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1976 BYU Cougars football
WAC co-champion
Conference Western Athletic Conference
Record9–3 (6–1 WAC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinator Doug Scovil (1st season)
Offensive scheme West Coast
Defensive coordinator Dick Felt (5th season)
Base defense 3–4
Home stadium Cougar Stadium
Seasons
←  1975
1977 →
1976 Western Athletic Conference football standings
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

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.

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 11at Kansas State*
L 3–1327,100
September 18 Colorado State
W 42–1833,013
September 25at Arizona
W 23–1631,000
October 2at San Diego State
W 8–041,786
October 9 Wyomingdagger
  • Cougar Stadium
  • Provo, UT
L 29–3435,423
October 10 Southern Miss*
  • Cougar Stadium
  • Provo, UT
W 63–1923,029 [1]
October 23 Utah State*
W 45–1424,074
October 30 Arizona State
  • Cougar Stadium
  • Provo, UT
W 43–2129,854
November 6 UTEP
  • Cougar Stadium
  • Provo, UT
W 40–2724,644
November 13at New Mexico
W 21–818,038
November 20at Utah
W 34–1230,503
December 18vs. No. 14 Oklahoma State*
L 21–4937,812
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[2] [3]

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
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Game summaries

Kansas State

Colorado State

1 234Total
Colorado State 0 873 18
• BYU 7 15317 42
Scoring summary
1BYUJeff Nilsson 9-yard pass from Gifford Nielsen (Taylor kick)BYU 7-0
2CSUDavis 5-yard run (Graham run)Colorado St 8-7
2BYUJohn VanDerWouden 35-yard pass from Gifford Nielsen (Gifford Nielsen to Chronister pass)BYU 15-8
2BYUJohn VanDerWouden 26-yard pass from Gifford Nielsen (Taylor kick)BYU 22-8
3CSUHarris 1-yard run (Drake kick)BYU 22-15
3BYUTaylor 38-yard field goalBYU 25-15
4CSUDrake 42-yard field goalBYU 25-18
4BYUJohn VanDerWouden 13-yard pass from Gifford Nielsen (Taylor kick)BYU 32-18
4BYUTaylor 21-yard field goalBYU 35-18
4BYUJohn 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. [4]

At Arizona

1 234Total
• BYU 13 307 23
Arizona 3 733 16
Scoring summary
Q1BYUTaylor 36 yard field goalBYU 3–0
Q1BYUTaylor 38 yard field goalBYU 6–0
Q1ARIZPistor 52 yard field goalBYU 6–3
Q1BYU Billick 20 yard pass from Nielsen (Taylor kick)BYU 13–3
Q2ARIZNash 31 yard pass from Krohn (Pistor kick)BYU 13–10
Q2BYUTaylor 39 yard field goalBYU 16–10
Q3ARIZPistor 20 yard field goalBYU 16–13
Q4ARIZPistor 39 yard field goalTie 16–16
Q4BYUHarris 43 yard pass from Nielsen (Taylor kick)BYU 23–16

[5]

At San Diego State

Wyoming

Southern Mississippi

Utah State

Arizona State

1 234Total
Arizona St 21 000 21
• BYU 17 7163 43
  • Date: October 30
  • Location: Cougar Stadium • Provo, Utah
Scoring summary
1BYUVanDerWouden 3-yard run (Taylor kick)BYU 7-0
1ASUMucker 80-yard pass from Sproul (Kush kick)Tie 7-7
1BYUTaylor 21-yard field goalBYU 10-7
1ASUMucker 43-yard pass from Sproul (Kush kick)Arizona St 14-10
1BYUHarris 35-yard pass from Nielsen (Taylor kick)BYU 17-14
1ASUSproul 1-yard run (Kush kick)Arizona St 21-17
2BYULowry 2-yard run (Taylor kick)BYU 24-21
3BYUChronister 81-yard pass from Nielsen (Taylor kick)BYU 31-21
3BYUTaylor 40-yard field goalBYU 34-21
3BYUChristensen 2-yard run (pass failed)BYU 40-21
4BYUTaylor 44-yard field goalBYU 43-21

[6]

UTEP

At New Mexico

At Utah

BYU Cougars (8–2) at Utah Utes (3–6)
Period 1 2 34Total
BYU 7 13 14034
Utah 0 6 0612

at Rice Stadium, Salt Lake City, Utah

  • Date: November 20, 1976
  • Game weather: Clear, 56 °F (13 °C)
  • Game attendance: 30,503
  • Box Score
Game information
External videos
video icon Game highlights

Tangerine Bowl (vs Oklahoma State)

References

  1. ^ "BYU crushes Eagles in 63–19 romp". The Salt Lake Tribune. October 17, 1976. Retrieved March 24, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ CougarStats.com Archived 2011-10-11 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "1976 Brigham Young Cougars Schedule and Results".
  4. ^ "BYU's passing attack dumps Colorado State." Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 Sept 19.
  5. ^ CougarStats.com. Retrieved 2016-Sep-16.
  6. ^ Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 Oct 31.


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