#85 - 9/18/65 – Season opening win sets the stage for first WAC Championship: BYU – 24, ASU - 6

         As the BYU Cougars prepared for the 1965 season, there was little to indicate that it would be a revolutionary season that would put BYU on the college football map. After all, the Cougars had played mediocre in 1964, going 3-6-1 (0-4 in the WAC), despite breaking in their new digs. The new football stadium that could seat 26,812, but 33,610 fans packed into the stadium on Opening Day (10/2/64). Unfortunately, the Cougars would only host four games at home in 1965, and only one of those four was against a WAC opponent - Utah (a team they’d never beaten in Provo). Furthermore, the team lacked experience, with few returning seniors. On the plus side, they had junior QB Virgil Carter, who impressed fans and opponents alike by finishing 13th in the nation in total offense as a sophomore. Also, junior FB John Ogden had finished the 1964 season with three straight games rushing for over 100+ yards, including a record 4 TDs against Western Michigan. Still, only the most loyal BYU fans were predicting victory when the Cougars headed south to take on the Arizona State Sun Devils in Tempe, Arizona.

The Cougars got the ball rolling with a 12-play, 85-yard scoring drive that gave them a 7-0 first quarter lead. Over the course of the afternoon, Virgil Carter ran for 83 and a touchdown, and threw for 134 yards. Carter also started to connect with sophomore split end Phil Odle, who was playing his first game on varsity (since freshmen didn’t play on the varsity squad). The two connected 5 times for 92 yards and a TD. John Ogden added 75 more rushing yards and a touchdown. The Cougs led 24-0 late in the fourth, but ASU scored a late 4th quarter TD to make the final tally 24-6.

Phil Odle jersey
Legacy Hall

The win over Arizona State set the stage for the Cougars’ first conference championship after more than 40 seasons of gridiron gridlock. The Cougars finished the season with a 6-4 record, including a 4-1 record in the WAC, to win the conference title by a half game over ASU, who finished with a 3-1 record in conference play. The Carter - Odle connection continued to blossom over the next two seasons, as evidenced by their Cougar record 13 career TDs as a QB/WR combo (T10th).

 

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