BYU football celebrates golden anniversary of 1976 Tangerine Bowl team
Sep 16, 2026, 7:43 AM | Updated: Sep 17, 2026, 3:59 pm
PROVO – Bowl games were not always a common occurrence for BYU football.
In fact, going into the 1976 season, 50 years ago, BYU only had one bowl game appearance in its history.
However, that began to change with the 1976 squad, led at quarterback by College Football Hall of Famer Gifford Nielsen and an innovative aerial attack created by LaVell Edwards and offensive coordinator Doug Scovil, who joined after five years as quarterback coach with the San Francisco 49ers.
50th anniversary of 1976 BYU football team
The 1976 team was another sign that LaVell Edwards’ program wasn’t a flash in the pan after its Fiesta Bowl appearance two years earlier. BYU’s program was ready to become a national contender, and you saw signs of that 50 years ago, especially in its innovative aerial attack.
Fast forward to 2026, and BYU now dreams of playing in the College Football Playoffs; Provo’s a different world than it was five decades ago. But the talents and success of the 1976 team were recognized inside LaVell Edwards Stadium before BYU’s 28-17 win over Arizona last Saturday.
BYU football recognized the 50th anniversary of that team on Saturday before the start of the BYU-Arizona game. The team was wearing white 1976 WAC Champions polos.
They walked through the Cougar Walk before last Saturday’s Arizona game and lit the Y.
Around 40 players from that 1976 team returned to Provo to celebrate the anniversary of that special team, headlined by Nielsen.
The 1976 team finished 9-3 and tied for first place in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). They reached the Tangerine Bowl, the program’s second-ever bowl game, where they faced No. 14 Oklahoma State in Orlando. BYU lost 49-21.
But since 1976, BYU has missed bowl games in only nine of the following 49 seasons, an early indicator of one of the great turnaround stories in college football history.
One of the big wins in 1976 coincidentally was a road victory against Arizona in Tucson, when the two schools were in the WAC together.
It was a rainy game in Tucson, and BYU escaped with a 23-16 victory—a key moment for a program that had struggled in early-season games in years prior.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSL and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast daily on KSL Sports YouTube and KSL NewsRadio (SUBSCRIBE). Harper also co-hosts Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL NewsRadio.
Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU athletics in the Big 12 Conference on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram: @Mitch_Harper.
