1984 BYU Cougars football team

1984 BYU Cougars football
1984 BYU Cougars football
Consensus national champion; WAC champion; Holiday Bowl champion
Holiday Bowl, W 24–17 vs. Michigan
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
Record	13–0 (8–0 WAC)
Head coach	LaVell Edwards (13th season);
Offensive coordinator	Roger French (4th season)
Offensive scheme	West Coast
Defensive coordinator	Dick Felt (10th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Cougar Stadium
	Seasons ← 1983 1985 →

1984 Western Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 1 BYU $	8	–	0	–	0	13	–	0	–	0
Hawaii	5	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Air Force	4	–	3	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Utah	4	–	3	–	1	6	–	5	–	1
San Diego State	4	–	3	–	1	4	–	7	–	1
Wyoming	4	–	4	–	0	6	–	6	–	0
Colorado State	3	–	5	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
New Mexico	1	–	7	–	0	4	–	8	–	0
UTEP	1	–	7	–	0	2	–	9	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

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.^[1] 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).^[2]

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.^[1]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	at No. 3 Pittsburgh*		Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	ESPN	W 20–14	40,263
September 8	Baylor*	No. 13	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT		W 47–13	63,705
September 15	Tulsa*	No. 8	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT		W 38–15	64,237
September 22	at Hawaii	No. 6	Aloha Stadium Halawa, HI		W 18–13	50,000
October 6	at Colorado State	No. 7	Hughes Stadium Fort Collins, CO		W 52–9	28,671
October 13	Wyoming	No. 5	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT		W 41–38	64,839
October 20	at Air Force	No. 7	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO	ABC	W 30–25	30,469
October 25	at New Mexico	No. 5	University Stadium Albuquerque, NM	ESPN	W 48–0	19,227
November 3	UTEP	No. 4	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT		W 42–9	62,530
November 10	San Diego State	No. 4	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT		W 34–3	64,050
November 17	at Utah	No. 3	Robert Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT (Holy War)	KUTV	W 24–14	36,110
November 24	Utah State*	No. 1	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT (rivalry)		W 38–13	65,580
December 21	vs. Michigan*	No. 1	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, CA (Holiday Bowl)	ESPN	W 24–17	61,243
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

1984 BYU Cougars football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
G, C	`57`	Robert Anae	Sr
WR	`11`	Mark Bellini	So
OL	`71`	John Borgia	Fr
QB	`6`	Robbie Bosco	Jr
RB	`28`	Paul Crawford
WR	`18`	Jim Edwards
QB	`16`	Blaine Fowler
OL	`75`	David Futrell
OL	`59`	Craig Garrick
WR	`1`	Adam Haysbert
RB	`35`	Lakei Heimuli
OL	`68`	John Hunter
OL	`66`	David King
WR	`7`	Glen Kozlowski	Jr
TE	`90`	Lance Lindley
QB	`8`	Steve Lindsley
OL	`73`	Chris Matau
C	`50`	Trevor Matich	Sr
OL	`67`	Keith McCullough
WR	`26`	David Miles
TE	`12`	David Mills
TE	`94`	Trevor Molini
WR	`85`	Scott Norberg
OL	`75`	Sam Oramas
WR	`19`	Richard Orr
HB	`43`	Robert Parker	So
OL	`61`	Doug Rawlinson	Fr
OL	`63`	Randy Rawlinson
OL	`69`	Scott Robinson
OL	`55`	Brian Rondoni	Fr
FB	`33`	Thor Salanoa	So
OL	`56`	Jay Shumway
HB	`23`	Vai Sikahema	Jr
HB	`21`	Kelly Smith
OL	`60`	David Tidwell
HB	`46`	Tom Tuipulotu
TE	`89`	Brett Varoz
RB	`33`	Fred Whittingham
OL	`70`	Louis Wong
OL	`78`	David Wright
QB	`12`	Mike Young

