1979 BYU Cougars football team

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1979 BYU Cougars football
1979 BYU Cougars football
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	LaVell Edwards (7th season);
Offensive coordinator	Doug Scovil (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	West Coast
Defensive coordinator	Fred Whittingham (1st season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	Cougar Stadium
	Seasons ← 1978 1980 →

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 Western Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
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

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 8	at No. 14 Texas A&M*		Rice Stadium Houston, TX		W 18–17	40,000
September 15	Weber State*		Cougar Stadium Provo, UT		W 48–3	33,161
September 29	UTEP		Cougar Stadium Provo, UT		W 31–7	34,724
October 5	Hawaii	No. 20	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT		W 38–15	34,741
October 13	at Utah State*	No. 16	Romney Stadium Logan, UT		W 48–24	28,094
October 20	at Wyoming	No. 13	War Memorial Stadium Laramie, WY		W 54–14	14,723	^[1]
October 27	New Mexico	No. 11	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT		W 59–7	33,921
November 3	at Colorado State	No. 11	Hughes Stadium Fort Collins, CO		W 30–7	25,612
November 9	at Long Beach State*	No. 11	Memorial Stadium Long Beach, CA		W 31–17	20,051
November 17	Utah	No. 10	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT		W 27–0	40,236
November 24	at San Diego State	No. 10	San Diego Stadium San Diego, CA	ABC	W 63–14	46,121
December 21	vs. Indiana*	No. 9	San Diego Stadium San Diego, CA (Holiday Bowl)		L 37–38	52,500
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[2]

Personnel

1979 BYU Cougars football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
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	Jr
OT	`64`	Andy Reid	Jr
QB	`6`	Marc Wilson	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DT	`78`	Chuck Ehin	Fr
LB	`48`	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.	#	Name	Class
K	`2`	Brent Johnson	Sr

Head coach

LaVell Edwards

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster

Game summaries

Vs. Texas A&M

BYU Cougars (0–0) at #14 Texas A&M Aggies (0–0)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
BYU	0	3	7	8	18
Texas A&M	7	0	7	3	17

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]

Utah

	1	2	3	4	Total
Utah	0	0	0	0	0
• BYU	17	3	7	0	27

Date: November 18
Location: Cougar Stadium, Provo, Utah
Game attendance: 40,236

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

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