1978 BYU Cougars football team

1978 BYU Cougars football
WAC champion
Holiday Bowl, L 16–23 vs. Navy
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Record	9–4 (5–1 WAC)
Head coach	LaVell Edwards (7th season)
Offensive scheme	West Coast
Defensive coordinator	Dick Felt (7th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Cougar Stadium
Seasons ←  1977 1979  →

1978 Western Athletic Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
BYU $	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	4	–	0
Utah	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
Wyoming	4	–	2	–	0			5	–	7	–	0
New Mexico	3	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Colorado State	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
San Diego State	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
UTEP	1	–	5	–	0			1	–	11	–	0
$ – Conference champion

The 1978 BYU Cougars football team represented the Brigham Young University (BYU) in the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). The team was led by head coach LaVell Edwards, in his seventh year, and played their home games at Cougar Stadium in Provo, Utah. They finished the season with a record of nine wins and four losses (9–4, 5–1 WAC), as WAC champions and with a loss against Navy in the Holiday Bowl.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 9	at Oregon State *	Parker Stadium Corvallis, OR	W 10–6	19,651	[1]
September 16	at Arizona State *	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	L 17–24	70,311	[2]
September 23	Colorado State	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	W 32–6	31,052	[3]
September 30	at New Mexico	University Stadium Albuquerque, NM	W 27–23	24,892	[4]
October 7	Utah State *	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT (rivalry)	L 7–24	32,668	[5]
October 14	at Oregon *	Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR	W 17–16	24,500	[6]
October 21	UTEP	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	W 44–0	23,335	[7]
November 4	Wyoming	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	W 48–14	30,415	[8]
November 11	San Diego State	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	W 21–3	22,682	[9]
November 18	at Utah	Robert Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT (Holy War)	L 22–23	29,326	[10]
November 25	at Hawaii *	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI	W 31–13	35,678	[11]
December 1	vs. UNLV *	Yokohama Stadium Yokohama, Japan (Yokohama Bowl)	W 28–24	27,500	[12]
December 22	vs. Navy *	San Diego Stadium San Diego, CA (Holiday Bowl)	L 16–23	52,500	[13]
*Non-conference game

^{[14] [15]}

Game summaries

At Oregon State

Brigham Young at Oregon State

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
•Cougars	7	3	0	0	10
Beavers	0	0	6	0	6

• Date: Saturday, September 9
• Location: Parker Stadium, Corvallis, Oregon
• Game attendance: 19,651

• Source: Eugene Register-Guard

Scoring summary

1	3:57	BYU	Thompson 10-yard pass from Wilson (Kittell kick)	BYU 7-0
2	13:35	BYU	Kittell 34-yard field goal	BYU 10-0
3	2:09	ORST	Coury 46-yard pass from White (kick failed)	BYU 10-6

Colorado State

Colorado State at BYU

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams	0	0	6	0	6
•Cougars	7	6	19	0	32

• Date: September 23
• Location: Cougar Stadium, Provo, Utah
• Game start: 10:50 a.m. MST
• Game attendance: 31,052
• Game weather: Clear, 70 °F (21 °C)
• Television network: ABC (regional)

Scoring summary

1	2:07	BYU	Ring 1-yard run (Johnson kick)	BYU 7-0
2		BYU	Phillips 5-yard run (kick failed)	BYU 13-0
3		BYU	Wingard 1-yard run (run failed)	BYU 20-0
3		BYU	Jones 39-yard pass from McMahon (pass failed)	BYU 26-0
3		CSU	Newberry 10-yard pass from Lee (pass failed)	BYU 26-6
3		BYU	McMahon-yard run (Johnson kick)	BYU 32-6

Jim McMahon, the backup quarterback and normally handles the punting duties, came off the bench to pass for one score and run for another when Marc Wilson was injured early in the second quarter with a bruised hamstring. "It's nice to have quarterbacks like those two, isn't it", head coach LaVell Edwards said after the game. ^{[16] [17]}

At Oregon

BYU at Oregon

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
•Cougars	0	3	0	14	17
Ducks	10	0	6	0	16

• Date: Saturday, October 14
• Location: Autzen Stadium, Eugene, Oregon
• Game attendance: 24,500

Scoring summary

1	9:55	ORE	English 34-yard field goal	ORE 3-0
1	8:15	ORE	Lawler 3-yard blocked punt return (English kick)	ORE 10-0
2	6:42	BYU	Johnson 42-yard field goal	ORE 10-3
3	11:00	ORE	Durando 13-yard pass from Johnson (kick failed)	ORE 16-3
4	6:21	BYU	Thompson 21-yard pass from McMahon (Johnson kick)	ORE 16-10
4	3:03	BYU	Williams 1-yard run (Johnson kick)	BYU 17-16

^[18]

Wyoming

Wyoming at BYU

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	7	7	0	0	14
•Cougars	10	10	7	21	48

• Date: November 4
• Location: Cougar Stadium, Provo, Utah
• Game attendance: 30,415

Scoring summary

1		BYU	McMahon 13-yard run (Johnson kick)	BYU 7-0
1		WYO	Jones 1-yard run (Christopulos kick)	Tied 7-7
1		BYU	Johnson 44-yard field goal	BYU 10-7
2		WYO	Jones 20-yard run (Christopulos kick)	WYO 14-10
2		BYU	Ring 2-yard run (Johnson kick)	BYU 17-14
2		BYU	Johnson 38-yard field goal	BYU 20-14
3		BYU	Thompson 7-yard pass from McMahon (Johnson kick)	BYU 27-14
4		BYU	McMahon 1-yard run (Johnson kick)	BYU 34-14
4		BYU	Thompson 16-yard pass from Wilson (Johnson kick)	BYU 41-14
4		BYU	Wilson 13-yard run (Johnson kick)	BYU 48-14

