BYU vs Navy — December 22, 1978
| Date | December 22, 1978 |
|---|---|
| Stadium | Jack Murphy Stadium |
| Location | San Diego, CA |
| Attendance | 52,500 |
| BYU Conference | WAC |
| Opp Conference | Independent |
| BYU Head Coach | LaVell Edwards |
| Opp Head Coach | George Welsh |
| BYU AP Rank | |
| Opp AP Rank |
Game Notes
No notes for this game.
The inaugural game of the Holiday Bowl pitted two teams with local drawing power, the Naval Academy and Brigham Young. Despite chilly temperatures (for San Diego) the two teams engaged in a hard-hitting battle.
Defense dominated the first two quarters. Brent Johnson put the Cougars on the scoreboard first with a 33-yard field goal with 8:26 left in the first quarter. But Navy's Bob Tata boomed through a 40-yard field goal to tie the score at 3-3.
Jim McMahon sent the Cougars ahead with a 10-yard pass to Mike Chronister, but Johnson missed the PAT. McMahon ran another in from two yards out in the third period for a 16-3 BYU lead.
Navy cut the lead to 16-10 after three quarters and then tied the game on two field goals in the fourth quarter, but it was a 65-yard pass to Phil McConkey that did the Cougars in.
Some 48,003 witnessed the game in person. McConkey was named Best Offensive Player and BYU's Tom Enlow won Best Defensive Player honors. Navy finished the year at 9-3, BYU at 9-4.
| Qtr | Time | Team | Scoring Event | BYU | OPP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 08:26 | BYU | Brent Johnson 33-yard field goal | 3 | 0 |
| 2 | 09:01 | NAVY | Bob Tata 40-yard field goal | 3 | 3 |
| 2 | 05:12 | BYU | Jim McMahon 10-yard pass to Mike Chronister | 9 | 3 |
| 3 | : | BYU | Jim McMahon 2-yard run (Brent Johnson PAT made) | 16 | 3 |
| 3 | : | NAVY | Kevin Tolbert 4-yard run (Bob Tata PAT made) | 16 | 10 |
| 4 | : | NAVY | Bob Tata 28-yard field goal | 16 | 13 |
| 4 | : | NAVY | Bob Leszczynski 65-yard pass to Phil McConkey (Bob Tata PAT made) | 16 | 20 |
| 4 | 07:14 | NAVY | Bob Tata 27-yard field goal | 16 | 23 |
| Statistic | BYU | NAVY |
|---|---|---|
| First Downs | 16 | 20 |
| Rushing | 4 | 10 |
| Passing | 11 | 7 |
| Penalty | 1 | 3 |
| Rushing | 74 | 214 |
| Attempts | 33 | 58 |
| Avg per Rush | 2.2 | 3.7 |
| Touchdowns | 1 | 1 |
| Passing | 181 | 138 |
| Cmp-Att-Int | 16-34-2 | 8-14-0 |
| Completion % | 47.1 | 57.1 |
| Yds/Attempt | 5.3 | 9.9 |
| Yds/Catch | 11.3 | 17.3 |
| Touchdowns | 1 | 1 |
| Total Offense | 255 | 352 |
| Plays | 67 | 72 |
| Avg per Play | 3.8 | 4.9 |
| Punt/Kick Returns | ||
| Punt Ret-Yds-TD | 2-18-0 | 2-0-0 |
| Avg Punt Return | 9.0 | 0.0 |
| Kick Ret-Yds-TD | 6-80-0 | 3-7-0 |
| Avg Kick Return | 13.3 | 2.3 |
| Punting | 5-185 | 3-116 |
| Avg Punt | 37.0 | 38.7 |
| Miscellaneous | ||
| Fumbles-Lost | 0-0 | 2-2 |
| Penalties-Yards | 12-91 | 3-37 |
| FG Made-Att | 1-1 | 3-3 |
| 3rd Down Conv | 5-13 | 7-15 |
| 4th Down Conv | - | - |
Passing
| Player | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Yds/Att | TD | Int | Lng | Eff | Sacked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim McMahon | 9 | 18 | 50.0 | 133 | 7.4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 119.3 | 0 |
| Marc Wilson | 7 | 16 | 43.8 | 48 | 3.0 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 56.5 | 0 |
Rushing
| Player | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Lng |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Casey Wingard | 7 | 37 | 5.3 | 0 | 9 |
| Jim McMahon | 12 | 17 | 1.4 | 1 | 21 |
| Marc Wilson | 7 | 10 | 1.4 | 0 | 11 |
| Scott Phillips | 2 | 4 | 2.0 | 0 | 13 |
| Bill Ring | 4 | 3 | 0.8 | 0 | 2 |
| Kyle Whittingham | 6 | 3 | 0.5 | 0 | 3 |
Receiving
| Player | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Lng |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Chronister | 3 | 60 | 20.0 | 1 | 10 |
