1976 BYU Cougars football team

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.

1976 BYU Cougars football
WAC co-champion
Tangerine Bowl, L 21–49 vs. Oklahoma State
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Record	9–3 (6–1 WAC)
Head coach	LaVell Edwards (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Doug Scovil (1st season)
Offensive scheme	West Coast
Defensive coordinator	Dick Felt (5th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Cougar Stadium
Seasons ← 1975 1977 →

1976 Western Athletic Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
BYU +	6	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Wyoming +	6	–	1	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Arizona State	4	–	3	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Utah	3	–	3	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Arizona	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
New Mexico	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Colorado State	2	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
UTEP	0	–	7	–	0			1	–	11	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 11	at Kansas State*	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS	L 3–13	27,100	[1]
September 18	Colorado State	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	W 42–18	33,013	[2]
September 25	at Arizona	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	W 23–16	31,000	[3]
October 2	at San Diego State*	San Diego Stadium San Diego, CA	W 8–0	41,786	[4][5]
October 9	Wyoming	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	L 29–34	35,423	[6]
October 10	Southern Miss*	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	W 63–19	23,029	[7]
October 23	Utah State*	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT (rivalry)	W 45–14	24,124	[8]
October 30	Arizona State	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	W 43–21	29,854	[9]
November 6	UTEP	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	W 40–27	24,644	[10]
November 13	at New Mexico	University Stadium Albuquerque, NM	W 21–8	18,038	[11]
November 20	at Utah	Robert Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT (Holy War)	W 34–12	30,503	[12]
December 18	vs. No. 14 Oklahoma State*	Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL (Tangerine Bowl)	L 21–49	37,812	[13]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[14]

Game summaries

Kansas State

Colorado State

1 2 3 4 Total Colorado State 0 8 7 3 18 • BYU 7 15 3 17 42 Date: September 18 Location: Cougar Stadium, Provo, UT Game attendance: 33,013

Scoring summary 1 BYU Jeff Nilsson 9-yard pass from Gifford Nielsen (Taylor kick) BYU 7-0 2 CSU Davis 5-yard run (Graham run) Colorado St 8-7 2 BYU John VanDerWouden 35-yard pass from Gifford Nielsen (Gifford Nielsen to Chronister pass) BYU 15-8 2 BYU John VanDerWouden 26-yard pass from Gifford Nielsen (Taylor kick) BYU 22-8 3 CSU Harris 1-yard run (Drake kick) BYU 22-15 3 BYU Taylor 38-yard field goal BYU 25-15 4 CSU Drake 42-yard field goal BYU 25-18 4 BYU John VanDerWouden 13-yard pass from Gifford Nielsen (Taylor kick) BYU 32-18 4 BYU Taylor 21-yard field goal BYU 35-18 4 BYU John VanDerWouden 12-yard pass from Terry McEwen (Taylor kick) BYU 42-18

Gifford Nielsen completed 13 of 32 passes for 174 yards before leaving late in the final quarter while John VanDerWouden set a single-game conference record with four touchdown receptions. LaVell Edwards beat Colorado State for the first time since taking over BYU in 1972.^[15]

At Arizona

1 2 3 4 Total • BYU 13 3 0 7 23 Arizona 3 7 3 3 16 Date: September 25 Location: Arizona Stadium

Scoring summary Q1 BYU Taylor 36 yard field goal BYU 3–0 Q1 BYU Taylor 38 yard field goal BYU 6–0 Q1 ARIZ Pistor 52 yard field goal BYU 6–3 Q1 BYU Billick 20 yard pass from Nielsen (Taylor kick) BYU 13–3 Q2 ARIZ Nash 31 yard pass from Krohn (Pistor kick) BYU 13–10 Q2 BYU Taylor 39 yard field goal BYU 16–10 Q3 ARIZ Pistor 20 yard field goal BYU 16–13 Q4 ARIZ Pistor 39 yard field goal Tie 16–16 Q4 BYU Harris 43 yard pass from Nielsen (Taylor kick) BYU 23–16

^[16]

At San Diego State

Wyoming

Southern Mississippi

Utah State

Arizona State

1 2 3 4 Total Arizona St 21 0 0 0 21 • BYU 17 7 16 3 43 Date: October 30 Location: Cougar Stadium • Provo, Utah

