Wikipedia

1981 BYU Cougars football team

The 1981 BYU Cougars football team represented Brigham Young University (BYU) in the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Cougars were led by 10th-year head coach LaVell Edwards and played their home games at Cougar Stadium in Provo, Utah. The team competed as a member of the Western Athletic Conference, winning their sixth consecutive conference title with a conference record of 7–1. BYU was invited to the 1981 Holiday Bowl, where they defeated Washington State. They were ranked 13th in the final AP Poll with an overall record of 11–2.

1981 BYU Cougars football
WAC champion
Holiday Bowl champion
ConferenceWestern Athletic Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 11
APNo. 13
Record11–2 (7–1 WAC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorRoger French (1st season)
Offensive schemeWest Coast
Defensive coordinatorFred Whittingham (3rd season)
Base defense3–4
Home stadiumCougar Stadium
Seasons
← 1980
1982 →
1981 Western Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 13 BYU $ 7 – 1 – 0 11 – 2 – 0
Hawaii 5 – 1 – 0 9 – 2 – 0
Utah 4 – 1 – 1 8 – 2 – 1
Wyoming 6 – 2 – 0 8 – 3 – 0
New Mexico 3 – 4 – 1 4 – 7 – 1
Air Force 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
San Diego State 3 – 5 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
UTEP 1 – 6 – 0 1 – 10 – 0
Colorado State 0 – 8 – 0 0 – 12 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule edit

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 5at Long Beach State*No. 16
W 31–820,953[1]
September 12Air ForceNo. 15
W 45–2138,712[2]
September 19at UTEPNo. 13
W 65–819,400
September 26at Colorado*No. 11
W 41–2043,259
October 2Utah State*No. 10
W 32–2641,129
October 10UNLV*No. 8
  • Cougar Stadium
  • Provo, UT
L 41–4539,852[3]
October 17at San Diego StateNo. 17
W 27–741,727
October 24at WyomingNo. 13
L 20–3322,745
October 31New Mexico
  • Cougar Stadium
  • Provo, UT
W 31–736,343
November 7at Colorado State
W 63–1417,851
November 14at No. 19 Hawaii
W 13–345,355
November 21UtahNo. 18
W 56–2847,163
December 18vs. No. 20 Washington State*No. 14
W 38–3652,419
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[4]

Personnel edit

1981 BYU Cougars football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
QB 6 Robbie Bosco Fr
RB Bruce Hansen So
TE 95 Gordon Hudson So
WR 7 Glen Kozlowski RFr
QB 9 Jim McMahon RSr
C 50 Bart Oates   Jr
RB 23 Vai Sikahema So
QB 8 Steve Young So
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DT 78 Chuck Ehin Jr
DE 92 Jim Herrmann Fr
DB Tom Holmoe
DE 77 Mike Morgan Jr
LB Todd Shell
LB 59 Kyle Whittingham Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K Kurt Gunther
P 10 Lee Johnson Fr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  •   Injured
  •   Redshirt

Roster

Game summaries edit

At Long Beach State edit

#16 BYU Cougars (0–0) at Long Beach State 49ers (0–0)
Period 1 2 34Total
BYU 7 10 14031
Long Beach St 0 0 088

at Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, California

  • Date: September 5, 1981
  • Game weather: Clear, 87 °F (31 °C)
  • Game attendance: 20,953
  • TV: ESPN
  • Box Score
External videos
  Full game
  BYU highlights
Team Category Player Statistics
BYU Passing Jim McMahon 28/45, 403 Yds, 2 INT
Rushing Scott Pettis 5 Rush, 37 Yds,TD
Receiving Dan Plater 8 Rec, 99 Yds
Long Beach St Passing Angelo Gasca 11/24, 73 Yds, 3 INT
Rushing Tim Gross 14 Rush, 40 Yds
Receiving Louis Leidelmeyer 2 Rec, 43 Yds

Air Force edit

1 234Total
Air Force 0 777 21
• BYU 10 14714 45
Scoring summary
Q1BYUHudson 10 yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick)BYU 7–0
Q1BYUGunther 32 yard field goalBYU 10–0
Q2BYUHamilton 1 yard run (Gunther kick)BYU 17–0
Q2AFAKirby 75 yard punt return (Pavlich kick)BYU 17–7
Q2BYUKozlowski 12 yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick)BYU 24–7
Q3BYUHamilton 4 yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick)BYU 31–7
Q3AFASundquist 1 yard run (Pavlich kick)BYU 31–14
Q4AFAJames 13 yard run (Pavlich kick)BYU 31–21
Q4BYUHamilton 12 yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick)BYU 38–21
Q4BYUSikahema 8 yard run (Gunther kick)BYU 45–21

[5]

