1979 BYU Cougars football team

1979 BYU Cougars football
WAC Champions
Holiday Bowl, L 37–38 vs. Indiana
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Ranking
Coaches	#12
AP	#13
1979 record	11–1 (7–0 WAC)
Head coach	LaVell Edwards
Home stadium	Cougar Stadium

1979 WAC football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#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

The 1979 BYU Cougars football team represented Brigham Young University (BYU) for the 1979 college football season.

Schedule

Date	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 8	at #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	#20	Cougar Stadium • Provo, UT		W 38–15	34,741
October 13	at Utah State*	#16	Romney Stadium • Logan, UT		W 48–24	28,094
October 20	at Wyoming	#13	War Memorial Stadium • Laramie, WY		W 54–14	14,723
October 27	New Mexico	#11	Cougar Stadium • Provo, UT		W 59–7	33,921
November 3	at Colorado State	#11	Hughes Stadium • Fort Collins, CO		W 30–7	25,612
November 9	at Long Beach State*	#11	Memorial Stadium • Long Beach, CA		W 31–17	20,051
November 17	Utah	#10	Cougar Stadium • Provo, UT		W 27–0	40,236
November 24	at San Diego State	#10	San Diego Stadium • San Diego, CA		W 63–14	46,121
December 21	vs. Indiana*	#9	San Diego Stadium • San Diego, CA (Holiday Bowl)		L 37–38	52,500
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll.

^[1]

Game summaries

Game 1: Texas A&M

1 2 3 4 Total • BYU 0 3 7 8 18 Texas A&M 7 0 7 3 17 Date: September 8 Location: Rice Stadium, Houston, TX Game attendance: 40,000

Scoring summary 1 A&M Brothers 1-yard run (Hardy kick) A&M 7-0 2 BYU Johnson 27-yard field goal A&M 7-3 3 A&M Mosley 7-yard run (Hardy kick) A&M 14-3 3 BYU Plater 21-yard pass from Wilson (Johnson kick) A&M 14-10 4 A&M Hardy 37-yard field goal A&M 17-10 4 0:52 BYU Brown 3-yard pass from Wilson (Wilson to Lacey pass) BYU 18-17

^[2]

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]

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, UT Game attendance: 40,236

Scoring summary 1 BYU Matt Braga 14-yard run (Johnson kick) BYU 7-0 1 BYU H. Jones 5-yard run (Johnson kick) BYU 14-0 1 BYU Johnson 39-yard field goal BYU 17-0 2 BYU Johnson 44-yard field goal BYU 20-0 3 BYU Matt Braga 18-yard pass from Marc Wilson (Johnson kick) BYU 27-0

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.

^[4]

Game 12: Holiday Bowl (vs. Indiana)

Marc Wilson 28/43, 380 yards, 2 TD, TD rushing ^[5]

References

1. 1979 Football season - CougarStats
2. "Late Pass Enables BYU to Upset A&M." Palm Beach Post. 1979 Sept 9.
3. BYU Football Talk
4. "BYU stays unbeaten, Wilson breaks records." Eugene Register-Guard. 1979 Nov 18.
5. "1979". Holidaybowl.com. Retrieved 2012-11-07.