The 1979 BYU Cougars football team represented

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

(BYU) for the

1979 NCAA Division I-A football season The 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season saw the Alabama Crimson Tide bring home a national title with a perfect 12–0 season. The title was Alabama's 11th claimed, and their 6th Associated Press awarded title. This was an extremely dominan ...

. The Cougars were led by eighth-year head coach

LaVell Edwards Reuben LaVell Edwards (October 11, 1930 – December 29, 2016) was an American college football head coach for Brigham Young University (BYU). With 257 career victories, he ranks as one of the most successful college football coaches of all tim ...

and played their home games at Cougar Stadium in

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Utah County, Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front, and lies between the cities of Orem, Utah, Orem to the north and Springville, Utah, Springville to the south ...

. The team competed as a member of the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

, winning the conference title for the fourth consecutive year with a conference record of 7–0. BYU finished the regular season with an undefeated record of 11–0. BYU was invited to the 1979 Holiday Bowl, where they lost to

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. They were ranked 13th in the final AP Poll and 12th in the final

Coaches Poll In the United States, the Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has ...

Schedule

Game summaries

Vs. Texas A&M

The game was played at Rice Stadium because

Kyle Field Kyle Field is an American football stadium in College Station, Texas located on the campus of Texas A&M University. It has been the home to the Texas A&M Aggies football team in rudimentary form since 1904, and as a permanent concrete stadium s ...

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.

Utah

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 Thomas Francis Kramer (born March 7, 1955) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) from 1977 to 1990. He played college football for the Rice Owls and was selected by the Mi ...

1976 record for 300-yard passing games in a season with seven.

Game 12: Holiday Bowl (vs. Indiana)

Marc Wilson 28/43, 380 yards, 2 TD, TD rushing

Personnel

References

{{Western Athletic Conference football champions BYU BYU Cougars football seasons Western Athletic Conference football champion seasons

BYU Cougars football The BYU Cougars football team is the college football program representing Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. The Cougars began collegiate football competition in 1922, and have won 23 conference championships and one College football ...