1976 BYU Cougars football team

1976 BYU Cougars football
WAC co-champion
Tangerine Bowl, L 21–49 vs. Oklahoma State
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Record	9–3 (6–1 WAC)
Head coach	LaVell Edwards (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Doug Scovil (1st season)
Offensive scheme	West Coast
Defensive coordinator	Dick Felt (5th season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	Cougar Stadium

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

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 11	at Kansas State*	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS	L 3–13	27,100
September 18	Colorado State	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	W 42–18	33,013
September 25	at Arizona	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	W 23–16	31,000
October 2	at San Diego State	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, CA	W 8–0	41,786
October 9	Wyoming	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	L 29–34	35,423
October 10	Southern Miss*	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	W 63–19	23,029
October 23	Utah State*	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT (rivalry)	W 45–14	24,074
October 30	Arizona State	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	W 43–21	29,854
November 6	UTEP	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	W 40–27	24,644
November 13	at New Mexico	University Stadium Albuquerque, NM	W 21–8	18,038
November 20	at Utah	Robert Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT (Holy War)	W 34–12	30,503
December 18	vs. No. 14 Oklahoma State*	Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL (Tangerine Bowl)	L 21–49	37,812
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

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

Game summaries

Colorado State

1 2 3 4 Total Colorado State 0 8 7 3 18 • BYU 7 15 3 17 42 Date: September 18 Location: Cougar Stadium, Provo, UT Game attendance: 33,013

Scoring summary 1 BYU Jeff Nilsson 9-yard pass from Gifford Nielsen (Taylor kick) BYU 7-0 2 CSU Davis 5-yard run (Graham run) Colorado St 8-7 2 BYU John VanDerWouden 35-yard pass from Gifford Nielsen (Gifford Nielsen to Chronister pass) BYU 15-8 2 BYU John VanDerWouden 26-yard pass from Gifford Nielsen (Taylor kick) BYU 22-8 3 CSU Harris 1-yard run (Drake kick) BYU 22-15 3 BYU Taylor 38-yard field goal BYU 25-15 4 CSU Drake 42-yard field goal BYU 25-18 4 BYU John VanDerWouden 13-yard pass from Gifford Nielsen (Taylor kick) BYU 32-18 4 BYU Taylor 21-yard field goal BYU 35-18 4 BYU John 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.

At Arizona

1 2 3 4 Total • BYU 13 3 0 7 23 Arizona 3 7 3 3 16 Date: September 25 Location: Arizona Stadium

Scoring summary Q1 BYU Taylor 36 yard field goal BYU 3–0 Q1 BYU Taylor 38 yard field goal BYU 6–0 Q1 ARIZ Pistor 52 yard field goal BYU 6–3 Q1 BYU Billick 20 yard pass from Nielsen (Taylor kick) BYU 13–3 Q2 ARIZ Nash 31 yard pass from Krohn (Pistor kick) BYU 13–10 Q2 BYU Taylor 39 yard field goal BYU 16–10 Q3 ARIZ Pistor 20 yard field goal BYU 16–13 Q4 ARIZ Pistor 39 yard field goal Tie 16–16 Q4 BYU Harris 43 yard pass from Nielsen (Taylor kick) BYU 23–16

Arizona State

1 2 3 4 Total Arizona St 21 0 0 0 21 • BYU 17 7 16 3 43 Date: October 30 Location: Cougar Stadium • Provo, Utah

Scoring summary 1 BYU VanDerWouden 3-yard run (Taylor kick) BYU 7-0 1 ASU Mucker 80-yard pass from Sproul (Kush kick) Tie 7-7 1 BYU Taylor 21-yard field goal BYU 10-7 1 ASU Mucker 43-yard pass from Sproul (Kush kick) Arizona St 14-10 1 BYU Harris 35-yard pass from Nielsen (Taylor kick) BYU 17-14 1 ASU Sproul 1-yard run (Kush kick) Arizona St 21-17 2 BYU Lowry 2-yard run (Taylor kick) BYU 24-21 3 BYU Chronister 81-yard pass from Nielsen (Taylor kick) BYU 31-21 3 BYU Taylor 40-yard field goal BYU 34-21 3 BYU Christensen 2-yard run (pass failed) BYU 40-21 4 BYU Taylor 44-yard field goal BYU 43-21

At Utah

BYU Cougars (8–2) at Utah Utes (3–6)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
BYU	7	13	14	0	34
Utah	0	6	0	6	12

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

First quarter BYU – Gifford Nielsen 6-yard run (Dave Taylor kick). BYU 7–0. Second quarter BYU – Mike Chronister 3-yard pass from Gifford Nielsen (). BYU 13–0. UTAH – Steve Peake 3-yard run. BYU 13–6. BYU – George Harris 25-yard pass from Gifford Nielsen (Dave Taylor kick). BYU 20–6. Third quarter BYU – Jeff Blanc 19-yard pass from Gifford Nielsen (Dave Taylor kick). BYU 27–6. BYU – Dave Lowry 2-yard run (Dave Taylor kick). BYU 34–6. Fourth quarter UTAH – Richard Graham 3-yard pass from Patrick Degnan. BYU 34–13. Top passers BYU – Gifford Nielsen – 25/35, 415 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT UTAH – Patrick Degnan – 19/42, 270 yards, TD, INT Top rushers BYU – Todd Christensen – 8 rushes, 53 yards UTAH – Steve Peake – 13 rushes, 46 yards, TD Top receivers BYU – George Harris – 6 receptions, 134 yards, TD UTAH – Michael Cordy – 6 receptions, 117 yards

External videos
Game highlights