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The 1984 season

BYU finished No. 1 in the final AP poll, 13–⁠0 under LaVell Edwards, after it beat Michigan 24–⁠17 in the Holiday Bowl. The biggest game by the rankings: No. 3 Oklahoma 15, No. 1 Texas 15 (Oct 13, 1984). Two Division I-A teams finished unbeaten. 55 ranked teams lost to unranked or lower-ranked opponents.

Heisman Trophy: Doug Flutie, QB, Boston College, who also won the Maxwell, Walter Camp and Davey O’Brien.

The Heisman vote: Doug Flutie 2,240 points, Keith Byars 1,251
PlayerPoints1st2nd3rd
Doug Flutie QB, Boston College2,2406788732
Keith Byars RB, Ohio State1,25187427136
Robbie Bosco QB, BYU4432095193
Bernie Kosar QB, Miami (FL)320976141
Kenneth Davis RB, TCU8661636
Bill Fralic OT, Pittsburgh8112430
Chuck Long QB, Iowa372619
Greg Allen RB, Florida State3701017
Jerry Rice WR, Mississippi Valley State36399
Rueben Mayes RB, Washington State321715

First-, second- and third-place votes (3, 2 and 1 points), from the season’s Wikipedia article, as published.

Scoreboards

Final AP poll

1BYUWestern Athletic Conference
2WashingtonPac-10
3FloridaSoutheastern Conference
4NebraskaBig Eight
5Boston CollegeIndependent
6OklahomaBig Eight
7Oklahoma StateBig Eight
8SMUSouthwest Conference
9UCLAPac-10
10USCPac-10
11South CarolinaIndependent
12MarylandAtlantic Coast Conference
13Ohio StateBig Ten
14AuburnSoutheastern Conference
15LSUSoutheastern Conference
16IowaBig Ten
17Florida StateIndependent
18MiamiIndependent
19KentuckySoutheastern Conference
20VirginiaAtlantic Coast Conference

Biggest upsets

Sep 29, 1984Syracuse 17, 1Nebraska 9
Oct 6, 1984Purdue 28, 2Ohio State 23
Oct 27, 1984Kansas 28, 2Oklahoma 11
Nov 17, 1984Navy 38, 2South Carolina 21
Sep 1, 1984BYU 20, 3Pittsburgh 14
Nov 10, 1984Houston 29, 3Texas 15
Oct 20, 1984Houston 29, 6SMU 20
Oct 27, 1984Wisconsin 16, 6Ohio State 14
Nov 10, 1984Maryland 42, 6Miami 40
Nov 24, 1984Baylor 24, 6Texas 10
Sep 8, 1984Purdue 23, 7Notre Dame 21
Oct 27, 1984Notre Dame 30, 7LSU 22

Ranked teams that lost as the betting favorite, the longest shots first, with the winner’s odds on the line; before lines are on file, ranked teams beaten by unranked or lower-ranked ones.

