In a season already filled with memorable moments, the BYU football team ended the year on a high note, earning its most lopsided bowl victory ever - and a top 10 finish in the national rankings for the first time in a decade. The Cougars dominated the tradition-rich Oklahoma Sooners from start to finish to win the sixth annual Copper Bowl in Tucson, Ariz., 31-6, Dec. 29.

All in all, the 1994 season was a successful one for BYU.In September, LaVell Edwards became only the 14th coach in major college football history to win 200 games after a victory over New Mexico in Cougar Stadium. In October, BYU beat Notre Dame in Notre Dame Stadium on national television, the Cougars' first win over the Fighting Irish in three tries.

The bowl victory was BYU's first since 1988. The Cougars finished the year with a 10-3 record, the ninth time in Edwards' 23 seasons that they have won at least 10 games. In the final CNN-USA Today Poll, the one the coaches vote on, BYU finished No. 10 in the nation, marking the first time the Cougars had finished in the Top 10 since 1984's national championship season. In the Associated Press rankings, voted on by the sports media, BYU finished No. 18.

"The guys played hard all year long," BYU coach LaVell Edwards said. "We had one bad game - against Arizona State - but other than that it was a good year. They've had a great attitude and a great closeness as a team."

The Cougars got off to a great start in the bowl game, as quarterback John Walsh led a 77-yard drive for a touchdown the first time they touched the ball. By halftime the Cougars held a 17-0 lead.

The BYU defense didn't allow the Sooners to get much of anything going all night. Oklahoma's offense couldn't even cross midfield until there was less than a minute remaining in the third quarter, by which time the Cougars held a 24-0 advantage.

Walsh passed for a Copper Bowl record of 454 yards and four touchdowns. It was the most passing yardage ever surrendered by Oklahoma in its 100 years of fielding a football team.

"This is the best this team has played all year, both offensively and defensively," said Walsh after the bowl game. On Jan. 3, Walsh announced that he would forego his senior year at BYU to become eligible for the NFL draft.

The Cougars spent Christmas Sunday in Tucson. With Assistant Athletic Director Val Hale, bishop of the Cascade (Orem, Utah) 3rd Ward, conducting, the players, coaches, wives and families held a sacrament meeting with nearly 250 people in attendance at the Westin LaPaloma Hotel, where the team was staying. Speakers were Melissa Pollock, the wife of Cougar safety Jon Pollock; center Jim Edwards; and team physician Dr. Darrell Stacey. Several of the Polynesian players on the team sang Christmas hymns as the musical number for the sacrament meeting.

Edwards and running back Mark Atuaia, who served his mission to Tucson, spoke that evening at a fireside sponsored by the Tucson Arizona North Stake.

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Additional Information

49ers' Young wins MVP award again

Former BYU quarterback Steve Young was selected as Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player Jan. 4 by a nationwide panel of 98 sports writers and broadcasters.

He won the honor after the best season of his 10-year career, breaking the NFL passing rating record and team touchdown and completion percentage marks.

It is Young's second MVP award in three years; he also won in 1992.

"When we're talking about MVP in the league, that's supposed to be once in a lifetime. Twice in a lifetime, whew! They're both very special to me," said Young, who completed 324 of 461 passes (70.3 percent) for 3,969 yards, 35 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions. His rating was 112.8, 22.1 points better than Green Bay's Brett Favre, the next most efficient passer.

Young led the 49ers to the league's best regular-season record, 13-3, and received 74 votes to win the award. The runner-up was Detroit running back Barry Sanders with 22.

A lifetime member of the Church and third-great grandson of Brigham Young, Young was an All-America quarterback at BYU in 1983 and received a law degree there in April 1994.