Centennial Cougars: The 100 Greatest BYU Cougar Football Games

                 As the BYU Cougars (8-5 in 2014) looked over their 2015 football schedule, they knew they had one of the toughest schedules in the nation. Luckily, they were led by their Heisman candidate, senior quarterback Taysom Hill. Unfortunately, the  Cougars’  first game was in Lincoln, Nebraska, where the Cornhuskers (9-4 in 2014) hadn't lost a season opener since 1985. It was the first ever match-up between two teams that had dominated the college football landscape over the previous 40 seasons. Since 1975, Nebraska had won more games (389) than any other Division 1 team, and the Cougars ranked #5 with 354 wins. Nebraska started off the scoring, marching 88 yards on 9 plays on their opening drive. On third-and-9, at the Cougar 14-yard line, QB Tommy Armstrong Jr. completed a   short pass to WR Jordan Westerkamp. Westerkamp was hit behind the line of scrimmage and it looked like BYU would force a fourth down FGA. ...

               In the final game of a three game series with #17 Notre Dame ( 4-2 ), the Cougars  (5-1)   desperately wanted a win . Head coach, LaVell Edwards, had never gone 0-3 against an opponent since taking over as head coach, but playing in South Bend, the prospects of that streak continuing seemed to dim considerably. The Irish , led by All-American DB Bobby Taylor,  were favored by 15 points, and sported a streak of 85 consecutive games with a national ranking.                Notre Dame struck first. Starting at their own 38-yard line, the Irish made their way into Cougar territory. On the sixth play of the drive, RB Randy Kinder broke a tackle at the line, then rushed up the right hand sideline for a 41-yard TD. Things went from bad to worse when the Cougars’ return man fumbled the kickoff and Notre Dame recovered at the Cougar 11-yard line. The Cougar Defense stepped up,...

                 The #16 ranked BYU Cougars ( 8-2 ) hosted the #4 ranked Air Force Falcons (10-0) in a critical game that would determine the conference champion. The Cougars had won (or shared) the WAC title for 9 consecutive years, paving the way for their first national championship. They certainly didn’t want to break the tradition now, even if a second national championship was out of the question. The Air Force Academy, meanwhile, had joined the WAC in 1980, rebuilding a proud program that had gone once gone 9-0-2 as an Independent, including a 0-0 tie in the 1959 Cotton Bowl, during its second year of play. In 1983, the Falcons had their first 10-win season, but had finished second to the Cougars in conference play. Now, they had their eyes firmly set on their first conference championship as well as another major bowl game. T o say that the Cougars started poorly would be an understatement. On the third play of the game, senior Q...

               One year after the Cougars’ first every bowl win, they returned to the Holiday Bowl. This time the #14 BYU Cougars (10-2) were matched up against the #20 Washington State Cougars (8-2-1). BYU was led by senior All-American QB Jim McMahon, who won both the Davey O’Brien and Sammy Baugh Awards as the best quarterback in the nation. Washington State was powered by RB Tim Harris, who racked up 915 rushing yards on the season. In the first ever match-up between the two universities, the eyes of the West were on San Diego to see which brand of Cougar would emerge victorious.                The first break of the game was in favor of BYU, who recovered their own fumble deep in their own territory on the opening drive. Although they ended up punting, they kept Washington St. from converting a turnover into an early lead. BYU began their third possession at their own 39-yard line. On the fi...

               As BYU prepared for the 1979 season, their first game loomed huge - the #14 ranked Aggies from Texas A&M. The Aggies had finished the 1978 season ranked #19 with a record of 8-4. Pollsters felt they’d be even better in ‘79, ranking them #14 in their preseason poll. The Cougars, meanwhile, were coming off a 9-4 season in which they won their third consecutive conference title. However, when the WAC’s two big dogs (Arizona and Arizona State) headed off to greener pastures (the PAC-10) for the 1978 season, the WAC didn’t hold much credence with pollsters, and the Cougars never broke into the polls all season. The Cougars’ quarterback controversy of the previous season was solved when Jim McMahon agreed to redshirt the 1979 season, but senior QB Marc Wilson was sti ll recovering from a ruptured appendix  when the team headed College Station, prompting bookmakers to label t he Cougars  as 16-point underdog s. BYU’s pro...

  21.  11/17/01 – BYU rallies to stay undefeated: #8 BYU – 24, Utah - 21 The Utah Utes (7-2) came into Provo seeking revenge for their loss to the Cougars the previous year. They were also hoping to knock the #8 BYU Cougars (10-0) down a few pegs and keep alive their shot at the MWC title. The Cougars had even more at stake as they prepared to host their rivals. A win would not only secure the MWC outright, it would also keep their hopes alive for an invitation to a BCS bowl. On their second drive, the Cougars used a mix of runs and passes to advance 62 yards to the Ute 12, where QB Brandon Doman fumbled the ball in the Blue Zone. On the bright side, the Cougar D was in top form, forcing the Utes to punt on each of their first quarter possessions, while allowing only one Ute first down. On the Cougars’ first possession of the second quarter, Doman was picked off by Cr Dwinell in Cougar territory. Four plays later, Ute QB Lance Rice connected with Dennis Smith for a 13-yard TD ...

                 Prior to the first game of the 1996 college football season, the BYU Cougars were treated to a video montage of Cougar highlights throughout the years. The video ended with a pep talk from Ty Detmer, dressed in his Philadelphia Eagles uniform and exhorting them to beat the #13 Texas A&M Aggies.  The two teams were meeting in college football’s annual Pigskin Classic - a season-opening game that ran from 1990-2002 and allowed western schools to add an extra game to their schedule. The Cougars (7-4 in ‘95) were 10-point underdogs to Texas A&M (9-3 in ‘95), whose Defense had been labeled “The Wrecking Crew”.                It was the BYU D that made the initial difference, forcing the Aggies to punt after a three-and-out on their first possession. Starting at their own 35, the Cougar Offense went right to work. After converting a first down on third-and-short, QB S...