1979 BYU Cougars football | |
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WAC champion | |
Holiday Bowl, L 37–38 vs. Indiana | |
Conference | Western Athletic Conference |
Ranking | |
Coaches | No. 12 |
AP | No. 13 |
Record | 11–1 (7–0 WAC) |
Head coach |
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Offensive coordinator | Doug Scovil (3rd season) |
Offensive scheme | West Coast |
Defensive coordinator | Fred Whittingham (1st season) |
Base defense | 3–4 |
Home stadium | Cougar Stadium |
Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Team | W | 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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.
Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance | Source |
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September 8 | at No. 14 Texas A&M * | W 18–17 | 40,000 | ||||
September 15 | Weber State * | W 48–3 | 33,161 | ||||
September 29 | UTEP |
| W 31–7 | 34,724 | |||
October 5 | Hawaii | No. 20 |
| W 38–15 | 34,741 | ||
October 13 | at Utah State * | No. 16 | W 48–24 | 28,094 | |||
October 20 | at Wyoming | No. 13 | W 54–14 | 14,723 | [1] | ||
October 27 | New Mexico | No. 11 |
| W 59–7 | 33,921 | ||
November 3 | at Colorado State | No. 11 | W 30–7 | 25,612 | |||
November 9 | at Long Beach State * | No. 11 | W 31–17 | 20,051 | |||
November 17 | Utah | No. 10 |
| W 27–0 | 40,236 | ||
November 24 | at San Diego State | No. 10 | ABC | W 63–14 | 46,121 | ||
December 21 | vs. Indiana * | No. 9 |
| L 37–38 | 52,500 | ||
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1979 BYU Cougars football team roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Offense
| Defense
| Special teams
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Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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BYU | 0 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 18 |
Texas A&M | 7 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 17 |
at Rice Stadium, Houston, Texas
Game information | ||
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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.
External videos | |
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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.
Marc Wilson 28/43, 380 yards, 2 TD, TD rushing [6]
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The Brigham Young University (BYU) Cougars and the University of Utah (Utah) Utes have a longstanding intercollegiate rivalry. The annual college football game is frequently referred to as the Holy War. In the 1890s, when BYU was still known as Brigham Young Academy (BYA), the two schools started competing athletically. The schools have met continually since 1909 in men's basketball, and met once a year in football from 1922 to 2013, with the exception of 1943–45 when BYU did not field a team due to World War II. Both schools formerly competed in the Mountain West Conference, but both teams left the MWC in 2011—Utah joined the Pac-12 Conference and BYU became a football independent while joining the West Coast Conference for other sports.
The BYU Cougars football team is the college football program representing Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. The Cougars began collegiate football competition in 1922, and have won 23 conference championships and one national championship in 1984.
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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, as WAC champions and with a loss against Navy in the Holiday Bowl.
The 2011 Texas Longhorns football team represented the University of Texas at Austin in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Longhorns were led by 14th year head coach Mack Brown and played their home games at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium. They are a member of the Big 12 Conference. They finished the season 8–5, 4–5 in Big 12 play to finish in a tie for sixth place improving on their disastrous 5–7 season from 2010. They were invited to the Holiday Bowl where they defeated California 21–10.
The 1976 BYU Cougars football team represented Brigham Young University during the 1976 NCAA Division I football season. The Cougars were led by fifth-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 a share of the conference title with Wyoming with a conference record of 6–1. BYU was invited to the 1976 Tangerine Bowl, where they lost to Oklahoma State.
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