Scoring summary 1 BYU VanDerWouden 3-yard run (Taylor kick) BYU 7-0 1 ASU Mucker 80-yard pass from Sproul (Kush kick) Tie 7-7 1 BYU Taylor 21-yard field goal BYU 10-7 1 ASU Mucker 43-yard pass from Sproul (Kush kick) Arizona St 14-10 1 BYU Harris 35-yard pass from Nielsen (Taylor kick) BYU 17-14 1 ASU Sproul 1-yard run (Kush kick) Arizona St 21-17 2 BYU Lowry 2-yard run (Taylor kick) BYU 24-21 3 BYU Chronister 81-yard pass from Nielsen (Taylor kick) BYU 31-21 3 BYU Taylor 40-yard field goal BYU 34-21 3 BYU Christensen 2-yard run (pass failed) BYU 40-21 4 BYU Taylor 44-yard field goal BYU 43-21

^[17]

UTEP

At New Mexico

At Utah

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
BYU	7	13	14	0	34
Utah	0	6	0	6	12

Game information

First quarter BYU – Gifford Nielsen 6-yard run (Dave Taylor kick). BYU 7–0. Second quarter BYU – Mike Chronister 3-yard pass from Gifford Nielsen (). BYU 13–0. UTAH – Steve Peake 3-yard run. BYU 13–6. BYU – George Harris 25-yard pass from Gifford Nielsen (Dave Taylor kick). BYU 20–6. Third quarter BYU – Jeff Blanc 19-yard pass from Gifford Nielsen (Dave Taylor kick). BYU 27–6. BYU – Dave Lowry 2-yard run (Dave Taylor kick). BYU 34–6. Fourth quarter UTAH – Richard Graham 3-yard pass from Patrick Degnan. BYU 34–13. Top passers BYU – Gifford Nielsen – 25/35, 415 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT UTAH – Patrick Degnan – 19/42, 270 yards, TD, INT Top rushers BYU – Todd Christensen – 8 rushes, 53 yards UTAH – Steve Peake – 13 rushes, 46 yards, TD Top receivers BYU – George Harris – 6 receptions, 134 yards, TD UTAH – Michael Cordy – 6 receptions, 117 yards

BYU Cougars (8–2) at Utah Utes (3–6)

at Rice Stadium, Salt Lake City, Utah

• Date: November 20, 1976
• Game weather: Clear, 56 °F (13 °C)
• Game attendance: 30,503
• Box Score

External videos
Game highlights

Tangerine Bowl (vs Oklahoma State)

Personnel

1976 BYU Cougars football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB Todd Christensen QB Gifford Nielsen RJr WR 8 John VanDerWouden Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K Dave Taylor	Head coach LaVell Edwards Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

References

1. "KU, K-Staate impressive in home debuts". The Salina Journal. September 12, 1976. Retrieved October 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "BYU stomps CSU, 42–18". Albuquerque Journal. September 19, 1976. Retrieved October 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Last-second TD pass beats Wildcats, 23–16". The Arizona Daily Star. September 26, 1976. Retrieved October 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Steve Wilson (October 3, 1976). "Cougars Stun Aztecs, 8-0, In Rugged Defensive Clash". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City, Utah. p. 2D. Retrieved January 17, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Aztecs blanked by Cougars". Daily Times-Advocate. October 3, 1976. Retrieved October 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Cowboys withstand Cougar charge". The Daily Herald. October 10, 1976. Retrieved October 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "BYU crushes Eagles in 63–19 romp". The Salt Lake Tribune. October 17, 1976. Retrieved March 24, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "BYU ace gets 5 TD passes in 45–14 win". The Sunday Oregonian. October 24, 1976. Retrieved October 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Cougars dump ASU". The Idaho Statesman. October 31, 1976. Retrieved October 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Cougars top Miners". Casper Star-Tribune. November 7, 1976. Retrieved October 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "Brigham Young tops UNM 21–8". Hobbs Daily News-Sun. November 14, 1976. Retrieved October 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "BYU finishes 9–2". Rapid City Journal. November 21, 1976. Retrieved October 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "Cowboys blast BYU 49–21". St. Petersburg Times. December 19, 1976. Retrieved October 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
14. "1976 Brigham Young Cougars Schedule and Results".
15. "BYU's passing attack dumps Colorado State." Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 Sept 19.
16. CougarStats.com. Retrieved 2016-Sep-16.
17. Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 Oct 31.