As I recall, the three disappointing losses in 1985 were largely due to Robbie Bosco having a shoulder injury that was undiagnosed at the time but which later prevented him from ever getting to play with the Green Bay Packers after he was drafted into the NFL.
He had lost the ability to throw deep without floating the pass. In those games he floated a deep pass for a key interception that killed late scoring drives.
In the Utep game, I still remember seeing the cockroaches or some other bugs crawling all over the field. I remember that Utep had not won a game and if I recall never did win another game. BYU was #7 at the time if I remember. Later there were rumors that Utep had the BYU headphones bugged and were stealing calls. It did seem like they knew what was going to happen on every play. And there was the symbolism of the bugs (cockroaches) to tip of the scheme. Others just use that game as another case of Norm Chow being too predictable.
If I remember, UCLA scored on a long bomb late in a game that BYU had led the entire game.
If Bosco had been healthy, BYU wins them all. Heck the guy even beat Michigan on one leg in 1984.
Interestingly, in the greatest BYU seasons, they were often not ranked at the beginning. I don't think I saw the Sarkisian 14-1 team on the list either.
Let's hope our man, Max Hall stays healthy all season including a BCS Bowl. BYU could lose 4 games this season, but if the defense is as pleasant a surprise as they were every game but the Tulsa game last year, BYU wins them all.
Go Cougs
Bib
Go Cougs!