At UTEP edit

At Colorado edit

1 234Total
• BYU 14 31410 41
Colorado 0 0614 20
Scoring summary
1BYUPlater 44-yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick)BYU 7-0
1BYUPettis 7-yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick)BYU 14-0
2BYUGunther 40-yard field goalBYU 17-0
3BYUKozlowski 3-yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick)BYU 24-0
3COLJames 33-yard pass from Essington (pass failed)BYU 24-6
3BYUHudson 11-yard pass from Young (Gunther kick)BYU 31-6
4COLRouson 7-yard run (pass failed)BYU 31-12
4BYUPlater 22-yard pass from Young (Gunther kick)BYU 38-12
4BYUGunther 32-yard field goalBYU 41-12
4COLBeebe 1-yard pass from Essington (Johnson pass from Essington)BYU 41-20

[6]

Utah State edit

1 234Total
Utah St 0 7712 26
• BYU 0 7619 32
  • Date: October 2
  • Location: Cougar Stadium • Provo, Utah
Scoring summary
2USUJones 8-yard pass from Canales (Money kick)Utah St 7-0
2BYUPettis 6-yard run (Gunther kick)Tie 7-7
3USUMcPherson 4-yard pass from Canales (Money kick)Utah St 14-7
3BYUHamilton 1-yard run (kick failed)Utah St 14-13
4USUMcPherson 5-yard pass from Canales (kick failed)Utah St 20-13
4BYUCollie 8-yard pass from Young (Gunther kick)Tie 20-20
4USUTurner 6-yard run (kick failed)Utah St 26-20
4BYUHamilton 42-yard run (kick failed)Tie 26-26
4BYUShell 19-yard interception return (kick failed)BYU 32-26

[7]

UNLV edit

At San Diego State edit

At Wyoming edit

#13 BYU Cougars (6–1) at Wyoming Cowboys (4–2)
Period 1 2 34Total
BYU 14 0 0620
Wyoming 0 14 71233

at War Memorial Stadium, Laramie, Wyoming

  • Date: October 24, 1981
  • Game weather: Snow, 32 °F (0 °C)
  • Game attendance: 22,745
  • Box Score
Game information

I'd rather lose and live in Provo than win and live in Wyoming.

LaVell Edwards, following the loss

New Mexico edit

At Colorado State edit

At Hawaii edit

1 234Total
• BYU 0 670 13
Hawaii 0 003 3
Scoring summary
2BYUGunther 19-yard field goalBYU 3-0
2BYUGunther 45-yard field goalBYU 6-0
3BYUBalholm recovered fumble in end zone (Gunther kick)BYU 13-0
4HAWLarsen 40-yard field goalBYU 13-3

[8]

Utah edit

Utah at #18 BYU
1 234Total
Utah 10 1170 28
• BYU 14 21147 56
Scoring summary
1UTAHRodgers 87-yard run (Alvarez kick)Utah 7-0
1BYUPettis 6-yard run (Gunther kick)Tied 7-7
1UTAHAlvarez 43-yard field goalUtah 10-7
1BYUHudson 8-yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick)BYU 14-10
2UTAHAlvarez 27-yard field goalBYU 14-13
2BYUHamilton 1-yard run (Gunther kick)BYU 21-13
2BYUMills 6-yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick)BYU 28-13
2BYUMcKee 18-yard interception return (Gunther kick)BYU 35-13
2UTAHRodgers 1-yard run (Ferguson to Rodgers pass)BYU 35-21
3UTAHRodgers 8-yard run (Alvarez kick)BYU 35-28
3BYUHamilton 1-yard run (Gunther kick)BYU 42-28
3BYUPlater 27-yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick)BYU 49-28
4BYUHudson 37-yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick)BYU 56-28

Jim McMahon passes for 565 yards and becomes the NCAA's career leader in the category.

Holiday Bowl (vs Washington State) edit

Team players in the NFL edit

The following were selected in the 1982 NFL Draft.

Player Position Round Overall NFL team
Jim McMahon Quarterback 1 5 Chicago Bears
Dan Plater Wide receiver 4 106 Denver Broncos

[9]

Awards and honors edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Long Beach: BYU Defense Is Too Much". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. September 6, 1981. p. III-7. Retrieved February 10, 2017 – via Newspapers.com. 
  2. ^ Dunn, Marion (September 13, 1981). "Bottom Line: BYU 45, AFA 21". Daily Herald. p. 6. Retrieved October 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Vegas shocks BYU, 45-41". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire service reports. October 11, 1981. p. 6B.
  4. ^ "BYU '82 Football" (PDF). BYU Athletics. p. 2. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  5. ^ "BYU Thumps Air Force." Gainesville Sun. 1981 Sept 13.
  6. ^ Eugene Register-Guard. 1981 Sept 27.
  7. ^ Eugene Register-Guard. 1981 Oct 3.
  8. ^ Eugene Register-Guard. 1981 Nov 17.
  9. ^ "1982 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.
  10. ^ "Awards". www.touchdownclubofcolumbus.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011.
  11. ^ "College Football Awards - ESPN". Archived from the original on February 18, 2009. Retrieved February 20, 2007.
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