American college football season
1977 BYU Cougars football |
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WAC co-champion |
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Conference | Western Athletic Conference |
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Ranking |
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Coaches | No. 16 |
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AP | No. 20 |
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Record | 9–2 (6–1 WAC) |
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Head coach | - LaVell Edwards (6th season)
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Offensive coordinator | Doug Scovil (2nd season) |
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Offensive scheme | West Coast |
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Defensive coordinator | Dick Felt (6th season) |
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Base defense | 4–3 |
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Home stadium | Cougar Stadium |
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Seasons |
1977 Western Athletic Conference football standings | Conf | | | Overall |
Team | W | | L | | T | | | W | | L | | T |
No. 20 BYU + | 6 | – | 1 | – | 0 | | | 9 | – | 2 | – | 0 |
No. 18 Arizona State + | 6 | – | 1 | – | 0 | | | 9 | – | 3 | – | 0 |
Colorado State | 5 | – | 2 | – | 0 | | | 9 | – | 2 | – | 1 |
Wyoming | 4 | – | 3 | – | 0 | | | 4 | – | 6 | – | 1 |
Arizona | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | | | 5 | – | 7 | – | 0 |
New Mexico | 2 | – | 5 | – | 0 | | | 5 | – | 7 | – | 0 |
Utah | 2 | – | 5 | – | 0 | | | 3 | – | 8 | – | 0 |
UTEP | 0 | – | 7 | – | 0 | | | 1 | – | 10 | – | 0 |
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- + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll |
The 1977 BYU Cougars football team represented Brigham Young University (BYU) for the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. The Cougars were led by sixth-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 for the second consecutive year, sharing the title with Arizona State with a conference record of 6–1.
The previous season, BYU was invited to the Tangerine Bowl, where they lost to Oklahoma State. Despite finishing the regular season with a record of 9–2 and ranked 17th in the AP Poll, the Cougars were not invited to a bowl game and dropped to twentieth in the final poll, and tied for sixteenth in the UPI Coaches Poll.[1][2]
Schedule
Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | Result | Attendance | Source |
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September 10 | 7:30 pm | Kansas State* | | | W 39–0 | 35,196 | |
September 24 | 12:50 pm | at Utah State* | No. 20 | | W 65–6 | 20,103 | |
September 30 | 7:30 pm | New Mexico | No. 15 | - Cougar Stadium
- Provo, Utah
| W 54–19 | 33,352 | |
October 8 | 2:30 pm | at Oregon State* | No. 13 | | L 19–24 | 33,965 | |
October 15 | 1:30 pm | Colorado State | | | W 63–17 | 29,110 | |
October 22 | 1:30 pm | at Wyoming | No. 17 | | W 10–7 | 25,398 | [3] |
October 29 | 1:30 pm | Arizona | No. 17 | - Cougar Stadium
- Provo, Utah
| W 34–14 | 33,621 | |
November 5 | 1:30 pm | Utah | No. 14 | - Cougar Stadium
- Provo, Utah (Holy War)
| W 38–8 | 34,208 | |
November 12 | 7:30 pm | at No. 17 Arizona State | No. 13 | | L 13–24 | 58,295 | |
November 19 | 1:30 pm | Long Beach State* | No. 17 | - Cougar Stadium
- Provo, Utah
| W 30–27 | 21,322 | |
November 26 | 7:30 pm | at UTEP | No. 18 | | W 68–19 | 7,800 | |
- *Non-conference game
- Homecoming
- Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
- All times are in Mountain time
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- Source:[4]
Roster
1977 BYU Cougars football team roster |
Players | Coaches |
