1975 BYU Cougars football team

The 1975 BYU Cougars football team represented Brigham Young University during the 1975 NCAA Division I football season. The Cougars were led by fourth-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, finishing tied for fourth with a conference record of 4–3.

1975 BYU Cougars football
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Record	6–5 (4–3 WAC)
Head coach	LaVell Edwards (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Dave Kragthorpe (6th season)
Offensive scheme	West Coast
Defensive coordinator	Dick Felt (4th season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	Cougar Stadium
Seasons ← 1974 1976 →

1975 Western Athletic Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 Arizona State $	7	–	0	–	0			12	–	0	–	0
No. 18 Arizona	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
Colorado State	4	–	2	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
BYU	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
New Mexico	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Utah	1	–	4	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
Wyoming	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
UTEP	0	–	6	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 13	Bowling Green*	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	L 21–23	29,718
September 20	at Colorado State	Hughes Stadium Fort Collins, CO	L 17–21	27,491
September 27	at No. 13 Arizona State	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	L 0–20	50,944
October 3	New Mexico	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	W 16–15	25,140
October 11	Air Force*	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	W 28–14	30,246
October 25	at Wyoming	War Memorial Stadium Laramie, WY	W 33–20	16,297	^[1]
November 1	No. 17 Arizona	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	L 20–36	25,287
November 8	at Utah State*	Romney Stadium Logan, UT	W 24–7	21,594
November 15	Utah	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT (Holy War)	W 51–20	28,265
November 22	at UTEP	Sun Bowl Stadium El Paso, TX	W 20–10	7,350
November 29	at Southern Miss*	Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium Jackson, MS	L 14–42	9,262	^[2]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1975 BYU Cougars football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class FB 33 Todd Christensen So WR 88 Jay Miller Jr QB 14 Gifford Nielsen So C 55 Orrin Olsen Sr QB 6 Marc Wilson Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DE 83 Mat Mendenhall Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class OT 61 Chris Crowe Sr	Head coach LaVell Edwards Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible   Injured   Redshirt Roster

Game summaries

Air Force

1 2 3 4 Total Air Force 7 7 0 0 14 • BYU 0 7 7 14 28 Date: October 11 Location: Cougar Stadium, Provo, UT Game attendance: 30,246

Scoring summary 1 AF Ken Wood 5-yard run (Dave Lawson kick) AF 7-0 2 BYU Jeff Blanc 7-yard run (Dave Taylor kick) Tied 7-7 2 AF Ken Wood 1-yard run (Dave Lawson kick) AF 14-7 3 BYU Jeff Nilsson 10-yard pass from Gifford Nielsen (Dave Taylor kick) Tied 14-14 4 BYU Charlie Ah You 1-yard run (Dave Taylor kick) BYU 21-14 4 BYU Charlie Ah You 1-yard run (Dave Taylor kick) BYU 28-14

Source:^[3]

Utah

Gifford Nielsen passed and ran for two touchdowns and Brigham Young's defense turned Utah fumbles into three more scores in the 51–20 rout. Mark Uselman also kicked field goals of 47, 47 and 44 yards as the Cougars won their fourth in a row in the series.^[4]

References

1. Chuck Harkins (October 26, 1975). "Cougars halt Pokes 33-20". Casper Star-Tribune. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Southern Miss shocks BYU by 42–14". The Salt Lake Tribune. November 30, 1975. Retrieved March 24, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "BYU Downs Falcons, 28-14." Palm Beach Post. 1975 Oct 12.
4. Eugene Register-Guard. 1975 Nov 16.