2006 BYU Cougars football team

NCAATeamFootballSeason
Year=2006
Team=BYU Cougars


ImageSize=100
Conference=Mountain West Conference
ShortConference=MWC
CoachRank=15
APRank=16
Record=11-2
ConfRecord=8-0
HeadCoach=Bronco Mendenhall
OffCoach=Robert Anae
DefCoach=Bronco Mendenhall
OScheme=Spread
DScheme=3-4
StadiumArena=LaVell Edwards Stadium
Champion=MWC Champions
BowlTourney=Las Vegas Bowl
BowlTourneyResult=won 38-8 vs Oregon DucksThe 2006 BYU Cougars football team represents Brigham Young University in the 2006 college football season. The Cougars won the Mountain West Conference (MWC) championship outright with an 11-2 record (8-0 in the MWC), their first unbeaten conference play since 2001 (7-0 MWC, 12-2 Overall). This was also BYU's third season with at least a share of the MWC title (Co-Champions with CSU and Utah in 99, and sole Champions in 2001).

BYU finished the 2005 regular season with a 6-5 record and 5-3 for the conference. They would end their post-season with a 35-28 loss to California Golden Bears in the Las Vegas Bowl at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Cougars play their home games at LaVell Edwards Stadium, named after its legendary coach, LaVell Edwards.

Pre-season

Among the returning starters were quarterback John Beck, running back Curtis Brown, linebacker Cameron Jenson and tight end Jonny Harline.

During the season

The Cougars started the season unranked in either the Coaches Poll or the AP Poll, and would not enter the polls until they had won their eighth game. They steadily rose in the rankings mainly on the strength of an offense that finished the regular season 5th in the nation in scoring and 4th in passing yards of 323.5 per game. The key to their offense was quarterback John Beck, who was one of the nation's top quarterbacks, running back Curtis Brown, and tight end Jonny Harline. They averaged a 465.5 yards and 36.8 points per game.

The Cougars played five bowl-bound teams during the season—Boston College Eagles, their second opponent from one of the six BCS conferences; University of Tulsa; TCU Horned Frogs; the University of New Mexico; and their conference rivals the Utah Utes. Notably, BYU defeated TCU (then ranked #15) by 31-17 putting an end to the Horned Frogs' 13-game winning streak.

Postseason awards and citations

John Beck
*MWC Offensive Player of the Week for seven weeks
*Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Year (unanimous)
*Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Finalist
*Davey O'Brien Award Semifinalist
*Heisman candidate
*Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week
*First Team All-Mountain West Conference (unanimous)
*Second Team All-America, The Sporting News
**Honorable Mention All-America, CBSSportsline.com, Pro Football Weekly, College Football News

Jonny Harline
*Mackey Award semifinalist
*First Team All-America, The Sporting News, ESPN, College Football News, CBSSportsline.com, SI.com
**Third Team All-America, Associated Press

Jake Kuresa
*Second Team All-America, College Football News
**Honorable Mention All-America, The Sporting News
*First Team All-Mountain West Conference

Bronco Mendenhall
*AFCA Region 5 Coach of the Year

Curtis Brown
*First Team All-Mountain West Conference

Sete Aulai
*Second Team All-Mountain West Conference

Cameron Jensen
*First Team All-Mountain West Conference (unanimous)
*Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Week

Quinn Gooch
*Second Team All-Mountain West Conference

Bryan Kehl
*Honorable Mention All-Mountain West Conference

Jared McLaughlin
*Second Team All-Mountain West Conference

Nate Meikle
*Second Team All-Mountain West Conference
*Academic All-District
*National Scholar-Athlete Candidate