Offense Pos. | # | Name | Class | TE | 95 | Rob Anderson | So | RB | 23 | Clay Blackwell | So | QB | 12 | Ray Brock | So | TE | 85 | Clay Brown | So | OT | 64 | Alan Carlile | So | FB | 30 | Steve Carlson | So | FB | 33 | Todd Christensen | Sr | WR | 29 | Mike Chronister | Jr | OT | 63 | Calvin Close | So | WR | | Bill Davis | Fr | OT | 66 | Russ Davis | Jr | OT | 72 | Nick Eyre | Fr | QB | 17 | Mark Flammer | Jr | G | 58 | Clayton Forsythe | Jr | RB | | Dave Francis | Fr | OT | 76 | Al Gaspard | Jr | WR | 88 | Bruce George | Jr | FB | 24 | Roger Gourley | Sr | G | 62 | Danny Hansen | So | TE | | Brad Hardisty | Fr | WR | 26 | George Harris | Sr | OT | 72 | Kelly Harris | Sr | QB | 11 | Dan Hartwig | So | QB | | Mike Heinrich | Fr | TE | 86 | Richard Herlin | Jr | OT | | Steve Herring | Fr | OT | 70 | Jim Jaramillo | So | WR | 87 | Lloyd Jones | So | WR | 84 | Rick Jones | Sr | RB | 20 | Robbie Kahuanui | So | RB | 31 | Larry Kemp | Jr | RB | 36 | Eric Lane | Fr | WR | | Ron Lewis | Jr | G | 67 | Raymond Linford | So | OT | | Walt Manwill | Fr | QB | 7 | Terry McEwen | Sr | QB | 9 | Jim McMahon | Fr | C | 54 | Tom Miller | Sr | QB | 14 | Gifford Nielsen | Sr | C | 50 | Scott Nielson | So | OT | 75 | Bart Oates | Fr | C | 55 | Corey Pace | So | OT | | Nelson Paynter | Jr | QB | | Scott Phillips | Fr | RB | | Scott Reber | Fr | OT | 78 | Lance Reynolds | Sr | RB | 35 | Bill Ring | Jr | FB | | Kim Stewart | Jr | G | 59 | Gary Stoddard | Jr | C | 52 | Brad Sullivan | Jr | TE | | Norman Taylor | Fr | TE | 92 | Tod Thompson | Jr | WR | 25 | Kent Tingey | Jr | G | 77 | Keith Uperesa | Sr | OT | 69 | Jan Van de Merwe | Sr | WR | 8 | John VanDerWouden | Sr | FB | 34 | Roy Ward | Sr | RB | 32 | Ken White | So | FB | 44 | Vic Whitsett | So | RB | 48 | Doug Williams | So | QB | 6 | Marc Wilson | So | RB | 43 | Casey Wingard | Jr | WR | | Stan Younger | Fr | WR | 22 | Lynn Zwahlen | So | | Defense Pos. | # | Name | Class | DB | 42 | Steve Anderson | So | DE | 90 | Kip Apostol | Sr | DT | 65 | Craig Barr | So | LB | | Russ Beck | Jr | LB | 41 | Mark Berntsen | Sr | LB | 53 | Gary Bouck | Jr | S | 23 | Perry Bradford | So | DB | | Mark Brady | Fr | DE | 68 | Rob Buchanan | Jr | LB | 48 | Scott Garrett | So | DB | 10 | Dave Campos | Sr | S | 21 | Jason Coloma | Jr | CB | 13 | Steve Corson | Jr | LB | 45 | Tom Enlow | Jr | LB | | Danny Frazier | Fr | LB | 56 | Brian Hansen | So | DE | 89 | Jeff Harris | Jr | DB | 16 | Steve Hartmann | So | DE | | Greg Head | Jr | CB | 27 | Tony Hernandez | Sr | DT | 80 | Mekeli Ieremia | Sr | DE | 93 | Conrad Jepson | So | LB | 37 | Gary Kama | Jr | CB | 15 | David McKee | So | DE | 83 | Mat Mendenhall | So | LB | 82 | Larry Miller | Jr | S | 47 | John Neal | Jr | DT | 71 | Gary Peterson | Sr | DE | 96 | Rick Pinckard | So | DB | 19 | Bill Popin | Sr | CB | 5 | Bob Prested | So | LB | 49 | John Ramage | So | LB | 41 | Glen Redd | So | DB | | Bill Schoepflin | Fr | DT | 73 | Bob Simmerman | Jr | DT | 79 | Doug Stromberg | So | S | 46 | Mark Swenson | Jr | DT | 60 | Jeff Taggart | So | DB | 18 | Mark Terranova | Sr | DE | 91 | Ross Varner | Jr | S | 9 | Ron Velasco | Jr | DE | 94 | Dennis Webb | So | LB | 36 | Rod Wood | Jr | | Special teams Pos. | # | Name | Class | K | 3 | Dev Duke | Sr | K | 2 | Brent Johnson | So | K | | Craig Wing | So | P | 9 | Jim McMahon | Fr | | - Head coach
- Coordinators/assistant coaches
- Legend
- (C) Team captain
- (S) Suspended
- (I) Ineligible
- Injured
- Redshirt
Roster Last update: 2018-Dec-25 |
Game summaries
Utah State
Senior quarterback Gifford Nielsen completed 30 of 40 passes for 321 yards and six touchdowns. Head coach LaVell Edwards pulled Nielsen with about three minutes left in the first half and again at 3:46 in the third quarter while three more potential touchdown passes were dropped otherwise Nielsen's stats would have been even greater. On the road in Logan, the BYU players were actually cheered by the Utah State fans as they left field.[5]
Oregon State
Starting quarterback Nielsen injured his knee late in the loss at Corvallis on October 8, ending his collegiate career; he was replaced by sophomore Marc Wilson.[6][7][8][9] The struggling Oregon State Beavers were seven-point underdogs,[10][11] and went winless in the Pac-10 Conference.
