1981 BYU Cougars football team

1981 BYU Cougars football
Holiday Bowl Champions WAC Champions
Holiday Bowl, W 38-36 vs. Washington State
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Ranking
Coaches	#11
AP	#13
1981 record	11-2 (7-1 WAC)
Head coach	LaVell Edwards
Home stadium	Cougar Stadium

1981 WAC football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#13 BYU $	7	–	1	–	0	11	–	2	–	0
Hawaii	5	–	1	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
Utah	4	–	1	–	1	8	–	2	–	1
Wyoming	6	–	2	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
New Mexico	3	–	4	–	1	4	–	7	–	1
Air Force	2	–	3	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
San Diego State	3	–	5	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
UTEP	1	–	6	–	0	1	–	10	–	0
Colorado State	0	–	8	–	0	0	–	12	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1981 BYU Cougars football team represented Brigham Young University (BYU) in the 1981 college football season. The Cougars offense scored 503 points while the defense allowed 256 points. Led by head coach LaVell Edwards, the Cougars won in the 1981 Holiday Bowl.

Regular season

Season schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Cougars	Opp	Record
1	Sept. 5	Cal State Long Beach	Win	31	8	1-0
2	Sept. 12	Air Force	Win	45	21	2-0
3	Sept. 19	@ Texas El Paso	Win	65	8	3-0
4	Sept. 26	@ Colorado	Win	41	20	4-0
5	Oct. 2	Utah State	Win	32	26	5-0
6	Oct. 10	UNLV	Loss	41	45	5-1
7	Oct. 17	@ San Diego State	Win			6-1
8	Oct. 24	@ Wyoming	Loss	20	33	6-2
9	Oct. 31	New Mexico	Win	31	7	7-2
10	Nov. 7	@ Colorado State	Win	63	14	8-2
11	Nov. 14	@ Hawaii	Win	13	3	9-2
12	Nov. 21	Utah	Win	56	28	10-2

^[1]

Game notes

Air Force

	1	2	3	4	Total
Air Force	0	7	7	7	21
• BYU	10	14	7	14	45

Date: September 12
Location: Cougar Stadium, Provo, UT
Game attendance: 38,712

Scoring summary

Q1	BYU	Hudson 10 yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick)	BYU 7–0

Q1	BYU	Gunther 32 yard field goal	BYU 10–0

Q2	BYU	Hamilton 1 yard run (Gunther kick)	BYU 17–0

Q2	AFA	Kirby 75 yard punt return (Pavlich kick)	BYU 17–7

Q2	BYU	Kozlowski 12 yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick)	BYU 24–7

Q3	BYU	Hamilton 4 yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick)	BYU 31–7

Q3	AFA	Sundquist 1 yard run (Pavlich kick)	BYU 31–14

Q4	AFA	James 13 yard run (Pavlich kick)	BYU 31–21

Q4	BYU	Hamilton 12 yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick)	BYU 38–21

Q4	BYU	Sikahema 8 yard run (Gunther kick)	BYU 45–21

^[2]

Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
• BYU	14	3	14	10	41
Colorado	0	0	6	14	20

Date: September 26
Location: Folsom Field • Boulder, Colorado
Game attendance: 43,259

Scoring summary

1	BYU	Plater 44-yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick)	BYU 7-0

1	BYU	Pettis 7-yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick)	BYU 14-0

2	BYU	Gunther 40-yard field goal	BYU 17-0

3	BYU	Kozlowski 3-yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick)	BYU 24-0

3	COL	James 33-yard pass from Essington (pass failed)	BYU 24-6

3	BYU	Hudson 11-yard pass from Young (Gunther kick)	BYU 31-6

4	COL	Rouson 7-yard run (pass failed)	BYU 31-12

4	BYU	Plater 22-yard pass from Young (Gunther kick)	BYU 38-12

4	BYU	Gunther 32-yard field goal	BYU 41-12

4	COL	Beebe 1-yard pass from Essington (Johnson pass from Essington)	BYU 41-20

^[3]

Utah State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Utah St	0	7	7	12	26
• BYU	0	7	6	19	32

