1976 BYU Cougars football team

American college football season

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	4–3
Home stadium	Cougar Stadium
Seasons← 1975 1977 →

1976 Western Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	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
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*	San Diego 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	24,124
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

Game summaries

Kansas State

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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

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	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

UTEP

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At New Mexico

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At Utah

BYU Cougars (8–2) at Utah Utes (3–6)

Quarter	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

Tangerine Bowl (vs Oklahoma State)

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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

References

"KU, K-Staate impressive in home debuts". The Salina Journal. September 12, 1976. Retrieved October 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"BYU stomps CSU, 42–18". Albuquerque Journal. September 19, 1976. Retrieved October 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Last-second TD pass beats Wildcats, 23–16". The Arizona Daily Star. September 26, 1976. Retrieved October 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
Steve Wilson (October 3, 1976). "Cougars Stun Aztecs, 8-0, In Rugged Defensive Clash". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City, Utah. p. 2D. Retrieved January 17, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
"Aztecs blanked by Cougars". Daily Times-Advocate. October 3, 1976. Retrieved October 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Cowboys withstand Cougar charge". The Daily Herald. October 10, 1976. Retrieved October 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"BYU crushes Eagles in 63–19 romp". The Salt Lake Tribune. October 17, 1976. Retrieved March 24, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
"BYU ace gets 5 TD passes in 45–14 win". The Sunday Oregonian. October 24, 1976. Retrieved October 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Cougars dump ASU". The Idaho Statesman. October 31, 1976. Retrieved October 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Cougars top Miners". Casper Star-Tribune. November 7, 1976. Retrieved October 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Brigham Young tops UNM 21–8". Hobbs Daily News-Sun. November 14, 1976. Retrieved October 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"BYU finishes 9–2". Rapid City Journal. November 21, 1976. Retrieved October 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Cowboys blast BYU 49–21". St. Petersburg Times. December 19, 1976. Retrieved October 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"1976 Brigham Young Cougars Schedule and Results".
"BYU's passing attack dumps Colorado State." Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 Sept 19.
CougarStats.com. Retrieved 2016-Sep-16.
Eugene Register-Guard. 1976 Oct 31.

v t e BYU Cougars football
Venues	LaVell Edwards Stadium (1964–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games 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 Mormons vs. Mullets
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1945 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 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold

v t e Western Athletic Conference football champions
I-A/FBS	New Mexico (1962) Arizona State (1963) Arizona, New Mexico & Utah (1964) BYU (1965) Wyoming (1966) Wyoming (1967) Wyoming (1968) Arizona State (1969) Arizona State (1970) Arizona State (1971) Arizona State (1972) Arizona & Arizona State (1973) BYU (1974) Arizona State (1975) BYU & Wyoming (1976) Arizona State & BYU (1977) BYU (1978) BYU (1979) BYU (1980) BYU (1981) BYU (1982) BYU (1983) BYU (1984) Air Force & BYU (1985) San Diego State (1986) Wyoming (1987) Wyoming (1988) BYU (1989) BYU (1990) BYU (1991) BYU, Fresno State & Hawaii (1992) BYU, Fresno State & Wyoming (1993) Colorado State (1994) Air Force, BYU, Colorado State & Utah (1995) BYU (1996) Colorado State (1997) Air Force (1998) Fresno State, Hawaii & TCU (1999) TCU & UTEP (2000) Louisiana Tech (2001) Boise State (2002) Boise State (2003) Boise State (2004) Boise State & Nevada (2005) Boise State (2006) Hawaii (2007) Boise State (2008) Boise State (2009) Boise State, Hawaii & Nevada (2010) Louisiana Tech (2011) Utah State (2012)
I-AA/FCS	Sam Houston (2021) Abilene Christian & Stephen F. Austin (2022)
National championships in bold

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