1978 BYU Cougars football team

1978 BYU Cougars football
WAC champion
Holiday Bowl, L 16–23 vs. Navy
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
1978 record	9–4 (5–1 WAC)
Head coach	LaVell Edwards (7th season)
Defensive coordinator	Fred Whittingham (1st season)
Home stadium	Cougar Stadium
Seasons ← 1977 1979 →

1978 Western Athletic Conference football standings
v t	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
BYU $	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	4	–	0
Utah	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
Wyoming	4	–	2	–	0			5	–	7	–	0
New Mexico	3	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Colorado State	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
San Diego State	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
UTEP	1	–	5	–	0			1	–	11	–	0
$ – Conference champion

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 (9–4, 5–1 WAC), as WAC Champions and with a loss against Navy in the Holiday Bowl.

Schedule[]

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 9	at Oregon State*	Parker Stadium Corvallis, Oregon	W 10–6	19,651
September 16	at Arizona State*	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona	L 17–24	70,311
September 23	Colorado State	Cougar Stadium Provo, Utah	W 32–6	31,052
September 30	at New Mexico	University Stadium Albuquerque, New Mexico	W 27–23	24,892
October 7	Utah State*	Cougar Stadium Provo, Utah (The Old Wagon Wheel)	L 7–24	32,668
October 14	at Oregon*	Autzen Stadium Eugene, Oregon	W 17–16	24,500
October 21	UTEP	Cougar Stadium Provo, Utah	W 44–0	23,335
November 4	Wyoming	Cougar Stadium Provo, Utah	W 48–14	30,415
November 11	San Diego State	Cougar Stadium Provo, Utah	W 21–3	22,682
November 18	at Utah	Rice Stadium Salt Lake City (Holy War)	L 22–23	29,326
November 25	at Hawaii*	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI	W 31–13	35,678
December 2	vs. UNLV*	Yokohama Stadium Yokohama, Japan (Yokohama Bowl)	W 28–24	27,500
December 22	vs. Navy*	San Diego Stadium San Diego (Holiday Bowl)	L 16–23	52,500
*Non-conference game

• Reference:^[1]

Roster[]

1978 BYU Cougars football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR Mike Chronister   Lloyd Jones QB 9 Jim McMahon Fr T 64 Andy Reid So WR Tod Thompson   Kent Tingey RB Casey Wingard	Defense Pos. # Name Class   Jason Coloma   Dave Francis   John Kormylo LB 41 Glen Redd So   Bill Schoepflin   Doug Stromberg   Ron Velasco   Rod Wood	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K Brent Johnson	Head coach LaVell Edwards Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Game summaries[]

Oregon State[]

Brigham Young at Oregon State

1 2 3 4 Total • BYU 7 3 0 0 10 Oregon St 0 0 6 0 6 Date: Saturday, September 9 Location: Parker Stadium, Corvallis, Oregon Game attendance: 19,651 Source: Eugene Register-Guard

Scoring summary 1 3:57 BYU Thompson 10-yard pass from Wilson (Kittell kick) BYU 7-0 2 13:35 BYU Kittell 34-yard field goal BYU 10-0 3 2:09 ORST Coury 46-yard pass from White (kick failed) BYU 10-6

Colorado State[]

1 2 3 4 Total Colorado State 0 0 6 0 6 • BYU 7 6 19 0 32 Date: September 23 Location: Cougar Stadium, Provo, Utah Game start: 10:50 a.m. MST Game attendance: 31,052 Game weather: Clear, 70°F Television network: ABC (regional)

Scoring summary 1 2:07 BYU Ring 1-yard run (Johnson kick) BYU 7-0 2 BYU Phillips 5-yard run (kick failed) BYU 13-0 3 BYU Wingard 1-yard run (run failed) BYU 20-0 3 BYU Jones 39-yard pass from McMahon (pass failed) BYU 26-0 3 CSU Newberry 10-yard pass from Lee (pass failed) BYU 26-6 3 BYU McMahon-yard run (Johnson kick) BYU 32-6

Jim McMahon, the backup quarterback and normally handles the punting duties, came off the bench to pass for one score and run for another when Marc Wilson was injured early in the second quarter with a bruised hamstring. "It's nice to have quarterbacks like those two, isn't it", head coach LaVell Edwards said after the game.^[2][3]

Oregon[]

1 2 3 4 Total • BYU 0 3 0 14 17 Oregon 10 0 6 0 16 Date: Saturday, October 14 Location: Autzen Stadium, Eugene, Oregon Game attendance: 24,500

Scoring summary 1 9:55 ORE English 34-yard field goal ORE 3-0 1 8:15 ORE Lawler 3-yard blocked punt return (English kick) ORE 10-0 2 6:42 BYU Johnson 42-yard field goal ORE 10-3 3 11:00 ORE Durando 13-yard pass from Johnson (kick failed) ORE 16-3 4 6:21 BYU Thompson 21-yard pass from McMahon (Johnson kick) ORE 16-10 4 3:03 BYU Williams 1-yard run (Johnson kick) BYU 17-16

^[4]

Wyoming[]

1 2 3 4 Total Wyoming 7 7 0 0 14 • BYU 10 10 7 21 48 Date: November 4 Location: Cougar Stadium, Provo, Utah Game attendance: 30,415

Scoring summary 1 BYU McMahon 13-yard run (Johnson kick) BYU 7-0 1 WYO Jones 1-yard run (Christopulos kick) Tied 7-7 1 BYU Johnson 44-yard field goal BYU 10-7 2 WYO Jones 20-yard run (Christopulos kick) WYO 14-10 2 BYU Ring 2-yard run (Johnson kick) BYU 17-14 2 BYU Johnson 38-yard field goal BYU 20-14 3 BYU Thompson 7-yard pass from McMahon (Johnson kick) BYU 27-14 4 BYU McMahon 1-yard run (Johnson kick) BYU 34-14 4 BYU Thompson 16-yard pass from Wilson (Johnson kick) BYU 41-14 4 BYU Wilson 13-yard run (Johnson kick) BYU 48-14

^[5]

Utah[]

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP BYU UTAH 1 BYU 20-yard field goal by Johnson 3 0 1 BYU Jones 37-yard touchdown reception from McMahon, Johnson kick good 10 0 2 BYU 52-yard field goal by Johnson 13 0 2 BYU 21-yard field goal by Johnson 16 0 3 Utah Teahan 25-yard touchdown reception from Gomez, Hucko kick good 16 7 3 BYU Interception returned 20 yards for touchdown by Francis, Johnson kick no good 22 7 4 Utah 37-yard field goal by Hucko 22 10 4 Utah Lindsay 42-yard touchdown reception from Gomez, Hucko kick good 22 17 4 2:15 Utah Henry 19-yard touchdown reception from Gomez, 2-point pass failed 22 23 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 22 23

References[]