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
LB	`51`	Ladd Akeo	So
DB	`22`	Mark Allen	Sr
LB	`49`	Marv Allen	Sr
LB	`31`	John Bechtold	So
LB	`37`	Alema Fitisemanu
LB	`34`	Kurt Gouveia	Jr
DL	`78`	Larry Hamilton
DB	`42`	Steve Haymond
DB	`2`	Brian Hazelgren
DE	`92`	Jim Herrmann	Sr
LB	`57`	Richard Hobbs
DL	`96`	Jay Huckaby
DL	`77`	Shawn Knight
DL	`76`	Tim Knight
DB	`9`	Rob Ledenko
DL	`80`	Ty Mattingly
LB	`44`	Jim McDade
LB	`96`	Jay McDonald
DB	`5`	Kyle Morrell	Sr
LB	`55`	David Neff
DB	`27`	Kory Rasmussen	So
LB	`59`	Steve Sanders
DB	`5`	Marc Sherman
DB	`24`	Shane Shumway
DL	`76`	Brad Smith
DL	`65`	Ken Smith
DB	`25`	Jeff Sprowls
DB	`3`	Rodney Thomas
LB	`9`	JC VonCollin
LB	`41`	Leon White	Jr
LB	`53`	Cary Whittingham	Jr
DB	`14`	Jeff Wilcox

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
P, PK	`10`	Lee Johnson	Sr
PK	`3`	Pete Rossi
PK	`15`	Gary Webster

Head coach

LaVell Edwards

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Bart Andrus
Norm Chow
Dick Felt
Roger French
Mike Holmgren
Mel Olson
Jim Paronto
(Inside linebackers coach)
Tom Ramage
Lance Reynolds
Ken Schmidt

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2017-Jan-01

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked ( ) = First-place votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	—	13	8 (1)	6	8	7	5	7	5 (3)	4 (4)	4	3 (11)	1 (40)	1 (34)	1 (33)	1 (38)
Coaches	—	12	6 (1)	4	8	6	5	5 (1)	4 (1)	3 (5)	4 (4)	3 (12)	1 (30)	1 (21)	1 (24)	1 (28)

Game summaries

At No. 3 Pittsburgh

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Cougars	0	3	6	11	20
No. 3 Panthers	0	0	14	0	14

Date: September 1
Location: Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game attendance: 40,263
Game weather: 73 °F (23 °C), Overcast
TV announcers (ESPN): Jim Thacker (play-by-play), Irv Brown (analyst)

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
BYU	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, TD
Pittsburgh	Passing	John Congemi	17/32, 171 yards, 2 INT
	Rushing	Marc Bailey	14 rushes, 40 yards, TD
	Receiving	Bill Wallace	7 receptions, 68 yards

^[3]

Baylor

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	0	0	6	13
• No. 13 Cougars	21	13	7	6	47

Date: September 8
Location: Cougar Stadium, Provo, Utah
Game attendance: 63,705
Game weather: 79 °F (26 °C), Clear

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Baylor	Passing	Cody Carlson	15/25, 198 yards, 2 INT
	Rushing	Ron Francis	13 rushes, 32 yards
	Receiving	Glenn Pruitt	6 receptions, 129 yards, TD
BYU	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

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Hurricane	0	6	3	6	15
• No. 8 Cougars	14	7	3	14	38

Date: September 15
Location: Cougar Stadium, Provo, Utah
Game attendance: 64,327
Game weather: 85 °F (29 °C), Clear

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Tulsa	Passing	Steve Gage	5/15, 66 yards, 2 INT
	Rushing	Gordon Brown	16 rushes, 120 yards
	Receiving	Ronnie Kelley	4 receptions, 56 yards
BYU	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

	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 6 Cougars	3	9	0	6	18
Rainbow Warriors	0	10	0	3	13

Date: September 22
Location: Aloha Stadium
Game attendance: 50,000
Game weather: Clear; 78 °F (26 °C)

