1976 BYU Cougars football team

1976 BYU Cougars football
WAC Co-Champions
Conference	Western Athletic
1976 record	9–3 (6–1 WAC)
Head coach	LaVell Edwards
Offensive coordinator	Doug Scovil
Defensive coordinator	Dick Felt
Home stadium	Cougar Stadium

1976 WAC football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
BYU +	6	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Wyoming +	6	–	1	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Arizona State	4	–	3	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Utah	3	–	3	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Arizona	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
New Mexico	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Colorado State	2	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
UTEP	0	–	7	–	0			1	–	11	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1976 BYU Cougars football team represented Brigham Young University during the 1976 NCAA Division I football season.

Schedule

Date	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	Result	Attendance
September 11	at Kansas State*		KSU Stadium • Manhattan, KS	L 3–13	27,100
September 18	Colorado State		Cougar Stadium • Provo, UT	W 42–18	33,013
September 25	at Arizona		Arizona Stadium • Tucson, AZ	W 23–16	31,000
October 2	at San Diego State		Jack Murphy Stadium • San Diego, CA	W 8–0	41,786
October 9	Wyoming		Cougar Stadium • Provo, UT	L 29–34	35,423
October 10	Southern Mississippi*		Cougar Stadium • Provo, UT	W 63–19	23,029
October 23	Utah State*		Cougar Stadium • Provo, UT (Old Wagon Wheel)	W 45–14	24,074
October 30	Arizona State		Cougar Stadium • Provo, UT	W 43–21	29,854
November 6	UTEP		Cougar Stadium • Provo, UT	W 40–27	24,644
November 13	at New Mexico		University Stadium • Albuquerque, NM	W 21–8	18,038
November 20	at Utah		Rice Stadium • Salt Lake City, UT (Holy War)	W 34–12	30,503
December 18	vs. #14 Oklahoma State*		Citrus Bowl • Orlando, FL (Tangerine Bowl)	L 21–49	37,812
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll.

Game notes

Colorado State

1 2 3 4 Total Colorado State 0 8 7 3 18 • BYU 7 15 3 17 42 Date: September 18 Location: Cougar Stadium, Provo, UT Game attendance: 33,013

Scoring summary 1 BYU Jeff Nilsson 9-yard pass from Gifford Nielsen (Taylor kick) BYU 7-0 2 CSU Davis 5-yard run (Graham run) Colorado St 8-7 2 BYU John VanDerWouden 35-yard pass from Gifford Nielsen (Gifford Nielsen to Chronister pass) BYU 15-8 2 BYU John VanDerWouden 26-yard pass from Gifford Nielsen (Taylor kick) BYU 22-8 3 CSU Harris 1-yard run (Drake kick) BYU 22-15 3 BYU Taylor 38-yard field goal BYU 25-15 4 CSU Drake 42-yard field goal BYU 25-18 4 BYU John VanDerWouden 13-yard pass from Gifford Nielsen (Taylor kick) BYU 32-18 4 BYU Taylor 21-yard field goal BYU 35-18 4 BYU John VanDerWouden 12-yard pass from Terry McEwen (Taylor kick) BYU 42-18

Gifford Nielsen completed 13 of 32 passes for 174 yards before leaving late in the final quarter while John VanDerWouden set a single-game conference record with four touchdown receptions. LaVell Edwards beat Colorado State for the first time since taking over BYU in 1972.

Arizona State

1 2 3 4 Total Arizona St 21 0 0 0 21 • BYU 17 7 16 3 43 Date: October 30 Location: Cougar Stadium • Provo, Utah

Scoring summary 1 BYU VanDerWouden 3-yard run (Taylor kick) BYU 7-0 1 ASU Mucker 80-yard pass from Sproul (Kush kick) Tie 7-7 1 BYU Taylor 21-yard field goal BYU 10-7 1 ASU Mucker 43-yard pass from Sproul (Kush kick) Arizona St 14-10 1 BYU Harris 35-yard pass from Nielsen (Taylor kick) BYU 17-14 1 ASU Sproul 1-yard run (Kush kick) Arizona St 21-17 2 BYU Lowry 2-yard run (Taylor kick) BYU 24-21 3 BYU Chronister 81-yard pass from Nielsen (Taylor kick) BYU 31-21 3 BYU Taylor 40-yard field goal BYU 34-21 3 BYU Christensen 2-yard run (pass failed) BYU 40-21 4 BYU Taylor 44-yard field goal BYU 43-21