| Bill Davis | 2 | 38 | 19.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Casey Wingard | 2 | 27 | 13.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Bill Ring | 5 | 21 | 4.2 | 0 | 0 |
| Scott Phillips | 2 | 17 | 8.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Kent Tingey | 1 | 13 | 13.0 | 0 | 13 |
| Clay Brown | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 0 | 5 |
Kick Returns
| Player | No | Yds | Avg | TD | Lng |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clay Blackwell | 4 | 63 | 15.8 | 0 | |
| Kyle Whittingham | 1 | 16 | 16.0 | 0 | 16 |
| Dan Plater | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 |
Punt Returns
| Player | No | Yds | Avg | TD | Lng |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Francis | 1 | 18 | 18.0 | 0 | 18 |
| Jason Coloma | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
Kicking
| Player | FG | FGA | Lng | Blk | XP | XPA | XP Blk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brent Johnson | 1 | 1 | 33 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Punting
| Player | No | Yds | Avg | Lng |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim McMahon | 4 | 161 | 40.3 | 51 |
| Clay Brown | 1 | 24 | 24.0 | 24 |
Passing
| Player | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Yds/Att | TD | Int | Lng | Eff | Sacked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Lesczynski | 7 | 13 | 53.8 | 123 | 9.5 | 1 | 0 | 65 | 158.7 | |
| Steven Callahan | 1 | 1 | 100.0 | 15 | 15.0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 226.0 |
Rushing
| Player | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Lng |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Sherlock | 19 | 62 | 3.3 | 0 | 10 |
| Kevin Tolbert | 14 | 50 | 3.6 | 1 | 8 |
| Phil McConkey | 2 | 42 | 21.0 | 0 | 26 |
| Bob Lesczynski | 9 | 31 | 3.4 | 0 | 10 |
| Steven Callahan | 14 | 29 | 2.1 | 0 | 7 |
Receiving
| Player | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Lng |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phil McConkey | 4 | 88 | 22.0 | 1 | 65 |
| Steven Callahan | 2 | 24 | 12.0 | 0 | 11 |
| Sandy Jones | 1 | 13 | 13.0 | 0 | 13 |
| Carl Hendershot | 1 | 13 | 13.0 | 0 | 13 |
Kick Returns
| Player | No | Yds | Avg | TD | Lng |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandy Jones | 2 | 55 | 27.5 | 0 | |
| Charles Klein | 1 | 15 | 15.0 | 0 | 15 |
Punt Returns
| Player | No | Yds | Avg | TD | Lng |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phil McConkey | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
Defense
| Player | Tkl | Sk | TFL | PBU | INT | INT Yds | INT TD | FF | FR | FR Yds | FR TD | Blk | Sfty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chuck Zingler | 1 | 12 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
| Mark Stephens | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Kicking
| Player | FG | FGA | Lng | Blk | XP | XPA | XP Blk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Tata | 3 | 3 | 40 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
Punting
| Player | No | Yds | Avg | Lng |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Art Ohannian | 3 | 116 | 38.7 | 41 |
BYU
| Pos | Player |
|---|---|
| QB | Marc Wilson |
| TB | Casey Wingard |
| FB | Bill Ring |
| FL | Kent Tingey |
| SE | Mike Chronister |
| TE | Tod Thompson |
| LT | Al Gaspard |
| LG | Tom Bell |
| C | Scott Neilson |
| RG | Danny Hansen |
| RT | Nick Eyre |
Navy
No data.
BYU
| Pos | Player |
|---|---|
| DE | Ross Varner |
| DE | Mat Mendenhall |
| DT | Doug Stromberg |
| DT | John Kormylo |
| MLB | Rod Wood |
| SLB | Tom Enlow |
| WLB | Larry Miller |
| CB | Dave Francis |
| CB | Bill Schoepflin |
| FS | Ron Velasco |
| SS | Jason Coloma |
Navy
No data.