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
Holiday Bowl, W 38–36 vs. Washington State
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 11
AP	No. 13
1981 record	11–2 (7–1 WAC)
Head coach	LaVell Edwards (10th season)
Defensive coordinator	Fred Whittingham (4th season)
Home stadium	Cougar Stadium

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

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result
September 5	at Long Beach State*	No. 16	Anaheim Stadium Anaheim, CA	W 31–8
September 12	Air Force	No. 15	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	W 45–21
September 19	at UTEP	No. 13	Sun Bowl El Paso, TX	W 65–8
September 26	at Colorado*	No. 11	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	W 41–20
October 2	Utah State*	No. 10	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT (rivalry)	W 32–26
October 10	UNLV*	No. 8	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	L 41–45
October 17	at San Diego State	No. 17	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, CA	W 27–7
October 24	at Wyoming	No. 13	War Memorial Stadium Laramie, WY	L 20–33
October 31	New Mexico		Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	W 31–7
November 7	at Colorado State		Hughes Stadium Fort Collins, CO	W 63–14
November 14	at No. 19 Hawaii		Aloha Stadium Halawa, HI	W 13–3
November 21	Utah	No. 18	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT (Holy War)	W 56–28
December 18	vs. No. 20 Washington State*	No. 14	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, CA (Holiday Bowl)	W 38–36
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

Air Force

1 2 3 4 Total Air Force 0 7 7 7 21 • BYU 10 14 7 14 45 Date: September 12 Location: Cougar Stadium, Provo, Utah Game attendance: 38,712

Scoring summary Q1 BYU Hudson 10 yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick) BYU 7–0 Q1 BYU Gunther 32 yard field goal BYU 10–0 Q2 BYU Hamilton 1 yard run (Gunther kick) BYU 17–0 Q2 AFA Kirby 75 yard punt return (Pavlich kick) BYU 17–7 Q2 BYU Kozlowski 12 yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick) BYU 24–7 Q3 BYU Hamilton 4 yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick) BYU 31–7 Q3 AFA Sundquist 1 yard run (Pavlich kick) BYU 31–14 Q4 AFA James 13 yard run (Pavlich kick) BYU 31–21 Q4 BYU Hamilton 12 yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick) BYU 38–21 Q4 BYU Sikahema 8 yard run (Gunther kick) BYU 45–21

[1]

Colorado

1 2 3 4 Total • BYU 14 3 14 10 41 Colorado 0 0 6 14 20 Date: September 26 Location: Folsom Field • Boulder, Colorado Game attendance: 43,259

Scoring summary 1 BYU Plater 44-yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick) BYU 7-0 1 BYU Pettis 7-yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick) BYU 14-0 2 BYU Gunther 40-yard field goal BYU 17-0 3 BYU Kozlowski 3-yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick) BYU 24-0 3 COL James 33-yard pass from Essington (pass failed) BYU 24-6 3 BYU Hudson 11-yard pass from Young (Gunther kick) BYU 31-6 4 COL Rouson 7-yard run (pass failed) BYU 31-12 4 BYU Plater 22-yard pass from Young (Gunther kick) BYU 38-12 4 BYU Gunther 32-yard field goal BYU 41-12 4 COL Beebe 1-yard pass from Essington (Johnson pass from Essington) BYU 41-20

[2]

Utah State

1 2 3 4 Total Utah St 0 7 7 12 26 • BYU 0 7 6 19 32 Date: October 2 Location: Cougar Stadium • Provo, Utah

Scoring summary 2 USU Jones 8-yard pass from Canales (Money kick) Utah St 7-0 2 BYU Pettis 6-yard run (Gunther kick) Tie 7-7 3 USU McPherson 4-yard pass from Canales (Money kick) Utah St 14-7 3 BYU Hamilton 1-yard run (kick failed) Utah St 14-13 4 USU McPherson 5-yard pass from Canales (kick failed) Utah St 20-13 4 BYU Collie 8-yard pass from Young (Gunther kick) Tie 20-20 4 USU Turner 6-yard run (kick failed) Utah St 26-20 4 BYU Hamilton 42-yard run (kick failed) Tie 26-26 4 BYU Shell 19-yard interception return (kick failed) BYU 32-26

[3]

Hawaii

1 2 3 4 Total • BYU 0 6 7 0 13 Hawaii 0 0 0 3 3 Date: November 16 Location: Aloha Stadium • Honolulu, Hawaii

Scoring summary 2 BYU Gunther 19-yard field goal BYU 3-0 2 BYU Gunther 45-yard field goal BYU 6-0 3 BYU Balholm recovered fumble in end zone (Gunther kick) BYU 13-0 4 HAW Larsen 40-yard field goal BYU 13-3

[4]

Utah

Utah at #18 BYU

1 2 3 4 Total Utah 10 11 7 0 28 • BYU 14 21 14 7 56 Date: Saturday, November 21 Location: Cougar Stadium, Provo, Utah Game attendance: 47,163 Source: Eugene Register-Guard

Scoring summary 1 UTAH Rodgers 87-yard run (Alvarez kick) Utah 7-0 1 BYU Pettis 6-yard run (Gunther kick) Tied 7-7 1 UTAH Alvarez 43-yard field goal Utah 10-7 1 BYU Hudson 8-yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick) BYU 14-10 2 UTAH Alvarez 27-yard field goal BYU 14-13 2 BYU Hamilton 1-yard run (Gunther kick) BYU 21-13 2 BYU Mills 6-yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick) BYU 28-13 2 BYU McKee 18-yard interception return (Gunther kick) BYU 35-13 2 UTAH Rodgers 1-yard run (Ferguson to Rodgers pass) BYU 35-21 3 UTAH Rodgers 8-yard run (Alvarez kick) BYU 35-28 3 BYU Hamilton 1-yard run (Gunther kick) BYU 42-28 3 BYU Plater 27-yard pass from McMahon (Gunther kick) BYU 49-28 4 BYU Hudson 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.

Roster

1981 BYU Cougars football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 6 Robbie Bosco Fr TE 95 Gordon Hudson So WR 7 Glen Kozlowski  Fr QB 9 Jim McMahon Sr 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 DE 77 Mike Morgan Jr LB 59 Kyle Whittingham Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P/K 10 Lee Johnson Fr	Head coach LaVell Edwards Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Team players in the NFL

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

[5]

Awards and honors

• Jim McMahon – Sammy Baugh Trophy,[6] Davey O'Brien Award[7]

References

1. "BYU Thumps Air Force." Gainesville Sun. 1981 Sept 13.
2. Eugene Register-Guard. 1981 Sept 27.
3. Eugene Register-Guard. 1981 Oct 3.
4. Eugene Register-Guard. 1981 Nov 17.
5. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1982.htm
6. http://www.touchdownclubofcolumbus.com/Awards.htm#SAMMY Archived 2011-05-25 at WebCite
7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-02-18. Retrieved 2007-02-20.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)