8.9/1/84 - BYU kickstarts Championship season with win over #3 Team: BYU Cougars – 20, #3 Pittsburgh Panthers – 14

            BYU kicked off the 1984 season against the #3 Pitt Panthers in Pittsburgh in the inaugural college football broadcast by ESPN. The Cougars, who finished the 1983 season ranked #7 with a record of 11-1, came into the season riding an 11-game win streak. With the loss of their two All-Americans, QB Steve Young and TE Gordon Hudson, and breaking in unproven junior QB Robbie Bosco, the Cougars were unranked in the preseason polls. Pitt finished the 1983 season ranked #18 with a record of 8-3-1. Their sophomore QB, John Congemi, had thrown 16 TD passes as a freshman and was protected by All-American OL Bill Fralic. The preseason polls ranked the highly regarded Panthers #3 - the highest ranked team that the Cougars had ever faced.

Pitt came out throwing, completing a first down on their very first play. However, the Cougar D stopped them on the next three plays, forcing Pitt to punt. *On their very first play of the season, backup QB Blaine Fowler lined up at halfback. Bosco handed the ball off to Fowler, who took a few steps, stopped and launched a long pass to WR Glen Kozlowski. Kozlowski dove for the ball, making the catch for a 38-yard gain (#68). However, the Cougars were also forced to punt. On their second drive, Pitt drove to the Cougar 21-yard line; but on third down, Marv Allen intercepted Congemi’s pass to stop the drive. After BYU punted, Pitt drove the ball to the BYU 25-yard line, but on fourth-and-one, the Cougar D kept the panthers from converting. Although Pitt controlled the ball for more than 12 minutes of the first quarter, BYU escaped any damage.

Glen Kozlowski Celebrating his Catch

BYU started their first drive of the second quarter at their own 25-yard line. Mixing passes with rushes, BYU marched down to the Panther 20-yard line. Bosco connected with Kozlowski in the end zone, but Glen’s foot came down on the line, nullifying the catch. Instead, Lee Johnson booted a field goal, Both defenses remained tough, but Pitt orchestrated a drive that took them to the BYU 8-yard line for a first-and-goal with 24 seconds remaining in the half. Pitt ran up the middle for three yards and used their last timeout to stop the clock. On second down, Congemi tossed it into the corner of the end zone, but a BYU defender caught it out of bounds. On third down, BYU forced Congemi out of the pocket and he threw it out of bounds over the other corner of the end zone before he could be sacked. A personal foul moved the ball half the distance to the goal to the BYU 2-yard line with 7 ticks remaining. On fourth down, Pitt sent in the field goal unit. During the BYU timeout, the Pitt players convinced the coach to go for it. Congemi pitched the ball to his halfback, who swept to the right, but was pushed out of bounds just centimeters short of the goal line. BYU had to run one play, and Bosco dove forward to run out the clock, taking a 3-0 advantage into the locker room.

            Defense continued to be the story to start the second half. On their opening drive, BYU drove the ball to the Panther 30-yard line, but Bill Callahan intercepted Bosco's pass, turned on the afterburners and raced 78 yards to the end zone, putting the Panthers on the board for a 7-3 lead. On BYU’s next possession, Pitt intercepted a tipped ball, this time in Cougar territory, and ran it back to the Cougar 20-yard line. On third-and-seven, Congemi completed a pass over the middle, giving Pitt a first-and-goal at the 4-yard line. On second down, Marc Bailey crashed into the end zone, giving Pitt a 14-3 lead. Things were looking grim for the Cougars as the ferocious Pitt D forced them to punt again, but Marv Allen intercepted his second pass of the afternoon, running it back nine yards to the Panther 21-yard line. A short pass to Kelly Smith moved the ball up to the 16-yard line. A Pitt offsides call pushed it up to the 12. Bosco handed off to RB Lakei Heimuli, who bounced off of a defender before rumbling into the end zone. The two-point conversion attempt was ruled incomplete as the Pitt D pushed Kozlowski out of the back of the end zone.

Marv Allen
Courtesy of BYU Photo

            In the fourth quarter, the Cougar D continued to contain the Pitt offense. Whenever their backs were to the wall, they rose to the occasion, giving up short yardage, but coming up with big plays whenever Pitt ventured into Cougar territory. Bosco, meanwhile, engineered a drive that started at the Cougar 16-yard line and went all the way to the Pitt 7-yard line with a 34-yard reception to Kozlowski. After three straight incomplete passes, Lee Johnson nailed a 23-yard FG that pulled them within two. With about six minutes remaining, BYU was compelled to punt, putting the game in the hands of the Cougar D once again. Pitt managed one first down, but then were forced to punt. Vai Sikahema brought the ball up to the 25-yard line with 3:05 showing on the clock. Bosco started with a 9 3/4 yard pass to Koz. On second-and-inches, Heimuli took it up the middle for 7 yards and a first down. Bosco picked up six yards on a scramble. An incomplete pass stopped the clock with under two minutes to go, facing third-and-four at midfield. BYU decided to run “69 H Option.” *After taking the snap, Bosco took several steps back, then threw a laser to a streaking Adam Haysbert right before getting knocked on his keister. Haysbert snagged it at the 22-yard line, then outpaced the defender in a race for the end zone, resulting in a 50-yard TD strike (#16). Up by only four points, BYU decided to go for two. Bosco rolled right, then ran it in himself to give the Cougars a six point lead. Pitt had 1:33 to work with, and backup QB John Cummings took over for an injured Congemi. Pitt drove into BYU territory, but on fourth-and-four, at the Cougar 29-yard line, with 47 seconds to go, the Cougar D smothered the receiver and swarmed the QB for a sack. From there, all Bosco had to do was kneel and hold onto the ball while the clock ran down.

Adam Haysbert
Courtesy of BYU Photo

Coaches' National Championship Trophy
Legacy Hall

 The win catapulted BYU to #13 in the polls, setting up their championship run. Without a big win over a ranked opponent, it is unlikely that the Cougars would have been in position to advance as week-after-week the top ranked teams were upset, opening the door for the Cougars to climb the ladder. On the other side of the field, the loss was devastating to a Pitt team that had dreams of a national championship. Following the loss, they played like a deflated balloon, going 3-6-1 the rest of the way.

 Game link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9TUBXG4sY4

 *BYU Tv's Top 100 plays in BYU Football TV history (updated 12/12/20 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYzgPw-bQ_c)