CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1978 BYU

9–⁠4 (5–⁠1 Western Athletic Conference), coached by LaVell Edwards.

Schedule and results

BYU in 1978, game by game: won at Oregon State 10–6; lost at Arizona State 17–24; won vs. Colorado State 32–6; won at New Mexico 27–23; lost vs. Utah State 7–24; won at Oregon 17–16; won vs. UTEP 44–0; won vs. Wyoming 48–14; won vs. San Diego State 21–3; lost at Utah 22–23; won at Hawai’i 31–13; won vs. UNLV 28–24; lost vs. Navy 16–23+44−17Won 10–6 at Oregon State+4Oregon StateLost 17–24 at Arizona State-7Arizona StateWon 32–6 vs. Colorado State+26Colorado StateWon 27–23 at New Mexico+4New MexicoLost 7–24 vs. Utah State-17Utah StateWon 17–16 at Oregon+1OregonWon 44–0 vs. UTEP+44UTEPWon 48–14 vs. Wyoming+34WyomingWon 21–3 vs. San Diego State+18San Diego StateLost 22–23 at Utah-1UtahWon 31–13 at Hawai’i+18Hawai’iWon 28–24 vs. UNLV+4UNLVLost 16–23 vs. Navy-7Navy
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 9atOregon StateW 10–⁠673%
Sep 16atArizona StateL 17–⁠2445%
Sep 23vsColorado StateW 32–⁠666%
Sep 30atNew MexicoW 27–⁠2362%
Oct 7vsUtah StateL 7–⁠2474%
Oct 14atOregonW 17–⁠1675%
Oct 21vsUTEPW 44–⁠088%
Nov 4vsWyomingW 48–⁠1471%
Nov 11vsSan Diego StateW 21–⁠366%
Nov 18atUtahL 22–⁠2369%
Nov 25atHawai’iW 31–⁠1366%
Dec 2vsUNLVW 28–⁠2482%
Dec 22Bowls & playoffvsNavyHoliday BowlL 16–⁠2359%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Navy 23–⁠16 in the Holiday Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; Western Athletic Conference champions.

In program history: The 30th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 102 on file).

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1978.

Western Athletic Conference champions5–⁠1 in the conference

Record
9–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠1 first in Western Athletic Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
320–⁠199
Coach
LaVell Edwards
Elo
1614 +14 this season
SP+ rating
13.1 No. 30 of 133; offense No. 37, defense No. 27
SRS
10.6 No. 30 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Wally English
Defensive coordinator
Dick Felt
Offense
West Coast
Defense
4–⁠3

1978 Western Athletic Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
BYU5–⁠19–⁠4
Utah4–⁠28–⁠3
Wyoming4–⁠25–⁠7
New Mexico3–⁠37–⁠5
Colorado State2–⁠45–⁠6
San Diego State2–⁠44–⁠7
UTEP1–⁠51–⁠11

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.