LaVell Edwards Stadium Tickets

The BYU Cougars are a college football program playing for Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. And their history in the sport can be traced as far back as the late 19th century.

During this early period, Benjamin Cluff, who had become the university’s third principal of the then Brigham Young Academy, was influenced by his collegiate studies at the University of Michigan to bring an athletics program to Brigham Young. This ambition led to the first BYU football team in 1896 and their game against the University of Utah, which BYU won 2-4. The team went on to win its very first championship after defeating teams including the Elks, the Crescents, the YMCA of Salt Lake City, and Westminster College to name a few.

The team went on to win the championship the following year, but football was banned from all LDS Church schools following an accidental football-related death in Utah in 1900. This ban lasted until 1919.

After a 20 year ban, the sport was brought back to BYU on an intramural basis, with intercollegiate games resuming the following year under coach Alvin Twitchell. BYU was admitted to the Rocky Mountain Conference in 1921 and had its first winning year in 1929 under G. Ott Romney.

The school had plenty of history and important games and seasons, but the biggest upswing for the school came in the period known as the Lavell Edwards era.