1976 BYU Cougars football
WAC co-champion
ConferenceWestern Athletic Conference
Record9–3 (6–1 WAC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorDoug Scovil (1st season)
Offensive schemeWest Coast
Defensive coordinatorDick Felt (5th season)
Base defense3–4
Home stadiumCougar 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 18Colorado StateW 42–1833,013
September 25at ArizonaW 23–1631,000
October 2at San Diego StateW 8–041,786
October 9Wyomingdagger
  • Cougar Stadium
  • Provo, UT
L 29–3435,423
October 10Southern Miss*
  • Cougar Stadium
  • Provo, UT
W 63–1923,029[1]
October 23Utah State*
W 45–1424,074
October 30Arizona State
  • Cougar Stadium
  • Provo, UT
W 43–2129,854
November 6UTEP
  • Cougar Stadium
  • Provo, UT
W 40–2724,644
November 13at New MexicoW 21–818,038
November 20at UtahW 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

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Colorado State

1 234Total
Colorado State 0 873 18
BYU 7 15317 42

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

[5]

At San Diego State

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Wyoming

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Southern Mississippi

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Utah State

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Arizona State

1 234Total
Arizona St 21 000 21
BYU 17 7163 43
  • Date: October 30
  • Location: Cougar Stadium • Provo, Utah

[6]

UTEP

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At New Mexico

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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)

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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.