74. 11/20/82 - Seventh Consecutive WAC title: BYU - 17, Utah - 12

             The BYU Cougars (7-3) traveled up I-15 to the state capitol to finish out their regular season against their biggest rivals, the Utah Utes (5-5). Once again, the two teams faced off with the conference championship on the line. The Cougars held a half game lead over the New Mexico Lobos, who were playing Hawaii. Since it was the final game of the season for both teams, a win would clinch the title outright. Of course, the Utes would like nothing better than to stymie the Cougars’ quest to win a seventh consecutive WAC title.

After losing yards on their initial drive, the Cougar offense, led by junior QB Steve Young, methodically advanced 79 yards in 12 plays. From the Ute 6, Young lofted a 6-yard TD pass over the defender and into Mike Eddo’s arms to register the game’s first points. The Utes tried to respond, invading Cougar territory with a 62-yard rush by Hilria Johnson. One foot away from the Cougar goal line, QB Ken Vierra mishandled the snap. The Cougars pounced on the ball for a touchback.

In the second quarter, the Utes trudged 68 yards to the Cougar 2. Carl Monroe then swept right, and into the end zone to theoretically tie the game; but the extra point attempt failed, leaving the Cougars up by a point. The Utes drove into Cougar territory again on their next drive, but John Mannion intercepted the ball in the end zone, thwarting another potential touchdown. On their final drive of the half, the Cougars drove deep into Ute territory. With 2 ticks remaining in the half, Kurt Gunther nailed a 32-yard FG giving the Cougars a 10-6 halftime lead.

The Utes got the ball to start the third quarter. Once again, they drove into Cougar territory. And once again, they fumbled away the ball. The Cougars took advantage of the shortened field by advancing to the Ute 16 on a third down, 26-yard completion to Neil Balholm. As the pocket collapsed, Young scrambled right, evaded one tackler, ducked out the the grasp of another, straightened up and threw a dart to Casey Tiumalu at the Ute 7. Casey turned and headed for the end zone, smashing through two tacklers at the line for a 16-yard TD reception. The Utes fumbled again on their next drive, but this time their defense forced a punt.

As the fourth quarter began, the Utes were knocking on the Cougars’ door. The beleaguered Cougar D answered the call by stopping the Utes’ fourth down attempt.  QB Steve Young tried to scramble for the first on third-and-9, but came up just short, necessitating a Cougar punt. When they got the ball back, the Utes only needed to go 57, but had to convert a fourth-and-long to sustain the the drive. They completed the drive with a 4-yard rush by Carl Monroe. Down by five, they chose to go for 2, but failed again. After forcing a third straight punt, the Utes had a chance to mount a game-winning drive with 4:40 remaining. They converted a fourth down at their own 30 to keep the drive alive. They went for it again on fourth-and-one at their own 39, and once again succeeded in advancing the chains. Facing another fourth down, with only a handful of seconds remaining, they went for broke… and the ball fell incomplete as time expired.

Steve Young
Courtesy of BYU Photo

With the 17-12 win, BYU won their 7th straight WAC title (7-1). Before the largest crowd in U of U history, the Cougar defense set a team record with 124 tackles, and saved the day by forcing 4 turnovers and registering three huge 4th down stops. Steve Young passed for 254 yards and 2 TDs, tying 2 NCAA records with 11 straight games with 200+ yards passing, and 11 games netting 200+ yards in a season.

 

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