The AP poll, week by week

The AP poll’s top 10 in 1984, week by week1510152025Wk 1Wk 3Wk 5Wk 7Wk 9Wk 11Wk 13Wk 15FinalUSC: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 No. 20, Wk 4 No. 17, Wk 5 No. 15, Wk 6 unranked, Wk 7 unranked, Wk 8 unranked, Wk 9 No. 20, Wk 10 No. 18, Wk 11 No. 14, Wk 12 No. 7, Wk 13 No. 14, Wk 14 No. 20, Wk 15 No. 18, Final No. 1010 USCUCLA: Wk 1 No. 5, Wk 2 No. 4, Wk 3 No. 7, Wk 4 No. 8, Wk 5 No. 17, Wk 6 No. 17, Wk 7 unranked, Wk 8 unranked, Wk 9 unranked, Wk 10 unranked, Wk 11 unranked, Wk 12 unranked, Wk 13 No. 19, Wk 14 No. 17, Wk 15 No. 14, Final No. 99 UCLASMU: Wk 1 No. 15, Wk 2 No. 15, Wk 3 No. 14, Wk 4 No. 13, Wk 5 No. 11, Wk 6 No. 10, Wk 7 No. 7, Wk 8 No. 6, Wk 9 No. 14, Wk 10 No. 19, Wk 11 No. 17, Wk 12 No. 16, Wk 13 No. 11, Wk 14 No. 10, Wk 15 No. 10, Final No. 88 SMUOklahoma State: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 No. 13, Wk 4 No. 12, Wk 5 No. 10, Wk 6 No. 9, Wk 7 No. 13, Wk 8 No. 12, Wk 9 No. 10, Wk 10 No. 7, Wk 11 No. 7, Wk 12 No. 4, Wk 13 No. 3, Wk 14 No. 9, Wk 15 No. 9, Final No. 77 Oklahoma StateOklahoma: Wk 1 No. 16, Wk 2 No. 16, Wk 3 No. 15, Wk 4 No. 11, Wk 5 No. 7, Wk 6 No. 5, Wk 7 No. 3, Wk 8 No. 2, Wk 9 No. 2, Wk 10 No. 10, Wk 11 No. 9, Wk 12 No. 6, Wk 13 No. 2, Wk 14 No. 2, Wk 15 No. 2, Final No. 66 OklahomaBoston College: Wk 1 No. 19, Wk 2 No. 18, Wk 3 No. 10, Wk 4 No. 10, Wk 5 No. 5, Wk 6 No. 4, Wk 7 No. 4, Wk 8 No. 4, Wk 9 No. 11, Wk 10 No. 9, Wk 11 No. 16, Wk 12 No. 13, Wk 13 No. 10, Wk 14 No. 8, Wk 15 No. 8, Final No. 55 Boston CollegeNebraska: Wk 1 No. 2, Wk 2 No. 2, Wk 3 No. 1, Wk 4 No. 1, Wk 5 No. 1, Wk 6 No. 8, Wk 7 No. 6, Wk 8 No. 5, Wk 9 No. 4, Wk 10 No. 3, Wk 11 No. 2, Wk 12 No. 1, Wk 13 No. 7, Wk 14 No. 5, Wk 15 No. 5, Final No. 44 NebraskaFlorida: Wk 1 No. 17, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 unranked, Wk 6 unranked, Wk 7 No. 18, Wk 8 No. 17, Wk 9 No. 16, Wk 10 No. 13, Wk 11 No. 10, Wk 12 No. 5, Wk 13 No. 4, Wk 14 No. 3, Wk 15 No. 3, Final No. 33 FloridaWashington: Wk 1 No. 18, Wk 2 No. 19, Wk 3 No. 16, Wk 4 No. 9, Wk 5 No. 6, Wk 6 No. 3, Wk 7 No. 2, Wk 8 No. 1, Wk 9 No. 1, Wk 10 No. 1, Wk 11 No. 1, Wk 12 No. 8, Wk 13 No. 5, Wk 14 No. 4, Wk 15 No. 4, Final No. 22 WashingtonBYU: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 No. 13, Wk 3 No. 8, Wk 4 No. 6, Wk 5 No. 8, Wk 6 No. 7, Wk 7 No. 5, Wk 8 No. 7, Wk 9 No. 5, Wk 10 No. 4, Wk 11 No. 4, Wk 12 No. 3, Wk 13 No. 1, Wk 14 No. 1, Wk 15 No. 1, Final No. 11 BYU
The top 10 of the final AP poll and where each stood every week before it; a gap is a week out of the Top 25. Hover or tab to a line for its weeks.

Climbed

  1. BYUunranked → No. 1
  2. Oklahoma Stateunranked → No. 7
  3. WashingtonNo. 18 → No. 2
  4. USCunranked → No. 10
  5. South Carolinaunranked → No. 11

Fell

  1. PittsburghNo. 3 → unranked
  2. ClemsonNo. 4 → unranked
  3. TexasNo. 6 → unranked
  4. Notre DameNo. 8 → unranked
  5. AlabamaNo. 9 → unranked

From the season’s first AP poll (the preseason poll) to the final one.