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
BYU	Passing	Robbie Bosco	18/33, 264 yards, TD, INT
	Rushing	Lakei Heimuli	16 rushes, 86 yards
	Receiving	Glen Kozlowski	9 receptions, 156 yards, TD
Hawaii	Passing	Raphel Cherry	8/24, 74 yards, INT
	Rushing	Nuu Faaola	11 rushes, 51 yards
	Receiving	Kyle Mosley	1 reception, 62 yards

^[4]

At Colorado State

	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 7 Cougars	21	17	7	7	52
Rams	3	0	0	6	9

Date: October 6
Location: Hughes Stadium
Game attendance: 28,671
Game weather: Sunny; 64 °F (18 °C)

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
BYU	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 TD
Colorado State	Passing	Tom Thenell	9/28, 98 yards, INT
	Rushing	Kurt Lichty	6 rushes, 24 yards
	Receiving	Todd Tyrell	4 receptions, 37 yards

Wyoming

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	7	13	18	0	38
• No. 5 Cougars	14	7	12	8	41

Date: October 13
Location: Cougar Stadium, Provo, Utah
Game attendance: 64,839
Game weather: 62 °F (17 °C), Cloudy

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Wyoming	Passing	Scott Runyan	10/13, 179 yards, TD
	Rushing	Kevin Lowe	9 rushes, 93 yards, TD
	Receiving	Allyn Griffin	6 receptions, 148 yards, 2 TD
BYU	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

External videos
Second half broadcast (partial)

At Air Force

	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 7 Cougars	7	7	13	3	30
Falcons	7	2	10	6	25

Date: October 20
Location: Falcon Stadium
Game attendance: 30,469
Game weather: Overcast, periods of snow; 36 °F (2 °C)
Television network: ABC

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
BYU	Passing	Robbie Bosco	28/41, 484 yards, 4 TD, INT
	Rushing	Lakei Heimuli	18 rushes, 65 yards
	Receiving	David Mills	10 receptions, 225 yards, TD
Air 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

	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 5 Cougars	7	17	24	0	48
Lobos	0	0	0	0	0

Date: October 25
Location: University Stadium
Game attendance: 19,277
Game weather: Mostly cloudy; 50 °F (10 °C)
Television network: ESPN

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
BYU	Passing	Robbie Bosco	19/29, 227 yards, 3 TD
	Rushing	Lakei Heimuli	19 rushes, 141 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Kelly Smith	3 receptions, 54 yards
New Mexico	Passing	Billy Rucker	5/8, 69 yards, INT
	Rushing	Willie Turral	13 rushes, 48 yards
	Receiving	Kenne Whitehead	5 receptions, 37 yards

UTEP

	1	2	3	4	Total
Miners	0	3	0	6	9
• No. 4 Cougars	14	7	21	0	42

Date: November 3
Location: Cougar Stadium, Provo, Utah
Game attendance: 62,350
Game weather: 54 °F (12 °C), Mostly cloudy

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
UTEP	Passing	Kevin Ward	6/13, 60 yards
	Rushing	James Rose	22 rushes, 102 yards
	Receiving	Larry Linne	3 receptions, 41 yards
BYU	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

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aztecs	3	0	0	0	3
• No. 4 Cougars	14	10	3	7	34

Date: November 3
Location: Cougar Stadium, Provo, Utah
Game attendance: 64,050
Game weather: 45 °F (7 °C), Overcast

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
San Diego State	Passing	Todd Santos	7/19, 65 yards, 3 INT
	Rushing	Mike Waters	17 rushes, 66 yards
	Receiving	Webster Slaughter	6 receptions, 44 yards
BYU	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

BYU at Utah

	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 3 Cougars	7	3	7	7	24
Utes	7	0	7	0	14

Date: November 17
Location: Rice Stadium, Salt Lake City
Game attendance: 36,110
Game weather: Clear; 47 °F (8 °C)

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
BYU	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, TD
Utah	Passing	Mark Stevens	12/24, 152 yards, TD
	Rushing	Eddie Johnson	14 rushes, 61 yards
	Receiving	Don Woodward	2 receptions, 53 yards