^[19]

At Utah

See also: Holy War (BYU–Utah)

BYU Cougars (7–2) at Utah Utes (5–3)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	10	6	6	0	22
Utes	0	0	7	16	23

at Robert Rice Stadium, Salt Lake City, Utah

• Date: November 18, 1978
• Game weather: Sunny, 43 °F (6 °C)
• Game attendance: 29,326
• Box Score

Game information

First quarter BYU – Brent Johnson 20-yard field goal. BYU 3–0. BYU – Lloyd Jones 37-yard pass from Jim McMahon (Brent Johnson kick). BYU 10–0. Second quarter BYU – Brent Johnson 52-yard field goal. BYU 13–0. BYU – Brent Johnson 21-yard field goal. BYU 16–0. Third quarter UTAH – James Teahan 25-yard pass from Randy Gomez (Jeff Hucko kick). BYU 16–7. BYU – Dave Francis 20-yard interception return (kick failed). BYU 22–7. Fourth quarter UTAH – Jeff Hucko 37-yard field goal. BYU 22–10. UTAH – Tony Lindsay 42-yard pass from Randy Gomez (Jeff Hucko kick). BYU 22-17. UTAH – Frank Henry 19-yard pass from Randy Gomez (pass failed), 2:15. Utah 23-22. Top passers BYU – Jim McMahon – 15/38, 249 yards, TD UTAH – Randy Gomez – 20/31, 265 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT Top rushers BYU – Lloyd Jones – 1 rush, 32 yards UTAH – Tony Lindsay – 30 rushes, 104 yards Top receivers BYU – Lloyd Jones – 4 receptions, 67 yards UTAH – James Teahan – 5 receptions, 85 yards, TD

External videos
Game highlights

Roster

1978 BYU Cougars football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class TE 85 Clay Brown So QB 10 Royce Bybee  WR 29 Mike Chronister Sr WR 3 Scott Collie  Fr OT 72 Nick Eyre So WR 87 Lloyd Jones So QB 9 Jim McMahon So WR 3 Rainey Meszaros Fr OT 64 Andy Reid So TE 92 Tod Thompson Sr WR 25 Kent Tingey Jr QB 6 Marc Wilson Jr RB 4 Casey Wingard Sr WR 7 Stan Younger So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 11 Dean Bona So DB 12 Mark Brady  DB 13 Steve Brady Fr DB 13 Steve Corson Sr DB 21 Jason Coloma Sr DB 8 Dave Francis So DE 74 John Kormylo Sr DB 15 Dave McKee Jr LB 1 Mike Mees Fr DE 83 Mat Mendenhall Jr DB 5 Bob Prested  LB 41 Glen Redd So DB 0 Greg Sargent So DB 43 Bill Schoepflin So DT 79 Doug Stromberg Jr DE 9 Ron Velasco Sr DB 14 Kevin Walker Fr LB 59 Kyle Whittingham Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 2 Brent Johnson Jr K 1 Rob Kittell So P 9 Jim McMahon So K 3 Craig Wing Sr	Head coach LaVell Edwards Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

References

1. "BYU squeaks past Oregon State, 10–6". The Arizona Republic. September 10, 1978. Retrieved October 19, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
2. "Sun Devils stop BYU". The Salt Lake Tribune. September 17, 1978. Retrieved October 19, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
3. "BYU overwhelms CSU 32–6". The Daily Sentinel. September 24, 1978. Retrieved October 19, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
4. "BYU powers over Lobos". The Santa Fe New Mexican. October 1, 1978. Retrieved October 19, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
5. "Aggies upset Brigham Young". The Arizona Daily Sun. October 8, 1978. Retrieved October 19, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
6. "Fourth quarter foldup again fatal for Ducks". The Columbian. October 15, 1978. Retrieved October 19, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
7. "BYU demolishes UTEP". South Idaho Press. October 22, 1978. Retrieved October 19, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
8. Marion Dunn (November 5, 1978). "Cougars claw Cowboys in 48–14 clash". The Daily Herald. p. 6. Retrieved October 19, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
9. "San Diego mistakes give BYU Holiday". The Billings Gazette. November 12, 1978. Retrieved October 19, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
10. "Gomez leads Utes past Cougars, 23–22". The Daily Herald. November 19, 1978. Retrieved October 19, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
11. "Cougars roar back to bounce Hawaii". The Salt Lake Tribune. November 27, 1978. Retrieved October 19, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
12. "Cougars slip by Rebels". The Daily Herald. December 3, 1978. Retrieved October 19, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
13. "Navy rallies to down Cougars, 23 to 16". The Baltimore Sun. December 23, 1978. Retrieved October 19, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
14. BYU Office of Sports Information. "1978 Results" (PDF). 1979 BYU Football Media Guide. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 6, 2013. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
15. "1978 Brigham Young Cougars Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
16. "BYU unveils another QB in rout of Rams." Eugene Register-Guard. 1978 Sept 24.
17. "CougarStats.com. 1978 season - Colorado State". Archived from the original on October 11, 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2012.
18. "Ducks stunned at the gun - again, 17-16." Eugene Register-Guard. Withers, Bud. 1978 Oct 15
19. "BYU Rips Wyoming." Palm Beach Post. 1978 Nov 5.