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1996 BYU

14–⁠1 (9–⁠0 Western Athletic Conference), coached by LaVell Edwards, finished No. 5 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

BYU in 1996, game by game: won vs. No. 13 Texas A&M 41–37; won vs. Arkansas State 58–9; lost at Washington 17–29; won vs. New Mexico 17–14; won vs. SMU 31–3; won at Utah State 45–17; won vs. UNLV 63–28; won at Tulsa 55–30; won at TCU 45–21; won vs. UTEP 40–18; won vs. Rice 49–0; won at Hawai’i 45–14; won at Utah 37–17; won vs. No. 22 Wyoming 28–25; won vs. No. 14 Kansas State 19–15+49−12Won 41–37 vs. No. 13 Texas A&M+4No. 13 Texas A&MWon 58–9 vs. Arkansas State+49Arkansas StateLost 17–29 at Washington-12WashingtonWon 17–14 vs. New Mexico+3New MexicoWon 31–3 vs. SMU+28SMUWon 45–17 at Utah State+28Utah StateWon 63–28 vs. UNLV+35UNLVWon 55–30 at Tulsa+25TulsaWon 45–21 at TCU+24TCUWon 40–18 vs. UTEP+22UTEPWon 49–0 vs. Rice+49RiceWon 45–14 at Hawai’i+31Hawai’iWon 37–17 at Utah+20UtahWon 28–25 vs. No. 22 Wyoming+3No. 22 WyomingWon 19–15 vs. No. 14 Kansas State+4No. 14 Kansas State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 24vs13Texas A&MW 41–⁠3739%
Aug 31vsArkansas StateW 58–⁠979%
Sep 14atWashingtonL 17–⁠2946%
Sep 21vsNew MexicoW 17–⁠1468%
Sep 28vsSMUW 31–⁠381%
Oct 4atUtah StateW 45–⁠1766%
Oct 12vsUNLVW 63–⁠2892%
Oct 19atTulsaW 55–⁠3065%
Oct 26atTCUW 45–⁠2170%
Nov 2vsUTEPW 40–⁠1890%
Nov 9vsRiceW 49–⁠073%
Nov 16atHawai’iW 45–⁠1488%
Nov 23atUtahW 37–⁠1752%
Dec 7Bowls & playoffvs22WyomingWestern Athletic Championship GameW 28–⁠2566%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs14Kansas StateCotton BowlW 19–⁠1554%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Kansas State 19–⁠15 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 5 in the final AP poll; Western Athletic Conference champions.

In program history: The 7th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 102 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 2: 19
  2. Wk 3: 16
  3. Wk 4: 14
  4. Wk 6: 24
  5. Wk 7: 21
  6. Wk 8: 19
  7. Wk 9: 18
  8. Wk 10: 15
  9. Wk 11: 13
  10. Wk 12: 12
  11. Wk 13: 10
  12. Wk 14: 8
  13. Wk 15: 7
  14. Wk 16: 6
  15. Wk 17: 5
  16. Final: 5

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 1996.

Western Athletic Conference champions9–⁠0 in the conference, won the Western Athletic Championship Game

Led the nationSteve Sarkisian: passer rating (173.6)

Record
14–⁠1
Conference
9–⁠0 first in Western Athletic Conference
AP final
No. 5 peak No. 5
Points
590–⁠277
Coach
LaVell Edwards
Elo
1738 +183 this season
SP+ rating
20.0 No. 14 of 111; offense No. 7, defense No. 40
SRS
15.1 No. 16 of 111 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinators
Norm Chow and Roger French
Defensive coordinator
Ken Schmidt
Offense
Pro spread
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1997

The 1997 draft
Rd 6Itula Mili TESeattle Seahawks

1996 Western Athletic Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
BYU9–⁠014–⁠15
Wyoming7–⁠110–⁠222
San Diego State6–⁠28–⁠3
Utah6–⁠28–⁠4
Rice6–⁠27–⁠4
Colorado State6–⁠27–⁠5
Air Force5–⁠36–⁠5
SMU4–⁠45–⁠6
New Mexico3–⁠56–⁠5
Fresno State3–⁠54–⁠7
TCU3–⁠54–⁠7
San José State3–⁠53–⁠9
Tulsa2–⁠64–⁠7
Hawai’i1–⁠72–⁠10
UNLV1–⁠81–⁠11
UTEP0–⁠82–⁠9

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