^[5]

Utah State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	0	7	6	0	13
• No. 1 Cougars	10	7	7	14	38

Date: November 24
Location: Cougar Stadium, Provo, Utah
Game attendance: 65,508
Game weather: 50 °F (10 °C), Partly cloudy

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Utah State	Passing	Gym Campbell	18/54, 274 yards, TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Marc White	7 rushes, 53 yards
	Receiving	Solomon Miller	4 receptions, 92 yards
BYU	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

^[6] ^[7]

Vs. Michigan (Holiday Bowl)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wolverines	0	7	7	3	17
• No. 1 Cougars	0	10	0	14	24

Date: December 21
Location: Jack Murphy Stadium
Game attendance: 61,243
Game weather: Clear; 51 °F (11 °C)
Television network: ESPN

Source: CougarStats.com

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Michigan	Passing	Chris Zurbrugg	7/14, 82 yards, TD, INT
	Rushing	Bob Perryman	13 rushes, 110 yards
	Receiving	Vincent Bean	3 receptions, 46 yards
BYU	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

^[8]^[9]

Draft picks

The following were selected in the 1985 NFL draft.^[10]

Player	Position	Round	Overall	NFL Team
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

Awards and honors

References

^ ^a ^b Mandel, Stewart (August 6, 2009). "BYU pulled off a miracle 25 years ago; will it ever happen again?". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
^ 2018 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. August 2018. pp. 114, 120. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
^ "Brigham Young 20, No. 3 Pittsburgh 14". UPI Archives. September 1, 1984. Retrieved August 20, 2022.
^ CougarStats.com. Retrieved 2016-Dec-18.
^ 1984 BYU vs. Utah – CougarStats CougarStats: BYU Football: BYU vs. Utah 1984 Archived 2010-08-21 at the Wayback Machine
^ "B.Y.U. Extends Streak to 23". The New York Times. November 25, 1984. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
^ "Who's Number One? BYU Gets the Nod, but Others Shake Their Heads". The Washington Post. November 25, 1984. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
^ "Hobbling Bosco Lifts No. 1 BYU to 13-0 Season". The Washington Post. December 22, 1984. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
^ "BOSCO PASSES LIFT B.Y.U." The New York Times. December 22, 1984. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
^ "1985 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.
^ "Awards". www.touchdownclubofcolumbus.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011.

[mandel20090806-1] Mandel, Stewart (August 6, 2009). "BYU pulled off a miracle 25 years ago; will it ever happen again?". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 18, 2016.

[2018ncaabook-2] 2018 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. August 2018. pp. 114, 120. Retrieved December 12, 2018.

[3] "Brigham Young 20, No. 3 Pittsburgh 14". UPI Archives. September 1, 1984. Retrieved August 20, 2022.

[4] CougarStats.com. Retrieved 2016-Dec-18.

[5] 1984 BYU vs. Utah – CougarStats CougarStats: BYU Football: BYU vs. Utah 1984 Archived 2010-08-21 at the Wayback Machine

[6] "B.Y.U. Extends Streak to 23". The New York Times. November 25, 1984. Retrieved August 21, 2022.

[7] "Who's Number One? BYU Gets the Nod, but Others Shake Their Heads". The Washington Post. November 25, 1984. Retrieved August 21, 2022.

[8] "Hobbling Bosco Lifts No. 1 BYU to 13-0 Season". The Washington Post. December 22, 1984. Retrieved November 3, 2019.

[9] "BOSCO PASSES LIFT B.Y.U." The New York Times. December 22, 1984. Retrieved November 3, 2019.

[pro-football-reference.com-10] "1985 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.

[11] "Awards". www.touchdownclubofcolumbus.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011.

