Bronco Vs Lavell - Bowl Wins

Lavell Edwards has 7 Bowl wins and 1 tie in 22 tries including a string of 17 consecutive appearances. Bronco is going into his 7th consecutive appearance as head coach and this would be his 5th win if he pulls it off.



Lavell Edwards has beaten SMU, Washington State, Missouri, Michigan, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Kansas State and tied Iowa. SMU was the unimagineable Miracle Bowl comeback win behind Jim McMahon. Michigan was our 1984 National Championship Win. Kansas State was probably the toughest opponent - ranked 15th.



Bronco has beaten Oregon, UCLA, Oregon State, and UTEP. Oregon has to be his signature Bowl win.



Bronco has lost to California and Arizona. He has never been blown out in a Bowl game.



Lavell's losses include Oklahoma State, Oklahoma State, Navy, Indiana, Ohio State, UCLA, Virginia, Penn State, Texas A&M, Kansas, Ohio State, Tulane, and Marshall.



Gary Crowton lost to Louisville in BYU's only other Bowl appearance.



I would say Bronco is holding his own vs the Legend - including the glory years.



http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/16411481/byu-bowl-history?source=rss_teams_Brigham_Young_Cougars" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Bronco has had the benefit of an indoor practice facility.



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Bronco has the benefit of actually caring about the bowl games.

Bronco has the benefit of every 6-6 team making a bowl game.

Schmoe wrote:
Bronco has the benefit of every 6-6 team making a bowl game.

Except Michigan. That one got Lavell a NC.



Oregon was not 6-6.



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Cougarbib2 wrote:

Bronco has the benefit of every 6-6 team making a bowl game.

Except Michigan. That one got Lavell a NC.



Oregon was not 6-6.



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One thing is sure. I don't think BYU would be able to compete consistently against Oregon. :lol:

In fairness to Lavell, Bronco has faced only one team that was ranked going into the bowl game (Oregon St.) while Lavell faced 14 going 4-9-1.



Bronco has faced only one team that FINISHED ranked after the bowl game and that was Cal in 2005. Lavell faced 15 teams that finished ranked in bowl games going 2-13-1. SMU in '80 and KSU in '96 were BYU's only two bowl wins against teams that finished ranked.

mormonrasta wrote:
In fairness to Lavell, Bronco has faced only one team that was ranked going into the bowl game (Oregon St.) while Lavell faced 14 going 4-9-1.



Bronco has faced only one team that FINISHED ranked after the bowl game and that was Cal in 2005. Lavell faced 15 teams that finished ranked in bowl games going 2-13-1. SMU in '80 and KSU in '96 were BYU's only two bowl wins against teams that finished ranked.

And back then there were only a few bowlgames, now there's a bowl game on every street corner. Hence this years: Dime bag Bowl.

Y4LYFE wrote:

Schmoe wrote:
Bronco has the benefit of every 6-6 team making a bowl game.

Except Michigan. That one got Lavell a NC.



Oregon was not 6-6.



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One thing is sure. I don't think BYU would be able to compete consistently against Oregon. :lol:

Probably not. I do remember Lavell taking a highly touted team there and losing big. According to stories at the time, Oregon soaked the field, and BYU had the wrong kind of cleats and were slipping and sliding all over the place.



Lavell started out 0-4 in Bowl games before McMahon's Miracle Bowl comeback win over a very good SMU team.



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mormonrasta wrote:
In fairness to Lavell, Bronco has faced only one team that was ranked going into the bowl game (Oregon St.) while Lavell faced 14 going 4-9-1.



Bronco has faced only one team that FINISHED ranked after the bowl game and that was Cal in 2005. Lavell faced 15 teams that finished ranked in bowl games going 2-13-1. SMU in '80 and KSU in '96 were BYU's only two bowl wins against teams that finished ranked.

That can be misleading. When you lose to them they move up. When you beat them they move down. So ignore the post bowl game ranking.



But on the pre-Bowl ranked team's, according to what you posted, Bronco is 1-0 and Lavell is 4-9-1. It would be nice to have Bronco get a Big Time win like the K-State one Lavell got in about his 20th appearance. Maybe we need to give it time.



I just wish we would quit doing 2 for 1s. Rumor is that one with Ohio State is imminent.



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SpiffCoug wrote:
Bronco has the benefit of actually caring about the bowl games.