Utah
Utah Utes at #14 BYU Cougars
Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
Utah | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 8 |
BYU | 17 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 38 |
at Cougar Stadium • Provo, Utah
- Date: November 5
- Game time: 1:30 p.m. MST
- Game weather: Overcast • 60 °F (16 °C)
- Game attendance: 33,828
- CougarStats
Game information |
- Utah
- Randy Gomez
15/41, 131 Yds, 2 INT - Jeffrey Parker
24 Rush, 98 Yds 3 Rec, 28 Yds | - BYU
- Marc Wilson
26/41, 571 Yds, 5 TD, 3 INT - Todd Christensen
9 Rush, 32 Yds - Mike Chronister
4 Rec, 176 Yds, TD | |
BYU's Marc Wilson threw for 571 yards,[12] breaking the single-game NCAA record set by Utah State's Tony Adams in 1972, also against Utah.[13][14] Wilson was pulled with two minutes left, but returned a minute later and completed three passes, including a touchdown to John VanDerWouden, to set the record,[12] which drew the ire of Utah head coach Wayne Howard.
Scoring summary |
Quarter | Time | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Plays | Yards | TOP | UTAH | BYU | 1 | | | | | BYU | 23-yard field goal by Duke | 0 | 3 | 1 | | | | | BYU | Christensen 11-yard touchdown reception from Wilson, Duke kick good | 0 | 10 | 1 | | | | | BYU | Chronister 72-yard touchdown reception from Wilson, Duke kick good | 0 | 17 | 2 | | | | | Utah | Safety, international grounding penalty by Wilson in end zone | 2 | 17 | 3 | | | | | Utah | Liapis 12-yard touchdown run, 2-point pass failed | 8 | 17 | 4 | | | | | BYU | VanDerWouden 14-yard touchdown reception from Wilson, Duke kick good | 8 | 24 | 4 | | | | | BYU | Thompson 26-yard touchdown reception from Wilson, Duke kick good | 8 | 31 | 4 | | | | | BYU | VanDerWouden 8-yard touchdown reception from Wilson, Duke kick good | 8 | 38 | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 8 | 38 | |
Statistics
Passing
Player | Comp | Att | Yards | TD | INT |
Marc Wilson | 164 | 277 | 2,418 | 24 | 18 |
Gifford Nielsen | 98 | 156 | 1,167 | 16 | 3 |
Jim McMahon | 10 | 16 | 103 | 1 | 1 |
Terry McEwen | 3 | 3 | 32 | 0 | 0 |
Scott Phillips | 1 | 2 | 29 | 0 | 1 |
Dan Hartwig | 1 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
John VanDerWouden | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
- Source:[15]
- Starting quarterback Nielsen was lost for the season late in the fourth game.[6][8]
Awards
- WAC Offensive Player of the Year: QB Marc Wilson
- All-WAC: LB Mark Berntsen, RB Todd Christensen, WR Mike Chronister, OL Jason Coloma, DL Mekeli Ieremia, OL Lance Reynolds
- Source:[15]
NFL Draft
References
- ^ "It might not add up, but Irish are clearly No. 1". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). AP, UPI. January 4, 1978. p. 3C.
- ^ "Notre Dame gets No. 1 tag". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). UPI. January 4, 1978. p. F1.
- ^ Chuck Harkins (October 23, 1977). "Cougars top fumbling Pokes, 10-7". Casper Star-Tribune. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ 1977 BYU Cougars football media guide[permanent dead link]. Retrieved 2018-Dec-25.
- ^ Miller, Hack (September 26, 1977). "Cougars' air attack keeps Ags grounded". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. 4B.
- ^ a b Conrad, John (October 9, 1977). "Beavers put BYU down, and Nielsen out". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1C.
- ^ "Beavers end BYU win skein". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. October 9, 1977. p. D3.
- ^ a b Benson, Lee (October 10, 1977). "Nielsen out as breaks stun Y." Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. 4B.
- ^ "Gifford Nielsen - Football".
- ^ Conrad, John (October 8, 1977). "Can the Beavers ground Brigham Young's pilot?". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 2B.
- ^ Benson, Lee (October 8, 1977). "BYU reputation arrives at OSU ahead of Cougars". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. 2D.
- ^ a b "BYU's Wilson sets pass record". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire service reports. November 6, 1977. p. 10C.
- ^ "Adams sparkles". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 12, 1972. p. 6C.
- ^ Ferguson, George (November 13, 1972). "Adams' hot hand buries Utah". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. 8B.
- ^ a b 1977 football season – CougarStats
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Bowls & rivalries | |
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Culture & lore | |
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People | |
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Seasons | |
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National championship seasons in bold |
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I-A/FBS | |
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I-AA/FCS | |
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National championships in bold |