The 1984 BYU Cougars football team represented Brigham Young University (BYU) in the 1984 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Cougars were led by 13th-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 the conference for the ninth consecutive year. The Cougars finished the regular season as the only undefeated team in Division I-A, and secured their first ever national title by defeating Michigan in the 1984 Holiday Bowl.
A number of pollsters and coaches were reluctant to name the Cougars as national champion, partly because they believed BYU's schedule was too weak. Only two of BYU's opponents won at least seven games. They had played only one ranked opponent all season, preseason #3 Pittsburgh, a team that would finish 3–7–1 and unranked. No other team in the WAC was even close to being their equal; the Cougars were the only team in the league with fewer than four overall losses. In the end, BYU was ranked number one in both major final polls, the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll. The team was named national champion by NCAA-designated major selectors of AP, Billingsley, Football Research, FW, National Football Foundation, Poling, UPI, and USA/CNN, while named co-champion by both National Championship Foundation and Sagarin (ELO-Chess).
To date, the 1984 Cougars are the last team from outside a "power conference" to win a national title. It is widely believed that the various systems devised over the years with a view toward deciding the national championship on the field, with their emphasis on strength of schedule, make it extremely difficult for a team outside the power conferences to be considered for championship contention.
Schedule
Rankings
Game summaries
At No. 3 Pittsburgh
Team Category Player StatisticsBYU Passing Robbie Bosco 25/43, 325 yards, TD, 2 INT Rushing Lakei Heimuli 8 rushes, 44 yards, TD Receiving Adam Haysbert 9 receptions, 141 yards, TDPittsburgh Passing John Congemi 17/32, 171 yards, 2 INT Rushing Marc Bailey 14 rushes, 40 yards, TD Receiving Bill Wallace 7 receptions, 68 yards
Baylor
Team Category Player StatisticsBaylor Passing Cody Carlson 15/25, 198 yards, 2 INT Rushing Ron Francis 13 rushes, 32 yards Receiving Glenn Pruitt 6 receptions, 129 yards, TDBYU Passing Robbie Bosco 28/43, 363 yards, 6 TD Rushing Robert Parker 11 rushes, 131 yards Receiving David Mills 6 receptions, 115 yards, 2 TD
Tulsa
Team Category Player StatisticsTulsa Passing Steve Gage 5/15, 66 yards, 2 INT Rushing Gordon Brown 16 rushes, 120 yards Receiving Ronnie Kelley 4 receptions, 56 yardsBYU Passing Robbie Bosco 22/33, 314 yards, TD Rushing Robbie Bosco 7 rushes, 21 yards, TD Receiving Mark Bellini 6 receptions, 141 yards
At Hawaii
Team Category Player StatisticsBYU Passing Robbie Bosco 18/33, 264 yards, TD, INT Rushing Lakei Heimuli 16 rushes, 86 yards Receiving Glen Kozlowski 9 receptions, 156 yards, TDHawaii Passing Raphel Cherry 8/24, 74 yards, INT Rushing Nuu Faaola 11 rushes, 51 yards Receiving Kyle Mosley 1 reception, 62 yards
CougarStats.com. Retrieved 2016-Dec-18.
