# 1966 BYU Cougars football team

The 1966 BYU Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Brigham Young University (BYU) as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 1966 NCAA University Division football season. In their third season under head coach Tommy Hudspeth, the Cougars compiled an overall record of 8–2 with a mark of 3–2 against conference opponents, tied for second place in the WAC, and outscored opponents by a total of 269 to 163.
Quarterback Virgil Carter led the country with 2,545 yards of total offense; he also led the team with 2,182 passing yards and 56 points scored. On November 5, 1966, he set new NCAA single-game records with 513 passing yards and 599 yards of total offense against Texas Western. Carter's totals of 513 passing yards and 599 yards of total offense stood as BYU school records until broken by Ty Detmer in 1991.
The team's other statistical leaders included John Ogden with 906 rushing yards and Phil Odle with 920 receiving yards.
Six BYU players were selected to the all-conference team: wide receiver Phil Odle; guard Grant Wilson; quarterback Virgil Carter; fullback John Ogden; linebacker Curg Belcher; and safety Bobby Roberts.

## Schedule

| Date | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance |
| September 24 | at San Jose State* | Spartan StadiumSan Jose, CA | W 19–9 | 17,000 |
| September 30 | Colorado State* | Cougar StadiumProvo, UT | W 27–24 | 25,023 |
| October 8 | Utah State* | BYU StadiumProvo, UT (rivalry) | W 27–7 | 29,335 |
| October 14 | Arizona State | Cougar StadiumProvo, UT | L 7–10 | 20,119 |
| October 22 | at New Mexico | University StadiumAlbuquerque, NM | W 33–6 | 18,524 |
| October 29 | at Arizona | Arizona StadiumTucson, AZ | W 16–14 | |
| November 5 | Texas Western* | Cougar StadiumProvo, UT | W 53–33 | 30,284 |
| November 12 | at Utah | Ute StadiumSalt Lake City, UT (rivalry) | W 35–13 | 28,776 |
| November 19 | Wyoming | Cougar StadiumProvo, UT | L 14–47 | 38,333 |
| November 26 | Pacific (CA)* | Cougar StadiumProvo, UT | W 38–0 | 14,845 |
| *Non-conference game ||||||

## Game summaries
### At Utah

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| BYU | 7 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 35 |
| Utah | 7 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 13 |
at Ute Stadium, Salt Lake City, Utah
* Date: November 12, 1966
* Game weather: Clear
* Game attendance: 28,776
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
BYU – Kent Oborn 22-yard pass from Virgil Carter (Ben Laverty kick). BYU 7–0.
UTAH – Merlin Diggs 15-yard pass from Darrell Bigelow (Jerry Pullman kick). Tie 7–7.
Second quarter
BYU – Kent Oborn 11-yard pass from Virgil Carter (Ben Laverty kick). BYU 14–7.
BYU – Kent Oborn 74-yard punt return (Ben Laverty kick). BYU 21–7.
BYU – Casey Boyette 62-yard pass from Virgil Carter (Ben Laverty kick). BYU 28–7.
Third quarter
UTAH – Ben Woodson 40-yard run (pass failed). BYU 28–13.
BYU – Virgil Carter 3-yard run (Ben Laverty kick). BYU 35–13.
Fourth quarter
No scoring
Top passers
BYU – Virgil Carter – 18/31, 255 yards, 3 TD, INT
UTAH – Darrell Bigelow – 7/25, 65 yards, TD, INT
Top rushers
BYU – John Ogden – 23 rushes, 101 yards
UTAH – Ben Woodson – 19 rushes, 106 yards, TD
Top receivers
BYU – Casey Boyette – 7 receptions, 131 yards, TD
UTAH – Terry Baker – 2 receptions, 26 yards :