# 1990 BYU Cougars football team

The 1990 BYU Cougars football team represented Brigham Young University (BYU) in the 1990 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Cougars offense scored 524 points while the defense allowed 350 points. Led by head coach LaVell Edwards, the team participated in the Holiday Bowl.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 1 | 7:00 pm | at UTEP | No. 16 | Sun BowlEl Paso, Texas | | W 30–10 | 29,033 |
| September 8 | 5:30 pm | No. 1 Miami (FL)* | No. 16 | Cougar StadiumProvo, Utah | ESPN | W 28–21 | 66,235 |
| September 15 | 12:00 pm | Washington State* | No. 5 | Cougar StadiumProvo, Utah | | W 50–36 | 65,848 |
| September 22 | 1:30 pm | San Diego State | No. 4 | Cougar StadiumProvo, Utah | CBS | W 62–34 | 66,044 |
| September 29 | 1:30 pm | at Oregon* | No. 4 | Autzen StadiumEugene, Oregon | ABC | L 16–32 | 45,022 |
| October 13 | 12:00 pm | Colorado State | No. 11 | Cougar StadiumProvo, Utah | KSL | W 52–9 | 65,922 |
| October 29 | 1:30 pm | New Mexico | No. 9 | Cougar StadiumProvo, Utah | | W 55–31 | 66,086 |
| November 3 | 12:00 pm | at Air Force | No. 10 | Falcon StadiumColorado Springs, Colorado | | W 54–7 | 26,513 |
| November 10 | 2:00 pm | at No. 25 Wyoming | No. 8 | War Memorial StadiumLaramie, Wyoming | ESPN | W 45–14 | 34,231 |
| November 17 | 12:00 pm | at Utah | No. 5 | Rice StadiumSalt Lake City, Utah | | W 45–22 | 33,515 |
| November 24 | 7:00 pm | Utah State* | No. 4 | Cougar StadiumProvo, Utah | KSL | W 45–10 | 65,876 |
| December 1 | 10:00 pm | at Hawaii | No. 4 | Aloha StadiumHonolulu, HI | | L 28–59 | 45,729 |
| December 29 | 5:30 pm | vs. Texas A&M* | No. 13 | Jack Murphy StadiumSan Diego (Holiday Bowl) | ESPN | L 14–65 | 61,441 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the game ||||||||

## Preseason

Ty Detmer was entering his third year as a starter and a Heisman Trophy candidate. Head coach LaVell Edwards considered him so valuable that he was allowed to go through spring practice untouched. While Detmer and tight Chris Smith were projected to lead another high-flying BYU offense, Edwards was looking for improvement with the team's defense that had been embarrassed in the Holiday Bowl by Penn State, which had led him to pay a visit to the San Francisco 49ers in the offseason. Even with their defensive deficiencies, BYU was considered a Top 20 squad and expected to once again to win the WAC.

## Game summaries
### Game 1: UTEP

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| BYU | 7 | 14 | 3 | 6 | 30 |
| UTEP | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
at Cougar Stadium, Provo, Utah
* Date: September 1
* Box Score
Game information :
2nd quarter
UTEP: Gillespie 44-yard field goal
3rd quarter
BYU: Kauffman 24-yard field goal
Passing
BYU: Detmer 33/46, 387 yards, TD, 2 INT
UTEP: Perez 17/34, 235 yards, INT
Rushing
BYU: Tuipulotu 12–89, TD, Corley 10–44
UTEP: Bogan 18–65
Receiving
BYU: Smith 6–99, Bellini 6–70, Boyce 4–54
UTEP: Barrett 8–165 :

### Game 2: Miami (FL)

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Miami (FL) | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
| BYU | 0 | 17 | 11 | 0 | 28 |
at Cougar Stadium, Provo, Utah
* Date: September 8
* Box Score
Game information :
1st quarter
MIA: McGuire 7-yard run (Huerta kick)
2nd quarter
BYU: Bellini 14-yard pass from Detmer (Kaufman kick)
BYU: Kaufman 32-yard field goal
MIA: McGuire 2-yard run (Huerta kick)
BYU: Boyce 2-yard pass from Detmer (Kaufman kick)
3rd quarter
MIA: Conley 5-yard run (Huerta kick)
BYU: Kaufman 29-yard field goal
BYU: Salido 7-yard pass from Detmer (Detmer to Boyce pass)
4th quarter
No scoring
Passing
MIA: Erickson 25/52, 299 yards, INT
BYU: Detmer 33/54, 406 yards, INT, Bellini 0/1
Rushing
MIA: McGuire 18–63, Johnson 7–49, Erickson 7–20
BYU: Tuipulotu 7–29, Salido 4–18, Detmer 11–7
Receiving
MIA: Thomas 9–125, Carroll 8–59, Chudzinski 2–30
BYU: Bellini 10–111, Boyce 9–96, Smith 7–90 :

### Utah

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • BYU | 14 | 21 | 0 | 10 | 45 |
| Utah | 10 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 22 |

## Statistics
### Passing

| Player | G/GS | Comp | Att | Yards | TD | INT |
| Ty Detmer | 12/12 | 361 | 562 | 5,188 | 41 | 28 |
| Joe Evans | 5/0 | 11 | 16 | 148 | 0 | 1 |
| Matt Bellini | 11/9 | 1 | 2 | 43 | 0 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

* Heisman Trophy: Ty Detmer
* Maxwell Award: Ty Demter
* Davey O'Brien Award: Ty Detmer
Runner Up WAC Defensive Player of the Year: Alema Fitisemanu
* All-WAC: (1st) Alema Fitisemanu, Matt Bellini, Andy Boyce, Ty Detmer, Neal Fort, Earl Kauffman (P), Rich Kaufusi, Brian Mitchell, Robert Stephens, (2nd) Mike Keim, Rocky Biegel, Tony Crutchfield
East West Shrine All Star Game: Alema Fiitsemanu, Rich Kaufusi, Chris Smith, Andy Boyce

## Team players in the NFL

The following were selected in the 1991 NFL draft.
| Player | Position | Round | Overall | NFL Team |
| Neal Fort | Tackle | 6 | 143 | Los Angeles Rams |
| Brian Mitchell | Defensive back | 7 | 172 | Atlanta Falcons |
| Chris Smith | Tight end | 11 | 295 | Cincinnati Bengals |