National leaders

Passing yardsRobbie Bosco (BYU)3,875 yds
Passing touchdownsRobbie Bosco (BYU)33 TD
Passer ratingDoug Flutie (Boston College)152.9
Rushing yardsKeith Byars (Ohio State)1,764 yds
Rushing touchdownsKeith Byars (Ohio State)22 TD
Yards per carryKevin Lowe (Wyoming)8.0
ReceptionsDavid Williams (Illinois)101 catches
Receiving yardsDavid Williams (Illinois)1,278 yds
Yards per catchRonnie Kelley (Tulsa)25.0
Receiving touchdownsDoug Allen (Arizona State)14 TD
PointsKeith Byars (Ohio State)144 pts
Points per gameKeith Byars (Ohio State)13.1
Total offenseDoug Flutie (Boston College)4,013 yds
Total offense per gameRobbie Bosco (BYU)327.7
Punt return averageRicky Nattiel (Florida)15.7
Kickoff return averageKeith Henderson (Texas Tech)28.9

The NCAA’s official leaders. From Wikipedia’s yearly NCAA leader lists for passing, rushing, receiving, scoring, total offense and returns.

Conference champions

Division I-A

Atlantic Coast Conference
Maryland
Big Eight
Nebraska and Oklahoma (shared)
Big Ten
Ohio State
Mid-American Conference
Toledo
Missouri Valley Conference
Tulsa
Pac-10
USC
Southwest Conference
Houston and SMU (shared)
Western Athletic Conference
BYU

Division I-AA

Big Sky
Montana State
Gulf Star Conference
Nicholls and Northwestern State (shared)
Ivy League
Pennsylvania
Mid-Continent Conference
Eastern Illinois and Northern Iowa (shared)
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Bethune-Cookman
Ohio Valley Conference
Eastern Kentucky
Southern Conference
Chattanooga
Southland Conference
Louisiana Tech
Southwestern Athletic Conference
Alcorn State
Yankee Conference
Rhode Island

Division II and below

Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference
Central Arkansas
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Norfolk State
Gulf South Conference
Troy
North Central Conference
North Dakota State
Northern California Athletic Conference
UC Davis
Western Football Conference
Portland State

From each program’s Wikipedia article, with the conference’s name that season. Titles come from the articles of today’s FBS and FCS programs, so a title shared with a school outside them lists only one champion.

Consensus All-Americans

28 playersAll 9 selectors’ teams

Players picked by enough of the major selectors to count as consensus, shown in bold in Wikipedia’s 1984 All-America article. Every selector’s teams, first to last, are on the 1984 All-America teams page.

The 1984 awards

Every award

Player of the year

By position

Coaches

Bowls and playoff

Scoreboard
Dec 15, 1984Air Force 23, Virginia Tech 7Independence Bowl
Dec 15, 1984UNLV 30, Toledo 13California Bowl
Dec 21, 19841BYU 24, Michigan 17Holiday Bowl
Dec 22, 1984Army 10, Michigan State 6Cherry Bowl
Dec 22, 1984Georgia 17, 15Florida State 17Citrus Bowl
Dec 22, 198412Maryland 28, Tennessee 27Sun Bowl
Dec 26, 1984Iowa 55, 19Texas 17Freedom Bowl
Dec 27, 198416Auburn 21, Arkansas 15Liberty Bowl
Dec 28, 19849Oklahoma State 21, 7South Carolina 14Gator Bowl
Dec 29, 1984Kentucky 20, 20Wisconsin 19Hall of Fame Classic
Dec 29, 198410SMU 27, 17Notre Dame 20Aloha Bowl
Dec 31, 1984Virginia 27, Purdue 24Peach Bowl
Dec 31, 1984West Virginia 31, TCU 14Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl
Jan 1, 19858Boston College 45, Houston 28Cotton Bowl
Jan 1, 19855Nebraska 28, 11LSU 10Sugar Bowl
Jan 1, 198518USC 20, 6Ohio State 17Rose Bowl
Jan 1, 198514UCLA 39, 13Miami 37Fiesta Bowl
Jan 1, 19854Washington 28, 2Oklahoma 17Orange Bowl