Cougars have slipped from powerhouse to also-ran on gridiron

It wasn't too long ago that the WAC could easily have changed its initials to BYU as far as football was concerned.

LaVell Edwards' Cougars, led by a Who's Who of quarterbacks including Jim McMahon, Steve Young, Marc Wilson, Robbie Bosco and 1990 Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer, dominated the conference, going to the Holiday Bowl an unprecedented seven straight times between 1978-84.

The Cougars won the national championship in 1984 with a perfect 13-0 record and a 24-17 Holiday Bowl win over Michigan. BYU won 25 straight games over one stretch between 1983-85. Five times in a seven-year (1979-85) span the Cougars led the nation in total offense.

But these days, despite a 14-1 campaign in 1996 that culminated with a 19-15 victory over Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl, the Cougars suddenly find themselves behind schools like Colorado State and Air Force in the WAC pecking order.

Entering Saturday afternoon's game with winless UNLV (0-5) at Cougar Stadium, BYU (2-3) has compiled just a mediocre 8-8 mark since the start of the 1996 season. The Cougars have lost six consecutive road games for the first time since 1970. And the once lethal offensive attack, perennially one of the nation's most feared, finds itself ranked just 11th in the WAC and 83rd nationally with an average of just 307.8 yards per game.

Unless Edwards can get things turned around in a hurry, BYU, a team which went to 17 consecutive bowl games between 1978-94, will be home for the holidays for the third time in four years.

So what gives? Why have the Cougars slipped recently? Is the WAC that much better or are the Cougars that much worse?

Probably both.

Consider:

* During the 80's when BYU was dominating the WAC, the Cougars had quarterbacks like McMahon, Bosco and Young, all of whom went on to the NFL. BYU had six players drafted in the first round by the NFL that decade and another (Young) in the first round by the old USFL.

By comparison, the Cougars haven't had one player drafted in the first or second round in the NFL draft in the '90s. The only two quarterbacks drafted during that time, Detmer (9th round by Green Bay) and John Walsh (7th round, Cincinnati) have been busts.

* In a 13-year span from 1979 to 1991, BYU had a player finish in the top five in the Heisman Trophy balloting a remarkable eight times, including the 1990 winner in Detmer. Not one Cougar has drawn a single vote in the last six years.

* Perennial WAC pushovers like Colorado State, New Mexico, Utah and even UTEP have become much more competitive in recent years. The Cougars were stunned, 14-3, at UTEP a year ago and have lost four of their last five to the in-state rival Utes.

* Edwards' innovative pass offense, once a BYU staple, has had to rely more on the run in the past couple of years because of a dropoff at quarterback. Both Cougar quarterbacks this year, Kevin Feterik and Drew Miller, were passed over by the major Pac-10 schools because of their lack of size (both listed at 6-foot) and arm strength. BYU ranks just 53rd nationally in passing offense (209.8 yards per game).

Edwards is the first to admit the rest of the WAC may have finally caught up to his Cougars.

"I don't think there's any question about that," he said this week. "Last year New Mexico had a heckuva team. ... we lost a real tough one at UTEP ... Rice beat us in a torrential rainstorm ... Utah beat us up here at home (20-14) ... that was the toughest pill to swallow."

The Cougars, who usually peak in November, lost three of their last four games. In fact, BYU is just 3-6 in its last nine games.

"There's good parity in the WAC now," UNLV coach Jeff Horton said. "They've struggled a little bit at the quarterback position since (Steve) Sarkisian has left (in 1996). They haven't really been able to settle on one guy. I think that's made a difference in their situation, just their consistency. And some teams in the WAC, like Colorado State, have moved up."

"We didn't have a very good year last year," Edwards admits. "We finished poorly. That bothered me more than anything. We've had some years where we've started slow but then we'd come on strong in October and November."

This year Edwards has already heard some boobirds in Provo. Most are directed at Feterik, who alternates with Miller. But some are no doubt directed out of frustration at the man who built BYU into one of the nation's top programs over the last 27 years.

"No matter what we do short of winning them all, you're going to have some people unhappy," Edwards said. "Things tend to get a little bit out of perspective up here at times."

Starting guard Jerald Pierucci's CAT-scan on his swollen forehead came back normal and the senior from Shafter, Calif., will make the trip to Provo. "There's still a question on whether I'll be able to get me helmet on," Pierucci, who practiced in shorts, said Thursday. Redshirt freshman Peter Tramontanas will start in Pierucci's spot.James Wofford, listed as doubtful at the start of the week with a sprained toe, practiced Thursday and will start Saturday. Junior Dahrin Footman, who rushed for 154 yards in last week's loss to Nevada-Reno, will also see plenty of action.Guard Mike Reily, an all-WAC choice last year who injured his knee early in fall camp, will make the trip to Provo but won't start.

archive