1979 BYU Cougars football team

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.

1979 BYU Cougars football
WAC champion
Holiday Bowl, L 37–38 vs. Indiana
ConferenceWestern Athletic Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 12
APNo. 13
Record11–1 (7–0 WAC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorDoug Scovil (3rd season)
Offensive schemeWest Coast
Defensive coordinatorFred Whittingham (1st season)
Base defense3–4
Home stadiumCougar Stadium
1979 Western Athletic Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 13 BYU $ 7 –0 –011 –1 –0
Utah 5 –2 –06 –6 –0
San Diego State 4 –2 –08 –3 –0
Hawaii 3 –3 –06 –5 –0
New Mexico 3 –4 –06 –6 –0
Colorado State 3 –4 –04 –7 –1
Wyoming 2 –5 –04 –8 –0
UTEP 0 –7 –02 –9 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule
DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 8at No. 14 Texas A&M*
W 18–1740,000
September 15Weber State*
W 48–333,161
September 29UTEP
  • Cougar Stadium
  • Provo, UT
W 31–734,724
October 5HawaiiNo. 20
  • Cougar Stadium
  • Provo, UT
W 38–1534,741
October 13at Utah State*No. 16
W 48–2428,094
October 20at WyomingNo. 13
W 54–1414,723[1]
October 27New MexicoNo. 11
  • Cougar Stadium
  • Provo, UT
W 59–733,921
November 3at Colorado StateNo. 11
W 30–725,612
November 9at Long Beach State*No. 11
W 31–1720,051
November 17UtahNo. 10
  • Cougar Stadium
  • Provo, UT
W 27–040,236
November 24at San Diego StateNo. 10
ABCW 63–1446,121
December 21vs. Indiana*No. 9
L 37–3852,500
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[2]

Personnel
1979 BYU Cougars football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
TE 85 Clay Brown Jr
WR 3 Scott Collie  Fr
OT 72 Nick Eyre Jr
WR 87 Lloyd Jones Jr
RB 36 Eric Lane Jr
QB 9 Jim McMahon Injured  Jr
OT 64 Andy Reid Jr
QB 6 Marc Wilson Sr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DT 78 Chuck Ehin Fr
LB 51 Scott Garrett Jr
DE 83 Mat Mendenhall Sr
DE 77 Mike Morgan Fr
LB 41 Glen Redd Jr
LB 59 Kyle Whittingham So
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
K 2 Brent Johnson Sr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster

Season summary

Vs. Texas A&M
BYU Cougars (0–0) at #14 Texas A&M Aggies (0–0)
Period 1 2 34Total
BYU 0 3 7818
Texas A&M 7 0 7317

at Rice Stadium, Houston, Texas

  • Date: September 8, 1979
  • Game attendance: 40,000
  • Box Score
Game information

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] [4]

External video
video icon 1979 vs. Texas A&M – Game-winning touchdown & two-point conversion

Utah
1 234Total
Utah 0 000 0
• BYU 17 370 27
Scoring summary
1BYUMatt Braga 14-yard run (Johnson kick)BYU 7-0
1BYUH. Jones 5-yard run (Johnson kick)BYU 14-0
1BYUJohnson 39-yard field goalBYU 17-0
2BYUJohnson 44-yard field goalBYU 20-0
3BYUMatt Braga 18-yard pass from Marc Wilson (Johnson kick)BYU 27-0

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.

[5]

Game 12: Holiday Bowl (vs. Indiana)

Marc Wilson 28/43, 380 yards, 2 TD, TD rushing [6]

References
  1. "BYU crushes Wyoming, 54-14". The Daily Spectrum. October 21, 1979. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "1979 Football season – CougarStats". Archived from the original on September 4, 2010. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
  3. BYU Football Talk
  4. "Late Pass Enables BYU to Upset A&M." Palm Beach Post. 1979 Sept 9.
  5. "BYU stays unbeaten, Wilson breaks records." Eugene Register-Guard. 1979 Nov 18.
  6. "1979". Holidaybowl.com. Archived from the original on December 16, 2012. Retrieved November 7, 2012.


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