rushes, 67 yards, TD
	Receiving	Archie Gray	6 receptions, 112 yards, TD

New Mexico

See also: 1973 New Mexico Lobos football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lobos	7	0	0	14	21
Cougars	12	21	0	23	56

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
New Mexico	Passing	Troy Williams	8/21, 142 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Cliff Crenshaw	12 rushes, 34 yards
	Receiving	Paul Labarrere	2 receptions, 80 yards, TD
BYU	Passing	Gary Sheide	32/50, 402 yards, 6 TD, INT
	Rushing	Mark Terranova	14 rushes, 46 yards
	Receiving	Jay Miller	22 receptions, 263 yards, 3 TD

Arizona

See also: 1973 Arizona Wildcats football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	10	7	7	24
Cougars	0	10	0	0	10

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Arizona	Passing	Bruce Hill	5/17, 72 yards, INT
	Rushing	Jim Upchurch	17 rushes, 146 yards, TD
	Receiving	Mark Neal	2 receptions, 50 yards
BYU	Passing	Gary Sheide	10/19, 82 yards, 2 INT
	Rushing	Mark Terranova	12 rushes, 55 yards
	Receiving	Jay Miller	7 receptions, 50 yards

Weber State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	6	0	8	14
Cougars	14	10	14	7	45

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Weber State	Passing	Rob Bockwoldt	4/14, 62 yards
	Rushing	Blaine Church	12 rushes, 51 yards
	Receiving	Gary Childress	6 receptions, 126 yards, TD
BYU	Passing	Gary Sheide	20/32, 244 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Jeff Blanc	17 rushes, 90 yards
	Receiving	Jay Miller	10 receptions, 155 yards, 3 TD

At Utah

See also: 1973 Utah Utes football team

1 2 3 4 Total •Cougars 3 27 16 0 46 Utes 0 3 6 13 22 Date: November 24 Location: Rice Stadium, Salt Lake City Game attendance: 18,243 Game weather: Snow

Scoring summary 1 BYU Duke 51 yard field goal BYU 3-0 2 BYU Blanc 1 yard run (Duke kick) BYU 10-0 2 BYU Taylor 8 yard pass from Sheide (Duke kick) BYU 17-0 2 BYU Blanc 32 yard pass from Sheide (Duke kick) BYU 24-0 2 BYU Betham 35 yard pass from Sheide (kick failed) BYU 30-0 2 UTAH Marrelli 37 yard field goal BYU 30-3 3 BYU Safety BYU 32-3 3 BYU Blanc 1 yard run (Duke kick) BYU 39-3 3 BYU yard pass from Sheide (Duke kick) BYU 46-3 4 UTAH Odom 36 yard pass from Van Galder (kick failed) BYU 46-9 4 UTAH Hutchins 59 yard pass from Van Galder (Marrelli kick) BYU 46-16 4 UTAH Odom 33 yard pass from Van Galder (run failed) BYU 46-22

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
BYU	Passing	Gary Sheide	22/34, 349 yards, 4 TD
	Rushing	Steve Stratton	18 rushes, 121 yards
	Receiving	John Betham	3 receptions, 126 yards, 2 TD
Utah	Passing	Don Van Galder	12/38, 224 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Hutch Roosevelt	10 rushes, 69 yards
	Receiving	Hutch Roosevelt	3 receptions, 77 yards, TD

The first half was played in a blinding snowstorm. Gary Sheide tied the WAC single-season touchdown record of 21 in the third quarter shared by Virgil Carter (1966) and Danny White (1972). It was the most points BYU had scored against Utah to date. ^[13]

At UTEP

See also: 1973 UTEP Miners football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	6	30	7	20	63
Miners	0	0	0	0	0

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
BYU	Passing	Gary Sheide	17/28, 219 yards, TD, INT
	Rushing	Jeff Blanc	17 rushes, 96 yards, TD
	Receiving	Mike Pistorius	5 receptions, 68 yards
UTEP	Passing	Frank Duncan	3/10, 51 yards, 4 INT
	Rushing	Don Willis	15 rushes, 93 yards
	Receiving	Lonn Crittenden	2 receptions, 32 yards

Personnel

Coaching staff

• Head coach: LaVell Edwards
• Assistants: Dave Kragthorpe (OC/OL), Dick Felt (DB), J.D. Helm (RB), Mel Olson (JV), Tom Ramage (DL), Dewey Warren (QB/WR), Fred Whittingham (LB)

^[14]

Awards

• All-WAC: DT Paul Linford (1st), SE Jay Miller (1st)

^[15]

References

1. "Colorado State captures 21–13 upset over BYU". The Ogden Standard-Examiner. September 16, 1973. Retrieved October 8, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
2. "Brigham Young rips winless OSU, 37–14". The Sunday Oregonian. September 30, 1973. Retrieved October 8, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Utags upset Cougars, 13–7". Albuquerque Journal. October 7, 1973. Retrieved October 8, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
4. "Cyclones escape scrappy BYU". The Des Moines Register. October 14, 1973. Retrieved October 8, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
5. "Devils thump Cougars, 52–12". The Sunday Oregonian. October 21, 1973. Retrieved October 8, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
6. "Wyoming upends fumbling BYU". The Arizona Daily Star. October 28, 1973. Retrieved October 8, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
7. "Sheide passes Cougars past New Mexico, 56–21". Fort Collins Coloradoan. November 4, 1973. Retrieved October 8, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
8. "Wildcats rake Cougars". The El Paso Times. November 11, 1973. Retrieved October 8, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
9. "BYU blasts Weber State". The Daily Herald. November 18, 1973. Retrieved October 8, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
10. "BYU gives Utes 46–22 snow job". The El Paso Times. November 25, 1973. Retrieved October 8, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
11. "Cougars shut out UTEP". The Arizona Daily Star. December 2, 1973. Retrieved October 8, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
12. "1973 NCAA Football Statistics (BYU)". National Collegiate Athletic Association . Retrieved October 8, 2024.
13. "BYU stops Utah in blinding snow." Eugene Register-Guard. 1973 Nov 25.
14. CougarStats.com Archived 2011-10-11 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved December 4, 2011.
15. CougarStats.com Archived 2011-10-11 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved December 4, 2011.