# 1972 BYU Cougars football team

The 1972 BYU Cougars football team represented Brigham Young University (BYU) for the 1972 NCAA University Division football season. It was their first year under head coach LaVell Edwards and the Cougars finished over .500 for the first time since 1969.

## Schedule

| Date | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance |
| September 16 | Kansas State* | Cougar StadiumProvo, UT | W 32–9 | 31,753 |
| September 23 | Utah State* | Cougar StadiumProvo, UT (rivalry) | L 19–42 | 35,239 |
| September 30 | at Oregon State* | Parker StadiumCorvallis, OR | L 3–29 | 20,065 |
| October 7 | at Long Beach State* | Anaheim StadiumAnaheim, CA | W 38–27 | 11,529 |
| October 14 | UTEP | Cougar StadiumProvo, UT | W 21–14 | 31,176 |
| October 21 | No. 19 Arizona State | Cougar StadiumProvo, UT | L 17–49 | 23,561 |
| October 28 | at Colorado State | Hughes StadiumFort Collins, CO | W 44–8 | 18,972 |
| November 4 | Wyoming | Cougar StadiumProvo, UT | W 33–14 | 22,373 |
| November 11 | at Arizona | Arizona StadiumTucson, AZ | L 7–21 | 26,500 |
| November 18 | Utah | Robert Rice StadiumSalt Lake City, UT (Holy War) | W 16–7 | 24,917 |
| November 25 | at New Mexico | University StadiumAlbuquerque, NM | W 21–7 | 9,490 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the game ||||||

## Preseason

Defensive coordinator LaVell Edwards was promoted to head coach in January to take over for the departed Tommy Hudspeth, who ended up as the head coach at UTEP by season's end.
BYU was returning 28 players from the previous year but Golden Richards would not be one of them. Richards claimed it was because the Cougars were still a run-oriented offense while BYU and Edwards said it was because Richards had trouble keeping with his academics.

## Game summaries
### Kansas State

Pete Van Valkenburg rushed for 164 yards on 16 carries, scored on a 59-yard run in the first quarter and set up Dave Terry for BYU's second touchdown. Keith Brumley's 37-yard field goal was Kansas State's only points through the first three quarters. Henry Childs caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Dennis Morrison three minutes into the final quarter for Kansas State.

### At Long Beach State

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| BYU | 0 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 38 |
| Long Beach State | 14 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 27 |
at Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, CA
* Date: October 7
* Game time: 8:00 p.m. PDT
* Game attendance: 11,500
* Box Score
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | BYU | Long Beach State |
| 1 | | | | | Long Beach State | Drake 1-yard touchdown run, Logue kick good | 0 | 7 |
| 1 | | | | | Long Beach State | Drake 1-yard touchdown run, Logue kick good | 0 | 14 |
| 2 | | | | | BYU | Pete Van Valkenburg 3-yard touchdown run, John Monahan kick good | 7 | 14 |
| 2 | | | | | BYU | 31-yard field goal by John Monahan | 10 | 14 |
| 3 | | | | | Long Beach State | Newsome 28-yard interception return, kick blocked | 10 | 20 |
| 3 | | | | | BYU | Pete Van Valkenburg 64-yard touchdown run, John Monahan kick good | 17 | 20 |
| 3 | | | | | BYU | Dave Atkinson 19-yard interception return, John Monahan kick good | 24 | 20 |
| 4 | | | | | Long Beach State | Fitzpatrick 1-yard touchdown run, Logue kick good | 24 | 27 |
| 4 | | | | | BYU | Pete Van Valkenburg 73-yard touchdown run, John Monahan kick good | 31 | 27 |
| 4 | | | | | BYU | Steve Stratton 7-yard touchdown run, John Monahan kick good | 38 | 27 |
| "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 38 | 27 |

### At Utah

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| BYU | 7 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 16 |
| Utah | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
at Robert Rice Stadium, Salt Lake City, Utah
* Date: November 18, 1972
* Game weather: Overcast, 47 °F (8 °C)
* Game attendance: 24,917
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
BYU – Steve Stratton 4-yard run (John Monahan kick). BYU 7–0.
Second quarter
BYU – Safety. BYU 9–0.
Third quarter
UTAH – Ike Spencer 70-yard run (Fleming Jensen kick). BYU 9–7.
Fourth quarter
BYU – George Gourley 24-yard interception return (John Monahan kick). BYU 16–7.
Top passers
BYU – Dave Terry – 7/13, 71 yards
UTAH – Daniel Payne – 3/17, 38 yards, 4 INT
Top rushers
BYU – Pete Van Valkenburg – 37 rushes, 158 yards
UTAH – Ike Spencer – 11 rushes, 101 yards, TD
Top receivers
BYU – John Betham – 3 receptions, 32 yards
UTAH – Stephen Odom – 2 receptions, 20 yards :
BYU's first win versus Utah since 1967

### At New Mexico
## Personnel
### Starters
#### Offense

| POS | Name | Name |
| QB | Dave Terry |
| TB | Pete Van Valkenburg |
| FB | Steve Stratton | Wayne Bower |
| WR | Logan Hunter | |
| WR | John Betham | |
| TE | Dennis Doman | Mike Pistorius |
| T | Craig Denny | |
| G | Paul Howard | |
| C | Joe Bailey | |
| G | John Monahan | |
| T | Steve Price | Dave Brooks |

#### Defense

| POS | Name | Name |
| DL | Ed Rozeski | |
| DL | Paul Linford | |
| DL | Grant Wells | Wayne Baker |
| DL | Orrin Olsen | Bob Larsen |
| LB | Ron Tree | |
| LB | Larry Carr | Kahili Hunt |
| LB | Phil Jensen | Mike Preston |
| DB | George Gourley | Bennie Smith |
| DB | Dave Atkinson | |
| DB | Craig Compton | |
| DB | Dan Hansen | |

## Statistics
### Passing

| Player | Comp | Att | Yards | TD | INT |
| Bill August | 69 | 144 | 891 | 5 | 5 |
| Dave Terry | 62 | 122 | 742 | 2 | 10 |
| Pete Van Valkenburg | 2 | 5 | 32 | 1 | |
| John Betham | 0 | 1 | | | |

### Rushing

| Player | Att | Yards | TD |
| Pete Van Valkenburg | 232 | 1,386 | 12 |
| Steve Stratton | 78 | 328 | 3 |
| Wayne Bower | 43 | 271 | 1 |
| Dan Taylor | 46 | 161 | 1 |
| Dave Terry | 61 | 120 | 2 |
| Gil Gillenwater | 3 | 56 | |
| Bill August | 50 | 22 | |
| Bryce Johnson | 1 | 0 | |
| John Betham | 4 | -15 | |

### Receiving

| Player | Rec | Yards | TD |
| Logan Hunter | 49 | 555 | 2 |
| John Betham | 19 | 345 | 2 |
| Mike Pistorius | 16 | 314 | 2 |
| Pete Van Valkenburg | 10 | 98 | 1 |
| Lynn Zwahlen | 5 | 95 | 1 |
| Jay Miller | 6 | 30 | |
| Dennis Doman | 7 | 59 | |
| Steve Stratton | 8 | 55 | |
| Dan Taylor | 4 | 45 | |
| Wayne Bower | 4 | 36 | |
| Dave Affleck | 3 | 15 | |
| Dave Terry | 1 | 10 | |
| Bryce Johnson | 1 | 8 | |

## Awards

All-WAC: Dave Atkinson, Dan Hansen, Paul Howard, Paul Linford, Ron Tree, Pete Van Valkenburg
WAC Coach of the Year: LaVell Edwards