chedule

CFB Schedule Entry
date = 09/02/2006
time = 7:15 p.m.
w/l = l
nonconf = yes
homecoming =
away = yes
neutral =
rank =
opponent = Arizona
opprank =
site_stadium = Arizona Stadium
site_cityst = Tucson, AZ
gamename =
tv = TBS
score = 16-13
overtime =CFB Schedule Entry
date = 09/09/2006
time = 2:00 p.m.
w/l = w
nonconf = yes
homecoming =
away =
neutral =
rank =
opponent = Tulsa
opprank =
site_stadium = LaVell Edwards Stadium
site_cityst = Provo, UT
gamename =
tv = MTN
score = 49-24
overtime = CFB Schedule Entry
date = 09/16/2006
time = 10:00 a.m.
w/l = l
nonconf = yes
homecoming =
away = yes
neutral =
rank =
opponent = Boston College
opprank = 25
site_stadium = Alumni Stadium
site_cityst = Chestnut Hill, MA
gamename =
tv = ESPN2
score = 30-23
overtime = 2OTCFB Schedule Entry
date = 09/23/2006
time = 1:00 p.m.
w/l = w
nonconf = yes
homecoming =
away =
neutral =
rank =
opponent = Utah State
opprank =
site_stadium = LaVell Edwards Stadium
site_cityst = Provo, UT
gamename =
tv = MTN
score = 38-0
overtime = CFB Schedule Entry
date = 09/28/2006
time = 4:00 p.m.
w/l = w
nonconf =
homecoming =
away =
neutral =
rank =
opponent = TCU
opprank = 15
site_stadium = Amon G. Carter Stadium
site_cityst = Fort Worth, TX
gamename =
tv = Versus
score = 31-17
overtime =CFB Schedule Entry
date = 10/07/2006
time = 11:00 a.m.
w/l = w
nonconf =
homecoming =
away =
neutral =
rank =
opponent = San Diego State
opprank =
site_stadium = LaVell Edwards Stadium
site_cityst = Porvo, UT
gamename =
tv = MTN
score = 47-17
overtime =CFB Schedule Entry
date = 10/21/2006
time = 2:30 p.m.
w/l = w
nonconf =
homecoming = yes
away =
neutral =
rank =
opponent = UNLV
opprank =
site_stadium = LaVell Edwards Stadium
site_cityst = Provo, UT
gamename =
tv = MTN
score = 52-7
overtime =CFB Schedule Entry
date = 10/28/2006
time = 12:00 p.m.
w/l = w
nonconf =
homecoming =
away = yes
neutral =
rank =
opponent = Air Force
opprank =
site_stadium = Falcon Stadium
site_cityst = Colorado Springs, CO
gamename =
tv = Versus
score = 33-14
overtime = CFB Schedule Entry
date = 11/04/2006
time = 4:30 p.m.
w/l = w
nonconf =
homecoming =
away = yes
neutral =
rank =
opponent = Colorado State
opprank =
site_stadium = Hughes Stadium
site_cityst = Fort Collins, CO
gamename =
tv = MTN
score = 24-3
overtime =CFB Schedule Entry
date = 11/09/2006
time = 6:00 p.m.
w/l = w
nonconf =
homecoming =
away =
neutral =
rank =
opponent = Wyoming
opprank =
site_stadium = LaVell Edwards Stadium
site_cityst = Provo, UT
gamename =
tv = CSTV
score = 55-7
overtime =CFB Schedule Entry
date = 11/18/2006
time = 2:00 p.m.
w/l = w
nonconf =
homecoming =
away =
neutral =
rank = 24
opponent = New Mexico
opprank =
site_stadium = LaVell Edwards Stadium
site_cityst = Provo, UT
gamename =
tv = MTN
score = 42-17
overtime =CFB Schedule Entry
date = 11/25/2006
time = 1:30 p.m.
w/l = w
nonconf =
homecoming =
away = yes
neutral =
rank = 23
opponent = Utah
opprank =
site_stadium = Rice-Eccles Stadium
site_cityst = Salt Lake City, UT
gamename = Holy War
tv = CSTV/MTN
score = 33-31
overtime =CFB Schedule Entry
date = 12/21/2006
time = 6:00 p.m.
w/l = w
nonconf = yes
homecoming =
away =
neutral = yes
rank = 20
opponent = Oregon
opprank =
site_stadium = Sam Boyd Stadium
site_cityst = Las Vegas, NV
gamename = Las Vegas Bowl
tv = ESPN2
score = 38-8
overtime =

Roster

External links

* [http://www.byucougars.com/football/ BYU Cougars football]

Notes and references