That indoor facility has been there for a long time, including LaVelle's years.



It may not have been everything it is today, but it was there.



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IowaCougar wrote:

Bronco has the benefit of actually caring about the bowl games.

That indoor facility has been there for a long time, including LaVelle's years.



It may not have been everything it is today, but it was there.



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Not true. The Indoor Practice Facility wasn't constructed until 2003.



For the vast majority of bowl games, the football team sometimes could get a few workouts in at the Smith Fieldhouse. Otherwise they were outdoors.

SpiffCoug wrote:

SpiffCoug wrote:
Bronco has the benefit of actually caring about the bowl games.

That indoor facility has been there for a long time, including LaVelle's years.



It may not have been everything it is today, but it was there.



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Not true. The Indoor Practice Facility wasn't constructed until 2003.



For the vast majority of bowl games, the football team sometimes could get a few workouts in at the Smith Fieldhouse. Otherwise they were outdoors.

To be more accurate, I should have said "an indoor practice facility". I was talking about the Smith Fieldhouse. When I was there in the 70's, the football team frequently worked out there when the weather didn't allow outdoor workouts, with a small astroturf field.

The Smith Fieldhouse is hardly an "indoor practice facility." Yes, it is a facility and is indoors and at times the team did practice there, but it is extremely small. Much is not conducive to football practicing. Just not enough room for a team of 105 players to practice on.

mormonrasta wrote:
In fairness to Lavell, Bronco has faced only one team that was ranked going into the bowl game (Oregon St.) while Lavell faced 14 going 4-9-1.



Bronco has faced only one team that FINISHED ranked after the bowl game and that was Cal in 2005. Lavell faced 15 teams that finished ranked in bowl games going 2-13-1. SMU in '80 and KSU in '96 were BYU's only two bowl wins against teams that finished ranked.

SMU did not finish the year ranked. The loss to BYU knocked them out.



I think Oregon State is Bronco's signature Bowl win.



I would like to see a link or something documenting all of the supposed national rankings of LaVell's bowl opponents. When I have looked back, I don't remember finding that many.

Y12 wrote:

In fairness to Lavell, Bronco has faced only one team that was ranked going into the bowl game (Oregon St.) while Lavell faced 14 going 4-9-1.



Bronco has faced only one team that FINISHED ranked after the bowl game and that was Cal in 2005. Lavell faced 15 teams that finished ranked in bowl games going 2-13-1. SMU in '80 and KSU in '96 were BYU's only two bowl wins against teams that finished ranked.

SMU did not finish the year ranked. The loss to BYU knocked them out.



I think Oregon State is Bronco's signature Bowl win.



I would like to see a link or something documenting all of the supposed national rankings of LaVell's bowl opponents. When I have looked back, I don't remember finding that many.

SMU 1980 was ranked 19 in both the AP and Coaches' (formally UPI) poll going into the game and finished ranked 20 in both polls.



Bowl teams that BYU played that finished ranked:



1976 OSU loss #14 AP/#14 UPI

1978 Navy loss UR AP/#17 UPI

1979 Indiana loss #19/#16

1980 SMU win #20/#20

1982 Ohio St. loss #12/#12

1985 Ohio St. loss #14/#11

1986 UCLA loss #14/#14

1989 Penn St. loss #15/#14

1990 Tex A&M loss #15/#13

1991 Iowa tie #10/#10

1992 Kansas loss #22/#23

1993 Ohio St. loss #11/#10

1996 Kansas St. win #17/#17

1998 Tulane loss #7/#7

1999 Marshall loss #10/#10

2001 Louisville loss #17/#16

2005 Cal loss #25/#25

I think that in many ways, LaVell set the stage for Bronco. That part is, in my opinion, undisputable. We probably wouldn't be where we are now if we didn't have Edwards in our history.



However, I don't think that that means that Bronco isn't good. Crowton also benefited from the Edwards era. Bronco is better than LaVell, he just doesn't have enough time to make as big of a mark on history.



If Mendenhall stays for another 22 years, I think he will have better overall stats than Edwards did. National Championship, maybe a BCS bowl or two or three, more wins, maybe more conference championships (doubtful if we stay independent for more than 3 years), etc.

I'll take a coach who is willing to try new ideas over someone who hasn't. But you have to remember Lavell had the sweet royal blue jerseys to work with and that is worth at least one extra touchdown per game.