At Colorado State
Team Category Player StatisticsBYU Passing Robbie Bosco 16/21, 246 yards, 2 TD Rushing Lakei Heimuli 19 rushes, 87 yards, TD Receiving Kelly Smith 6 receptions, 93 yards, 2 TDColorado State Passing Tom Thenell 9/28, 98 yards, INT Rushing Kurt Lichty 6 rushes, 24 yards Receiving Todd Tyrell 4 receptions, 37 yards
Wyoming
Team Category Player StatisticsWyoming Passing Scott Runyan 10/13, 179 yards, TD Rushing Kevin Lowe 9 rushes, 93 yards, TD Receiving Allyn Griffin 6 receptions, 148 yards, 2 TDBYU Passing Robbie Bosco 29/44, 384 yards, 5 TD Rushing Kelly Smith 13 rushes, 92 yards, TD Receiving David Mills 7 receptions, 136 yards, 3 TD
At Air Force
Team Category Player StatisticsBYU Passing Robbie Bosco 28/41, 484 yards, 4 TD, INT Rushing Lakei Heimuli 18 rushes, 65 yards Receiving David Mills 10 receptions, 225 yards, TDAir Force Passing Bart Weiss 6/10, 152 yards, TD Rushing Pat Evans 20 rushes, 103 yards Receiving Kevin Fleming 1 reception, 57 yards, TD
At New Mexico
Team Category Player StatisticsBYU Passing Robbie Bosco 19/29, 227 yards, 3 TD Rushing Lakei Heimuli 19 rushes, 141 yards, 2 TD Receiving Kelly Smith 3 receptions, 54 yardsNew Mexico Passing Billy Rucker 5/8, 69 yards, INT Rushing Willie Turral 13 rushes, 48 yards Receiving Kenne Whitehead 5 receptions, 37 yards
UTEP
Team Category Player StatisticsUTEP Passing Kevin Ward 6/13, 60 yards Rushing James Rose 22 rushes, 102 yards Receiving Larry Linne 3 receptions, 41 yardsBYU Passing Robbie Bosco 19/31, 237 yards, 4 TD, INT Rushing Kelly Smith 4 receptions, 106 yards, TD Receiving Glen Kozlowski 3 receptions, 75 yards, TD
San Diego State
Team Category Player StatisticsSan Diego State Passing Todd Santos 7/19, 65 yards, 3 INT Rushing Mike Waters 17 rushes, 66 yards Receiving Webster Slaughter 6 receptions, 44 yardsBYU Passing Robbie Bosco 24/44, 326 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT Rushing Kelly Smith 7 rushes, 61 yards, TD Receiving Glen Kozlowski 6 receptions, 108 yards, 2 TD
At Utah
Team Category Player StatisticsBYU Passing Robbie Bosco 27/44, 367 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT Rushing Lakei Heimuli 17 rushes, 117 yards Receiving Glen Kozlowski 8 receptions, 162 yards, TDUtah Passing Mark Stevens 12/24, 152 yards, TD Rushing Eddie Johnson 14 rushes, 61 yards Receiving Don Woodward 2 receptions, 53 yards
1984 BYU vs. Utah – CougarStats CougarStats: BYU Football: BYU vs. Utah 1984
Utah State
Team Category Player StatisticsUtah State Passing Gym Campbell 18/54, 274 yards, TD, 2 INT Rushing Marc White 7 rushes, 53 yards Receiving Solomon Miller 4 receptions, 92 yardsBYU Passing Robbie Bosco 28/52, 338 yards, TD, INT Rushing Vai Sikahema 5 rushes, 59 yards, 2 TD Receiving David Mills 7 receptions, 92 yards
Vs. Michigan (Holiday Bowl)
Source: CougarStats.com
Team Category Player StatisticsMichigan Passing Chris Zurbrugg 7/14, 82 yards, TD, INT Rushing Bob Perryman 13 rushes, 110 yards Receiving Vincent Bean 3 receptions, 46 yardsBYU Passing Robbie Bosco 30/42, 343 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT Rushing Lakei Heimuli 16 rushes, 82 yards Receiving David Mills 11 receptions, 103 yards
Personnel
Awards and honors Robbie Bosco, Sammy Baugh Trophy LaVell Edwards, Paul "Bear" Bryant Award
Draft picks The following were selected in the 1985 NFL draft.
Trevor Matich Center 1 28 New England Patriots Kyle Morrell Cornerback 4 106 Minnesota Vikings Louis Wong Guard 5 131 St. Louis Cardinals Lee Johnson Punter 5 138 Houston Oilers Jim Herrmann Defensive end 7 184 Dallas Cowboys
References