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v t e BYU Cougars football
Venues	LaVell Edwards Stadium (1964–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Utah: Holy War (Beehive Boot) Utah State (Beehive Boot, The Old Wagon Wheel)
Culture & lore	Cosmo the Cougar "The Cougar Song" BYU Cougar Marching Band Mormons vs. Mullets
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

v t e College football national champions (poll era)
1936–1949	1936: Minnesota (AP) 1937: Pittsburgh 1938: TCU 1939: Texas A&M 1940: Minnesota 1941: Minnesota 1942: Ohio State 1943: Notre Dame 1944: Army 1945: Army (AP) / Oklahoma A&M (AFCA) 1946: Notre Dame 1947: Notre Dame 1948: Michigan 1949: Notre Dame
1950s	1950: Oklahoma (AP, Coaches) 1951: Tennessee 1952: Michigan State 1953: Maryland 1954: Ohio State (AP) / UCLA (FWAA, Coaches) 1955: Oklahoma 1956: Oklahoma 1957: Auburn (AP) / Ohio State (Coaches, FWAA) 1958: LSU (AP, Coaches) / Iowa (FWAA) 1959: Syracuse (AP, Coaches, FWAA, NFF)
1960s	1960: Minnesota (AP, Coaches, NFF) / Ole Miss (FWAA) 1961: Alabama (AP, Coaches, NFF) / Ohio State (FWAA) 1962: USC 1963: Texas 1964: Alabama (AP, Coaches) / Arkansas (FWAA) / Notre Dame (NFF) 1965: Alabama (AP, FWAA) / Michigan State (Coaches, FWAA, NFF) 1966: Notre Dame (AP, Coaches, FWAA, NFF) / Michigan State (NFF) 1967: USC 1968: Ohio State 1969: Texas
1970s	1970: Nebraska (AP, FWAA) / Texas (NFF, Coaches) / Ohio State (NFF) 1971: Nebraska 1972: USC 1973: Notre Dame (AP, FWAA, NFF) / Alabama (Coaches) 1974: Oklahoma (AP) / USC (FWAA, NFF, Coaches) 1975: Oklahoma 1976: Pittsburgh 1977: Notre Dame 1978: Alabama (AP, FWAA, NFF) / USC (Coaches) 1979: Alabama
1980–1991	1980: Georgia 1981: Clemson 1982: Penn State 1983: Miami (FL) 1984: BYU 1985: Oklahoma 1986: Penn State 1987: Miami (FL) 1988: Notre Dame 1989: Miami (FL) 1990: Colorado (AP, FWAA, NFF, USAT/CNN) / Georgia Tech (Coaches) 1991: Miami (FL) (AP) / Washington (Coaches, FWAA, UPI/NFF)

v t e Western Athletic Conference football champions
I-A/FBS	New Mexico (1962) Arizona State (1963) Arizona, New Mexico & Utah (1964) BYU (1965) Wyoming (1966) Wyoming (1967) Wyoming (1968) Arizona State (1969) Arizona State (1970) Arizona State (1971) Arizona State (1972) Arizona & Arizona State (1973) BYU (1974) Arizona State (1975) BYU & Wyoming (1976) Arizona State & BYU (1977) BYU (1978) BYU (1979) BYU (1980) BYU (1981) BYU (1982) BYU (1983) BYU (1984) Air Force & BYU (1985) San Diego State (1986) Wyoming (1987) Wyoming (1988) BYU (1989) BYU (1990) BYU (1991) BYU, Fresno State & Hawaii (1992) BYU, Fresno State & Wyoming (1993) Colorado State (1994) Air Force, BYU, Colorado State & Utah (1995) BYU (1996) Colorado State (1997) Air Force (1998) Fresno State, Hawaii & TCU (1999) TCU & UTEP (2000) Louisiana Tech (2001) Boise State (2002) Boise State (2003) Boise State (2004) Boise State & Nevada (2005) Boise State (2006) Hawaii (2007) Boise State (2008) Boise State (2009) Boise State, Hawaii & Nevada (2010) Louisiana Tech (2011) Utah State (2012)
I-AA/FCS	Sam Houston (2021) Abilene Christian & Stephen F. Austin (2022)
National championships in bold