50th anniversary reflections: Remembering BYU’s 1974 team

Editor’s note: First in a two-part series on the 1974 BYU football team.

They were trendsetters.

They became foundational stalwarts of LaVell Edwards ’ tenure as a Hall of Fame football coach at BYU.

They overcame adversity and played themselves into history.

They were pretty good, the first BYU team to ever play in a bowl game. They had a squad of stars, players who made names for themselves on NFL teams, guys like Todd Christensen (Dallas Cowboys, Oakland Raiders), Bart Oates (San Francisco 49ers) and Brian Billic k (Baltimore Ravens) to name a few.

BYU’s 1974 team celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. It will be feted and recognized regularly in the coming months, including events the weekend of BYU’s season-opening game against Southern Illinois on Aug. 31. The day before that game, they’ll gather at Sleepy Ridge Golf Course for a reunion round of golf and will attend a banquet with Patti Edwards , wife of the late legendary coach.

After a 0-3 start with losses to Hawaii, Iowa State and the home opener against Utah State, things looked bleak for the Cougars. After BYU seemingly had the fourth game won at Colorado State, it ended in a tie. BYU led with six seconds left, possessed the ball, and only had to snap the ball to end the game. The snap was fumbled and CSU ended up scoring to tie the game at 33. In a weird twist of fate, an excessive celebration penalty on CSU’s bench and fans on the field resulted in a 15-yard penalty and the PAT kick failed.

This wasn’t just drama, it was a dagger for Edwards and his team. They had their first win all but tucked away.

“I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry,” Edwards said later. “Riding home on the bus that night was the low point of my coaching life. I knew we had a good team but we didn’t have a win in four starts. The players were grumbling and starting to doubt if they could win. I began to wonder about my ability to produce a winning program. It was probably the turning point in my career, even though I can’t take credit for what happened next,” wrote Edwards in a book published in 1980, “LaVell Edwards: Building a Winning Football Tradition at Brigham Young University.”

The spark was a players-only meeting, organized by team captains. The results were an undefeated record from then on out and an average of 44 points per game in the last five.

This was the birth of what became BYU-style football.

Chris Crowe, now a BYU professor, has joined teammates Doug Adams, Jeff Blanc and John Betham on a 1974 WAC championship/Fiesta Bowl reunion committee to help note the accomplishments of that team.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has declared Aug. 31 “The Golden Anniversary of the 1974 BYU Football Team.”

The weekend of BYU’s opener, they’ll gather as many of the former players and coaches as possible, including four surviving coaches, JD Helm (running backs), Dave Kragthorpe (offensive coordinator, offensive line), Mel Olsen (freshman team, O-line) and Dwain Painter (QB, receivers).

Crowe believes that team is the most important group of players in BYU history and cites the late coach Edwards.

His thesis is based on the following watermark achievements:

• When LaVell Edwards gathered his 1974 national championship team for a reunion in 1984, he told them his 1984 title team could not have accomplished that undefeated season without that 1974 team accomplishment.
• Edwards didn’t get fired when that 1974 team started 0-3 before tying Colorado State in the fourth game of the season. It was Edwards’ third season and he was feeling some heat. The program seemingly struggled to gain traction and he told some players he was worried about losing his job. They won the next seven games and without that spurt of victories, says Crowe, LES (LaVell Edwards Stadium) wouldn’t be LES.
• This was a team that produced 15 NFL players. That was an “unprecedented” success and raised expectations and the caliber of recruits BYU began landing in coming years.
• Facing lagging success to start that season, there were private players-only meetings. “We all loved coach Edwards,” said Crowe, “and we all knew the team was underperforming. Guys like Betham, Carr, Brad Oates and Paul Linford started calling players-only meetings, where we could recommit and air grievances in ways that made us a better team. From those meetings, our coaches learned to listen to players more and give us more of a say in how things were run.”
• Success breeds quality wins. “We were the first BYU team to beat ASU and Arizona (both ranked at the time) in the same conference. We put the conference (WAC) on notice that BYU was no longer the conference doormat.”
• Making it to the Fiesta Bowl, that team qualified for the first bowl game in school history. Program expectations were reset and led to a train of WAC championships and record-setting performances, national honors and NCAA records.
• This team jump-started a remarkable pass-game philosophy based on high-level execution. Led by quarterback Gary Sheide, that switch to the aerial attack leveled the playing field for BYU. “It still does,” said Crowe.
• From that team came two members of the Quorum of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Craig Christensen and Gifford Nielsen.

“Last year, Lloyd Fairbanks, another ‘74 teammate, was named to the Canadian Football League’s Hall of Fame. Lloyd played 17 seasons in the CFL,” said Crowe.

“Because of their teammates’ friendship and example, a few players (e.g., John Betham and Gary Sheide) joined the church.”

Most of the players are still living and in their mid-70s, but some players have passed on.

Some of those who have died include coach Edwards, 2016; assistant coach Dick Felt, 2012; assistant coach Fred Whittingham, 2003; assistant coach Tom Ramage, 2023; Dave Meteer, OT, 1984; Dave Campos, DB, 1991; Dev Duke, K, 2001; Gary Petersen, DT, 2011; Todd Christensen, RB, 2013; Marcus Kanahele, DE, 2013; Sam Lobue, WR, 2015; Stan Varner, DE, 2018; Mark Terranova, DB, 2020; Keith Rivera, DE, 2021, Mark McCluskey, DB, 2001; Frank Linford, LB, 2022; and Phil Jensen, LB, 2022.

Sheide, the star QB of that squad, said BYU’s defense in 1974 was the best he’s ever seen at BYU over the decades.

“We had two defensive tackles, Paul Lindford and Wayne Baker,” Sheide said. “Baker was drafted in the third round by the 49ers and Lynford went in the fourth by the Colts. Linebacker Larry Carr played another of year in the NFL and CFL, as did Loyd Fairbanks. We had great linebackers and backs.

“It was probably the best defense I’ve seen all the years at BYU. They kind of held us together. We had Jay Miller (NCAA record single-game receptions, 22) and when he got hurt, Johnny Betham did a great job. We brought up Jeff Blanc as a running back and he really helped us move the ball on the ground.”

Back 50 years ago, Sheide said “it was fun to see other teams get three or four yards a play and we go pass, pass, touchdown. It was just fun, really fun, but our defense was very good.”

Sunday : In-depth with QB Gary Sheide