#76 - 11/20/76 – Gifford Nielsen becomes 1st Cougar QB with 3,000+ yards as Cougars secure a tie for the WAC Title: BYU – 34, Utah - 12

         As BYU prepared for its regular season finale, the Cougars (8-2) were still in the mix for the WAC title. However, if they wanted to earn a share of the conference championship, they needed to get by the Utah Utes (3-6). Although the Utes were finishing out a disappointing year, their season would earn some measure of redemption if they could knock off their rivals and keep them from earning their third conference championship.

        The first quarter was a defensive battle. After only gaining 18 yards on their first possession, the Cougar offense got a boost when a lousy Utah punt set them up at the Ute 39. They advanced 33 yards to the Ute 6, where QB Gifford Nielsen bootlegged it in for the first score of the game. Dave Taylor’s extra point kick gave the Cougars a 7-0 lead.

        Early in the second quarter, the Cougars marched 68 yards into Ute territory. Unfortunately, the drive came to an abrupt end when Nielsen’s pass was picked off at the Ute 2. Fortunately, the Cougar D came through again, forcing Utah’s fifth consecutive punt. Starting at midfield, the Cougars advanced to the Ute 3. Nielsen then lobbed a short TD pass to Mike Chronister for a 3-yard TD reception. The extra point attempt failed, and Utah’s offense finally started to move the ball, going 80 yards in 7 plays. A 3-yard TD rush by Steve Peake, and missed extra point, made it 13-6. The Cougars’ ensuing drive got off to a great start when Nielsen completed a 41-yard pass to Mike Chronister. A 15-yard penalty pushed them back to the 50. A 16-yard completion to Van Der Wouden got the yardage back, but Van Der Wouden fumbled the ball over to the Utes. The Cougar D came up with a big fourth-down stop at their own 33 to give the offense one more shot at adding to their lead before the half. With the clock running down, the Cougars quickly moved back into scoring position with a 30-yard completion to Van Der Wouden. With under a minute to play, Nielsen fired a 25-yard TD pass to George Harris to give the Cougars a 20-6 lead at the half.

        When the third quarter opened, Utah marched 49 yards, but their drive ended with a missed FG attempt. The Cougars responded with an 80-yard drive that culminated with a 19-yard TD pass to Jeff Blanc, who was tackled as the entered the right corner of the end zone, but held on for the score. Utah moved to the Cougar 13 on its next drive, but the Cougar D drove them backwards on three consecutive plays to the 37. The 35-yard punt pinned the Cougars at their own 2-yard line. In response, the Cougars bared their claws and moved 96 yards in six plays. On the seventh, Nielsen pitched the ball to Dave Lowry on the option play, and Lowry raced into the end zone untouched for the score. Although the next two Cougar drives ended in interceptions, the Utes failed to capitalize. The Cougar lead was now 34-6 through three quarters of play.

        The Cougars struggled to move the ball in the fourth, punting on their final four possessions. The Utes, on the other hand, refused to punt. Their final four drives ended with 3 failed fourth down attempts and one touchdown - a 2-yard pass from Pat Degnan to Dick Graham that made the final score a decisive 34-12 Cougar victory.

Gifford Nielsen jersey and photo
BYU Legacy Hall

        In the victory, BYU’s All-American QB Gifford Nielsen became the first Cougar quarterback to throw for more than 3,000 yards in a season while leading the team to a 9-2 regular season record. Although they were unranked in the AP poll, the Cougars finished the regular season tied for #17 in the Coaches’ Poll. The win, combined with Wyoming’s loss to Air Force that same day, created a first place tie in the WAC, with BYU and Wyoming sporting identical 6-1 records. Because Wyoming beat BYU, they got the Fiesta Bowl invitation, but BYU was invited to play in the Tangerine Bowl. Although 3,000 passing yards may not seem like much in today’s game, Gifford’s 3,192 passing yards set a school record and was the fifth highest total in NCAA history at the time. His success firmly established BYU as a passing school, setting the standard that his successors would strive to emulate and surpass.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cougar Centennial preview

 This blog is dedicated to highlighting the 100 greatest games in BYU Cougar football history. I've been a BYU fan since I was a little kid, and attended the university from 1992-1996. When I realized that 2022 was the 100th anniversary of BYU's first official football game, I decided to compile a list of the 100 greatest games in the program's history (from 1922-2021) and do a write-up for each of those games. I did something similar for the 50th anniversary of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and figured I'd share my efforts with other BYU fans out there. Throughout the blog, I will be referring to Top 25 (or Top 20 prior to the expansion of the polls) rankings of either BYU or the teams they played. I realize that there are a couple of major polls, and even a few less famous ones, but for consistency sake I've decided to use the AP poll as the official ranking (even though BYU tends to be appreciated more by the coaches' poll). Also, many posts refer to the
Read more

#98 - 11/1/80 – Most points in a game: #17 BYU – 83, UTEP - 7

Image
Junior QB Jim McMahon didn’t like to share the limelight with anyone. Yet that is exactly what he’d had to do in Provo. When Jim arrived in 1977, he found himself the backup to Marc Wilson, who enjoyed a spectacular sophomore season. The next year, the two QBs shared time behind center. That didn’t work out so well, so McMahon redshirted in 1979 - Wilson’s senior season. The result was the first undefeated regular season in team history. Now, it was Jim’s turn, and he wanted to break every single one of Wilson’s records, as well as set a bunch of new ones. Unfortunately, the Cougars started the 1980 season with a surprise loss to lightly regarded New Mexico. The loss served as a wake-up call to BYU, who were universally picked to repeat as WAC champions. The Cougars rolled out six straight victories, including a 28-3 win over Wisconsin on Sept. 20. These were convincing wins - with a minimum margin of victory of 16+ points. However, the Cougs didn’t break into the Top 20 until Oct. 18,
Read more

#100 12/28/74 – BYU's first Bowl game: Oklahoma St. - 16, #17 BYU – 6

Image
               When the BYU Cougars (7-3-1) started the 1974 season with a 0-3-1 record, nobody would have guessed that they’d come back and win the WAC. However, since their 3 losses were against non-conference schools, they successfully won the conference title with a 6-0-1 record by knocking off two ranked teams (Arizona & Arizona State). As the winner of the WAC, the Cougars were invited to their first bowl game, to face the Oklahoma State Cowboys (6-5) of the Big 8 in the fourth annual Fiesta Bowl.                In the first quarter, the Cougar D corralled the Cowboys, forcing punts on each of the Cowboys first 5 possessions. The Cougar offense, meanwhile, moved the ball well early on. Senior QB Gary Sheide led the Cougars to the Cowboy 13, where Mark Uselman booted a 30-yard  field goal. Although they punted on their second possession, the Cougars took advantage of good field position to march into FG position again, taking a 6-0 lead on a successful 43-yard kick. Sheide was
Read more