Date: October 2
Location: Cougar Stadium • Provo, Utah

Scoring summary

2	USU	Jones 8-yard pass from Canales (Money kick)	Utah St 7-0

2	BYU	Pettis 6-yard run (Gunther kick)	Tie 7-7

3	USU	McPherson 4-yard pass from Canales (Money kick)	Utah St 14-7

3	BYU	Hamilton 1-yard run (kick failed)	Utah St 14-13

4	USU	McPherson 5-yard pass from Canales (kick failed)	Utah St 20-13

4	BYU	Collie 8-yard pass from Young (Gunther kick)	Tie 20-20

4	USU	Turner 6-yard run (kick failed)	Utah St 26-20

4	BYU	Hamilton 42-yard run (kick failed)	Tie 26-26

4	BYU	Shell 19-yard interception return (kick failed)	BYU 32-26

^[4]

Hawaii

	1	2	3	4	Total
• BYU	0	6	7	0	13
Hawaii	0	0	0	3	3

Date: November 16
Location: Aloha Stadium • Honolulu, Hawaii

Scoring summary

2	BYU	Gunther 19-yard field goal	BYU 3-0

2	BYU	Gunther 45-yard field goal	BYU 6-0

3	BYU	Balholm recovered fumble in end zone (Gunther kick)	BYU 13-0

4	HAW	Larsen 40-yard field goal	BYU 13-3

^[5]

Utah

Utah at #18 BYU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Utah	10	11	7	0	28
• BYU	14	21	14	7	56

Date: Saturday, November 21
Location: Cougar Stadium, Provo, Utah
Game attendance: 47,163

Source: Eugene Register-Guard

Scoring summary

1	UTAH	Rodgers 87-yard run (Alvarez kick)	Utah 7-0

1	BYU	Pettis 6-yard run (Gunther kick)	Tied 7-7

1	UTAH	Alvarez 43-yard field goal	Utah 10-7

1	BYU	Hudson 8-yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick)	BYU 14-10

2	UTAH	Alvarez 27-yard field goal	BYU 14-13

2	BYU	Hamilton 1-yard run (Gunther kick)	BYU 21-13

2	BYU	Mills 6-yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick)	BYU 28-13

2	BYU	McKee 18-yard interception return (Gunther kick)	BYU 35-13

2	UTAH	Rodgers 1-yard run (Ferguson to Rodgers pass)	BYU 35-21

3	UTAH	Rodgers 8-yard run (Alvarez kick)	BYU 35-28

3	BYU	Hamilton 1-yard run (Gunther kick)	BYU 42-28

3	BYU	Plater 27-yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick)	BYU 49-28

4	BYU	Hudson 37-yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick)	BYU 56-28

Jim McMahon passes for 565 yards and becomes the NCAA's career leader in the category.

Team players in the NFL

The following were selected in the 1982 NFL Draft.

Player	Position	Round	Overall	NFL Team
Jim McMahon	Quarterback	1	5	Chicago Bears
Dan Plater	Wide Receiver	4	106	Denver Broncos

^[6]

Awards and honors

Jim McMahon, Sammy Baugh Trophy ^[7]
Jim McMahon, Davey O'Brien Award^[8]

References

↑ http://cfreference.net/cfr/school.s?id=925&season=1981
↑ "BYU Thumps Air Force." Gainesville Sun. 1981 Sept 13.
↑ Eugene Register-Guard. 1981 Sept 27.
↑ Eugene Register-Guard. 1981 Oct 3.
↑ Eugene Register-Guard. 1981 Nov 17.
↑ http://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1982.htm
↑ http://www.touchdownclubofcolumbus.com/Awards.htm#SAMMY
↑ http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/awards?awardId=3

BYU Cougars football

Venues	LaVell Edwards Stadium (1964–present)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games San Diego State Utah: Holy War (Beehive Boot) Utah State (Beehive Boot, The Old Wagon Wheel)

Culture & lore	Cosmo the Cougar "The Cougar Song" BYU Cougar Marching Band Miami Beach Brawl

People	Head coaches NFL draftees

Seasons	1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

National championship seasons in bold

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