Cougs Daily

BYU Will Wear 1996 Throwbacks to Honor 100 Years of BYU Football

Casey Lundquist

Aug 24, 1996; Provo, UT, USA, FILE PHOTO; BYU Cougars quarterback Steve Sarkisian (12) looks to throw against the Texas A&M Aggies at LaVell Edwards Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Brouillet-USA TODAY NETWORK
Aug 24, 1996; Provo, UT, USA, FILE PHOTO; BYU Cougars quarterback Steve Sarkisian (12) looks to throw against the Texas A&M Aggies at LaVell Edwards Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Brouillet-USA TODAY NETWORK / Peter Brouillet-USA TODAY Sports
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On Monday, BYU football unveiled a 1996 throwback uniform that they will wear against Kansas State in the Big 12 opener. The all white throwback uniform was actually an alternate uniform that BYU only wore once during the 1996 campaign. The special edition uniform is part of the celebration of 100 seasons of BYU football.

The History of the 1996 Whiteout Uniforms

The 1996 season was one of the top two or three seasons in BYU football history. Some would argue that the 1996 team was the best BYU football team of all time. The Cougars went 14-1 and finished the season beating no. 14 Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl. That year, the Cougars featured a high-powered offense that ranked top 10 nationally. The defense was great as well. BYU outscored its opponents by an average of 20.6 points per game. Steve Sarkisian led the nation is passing efficiency and he threw for over 4,000 yards.

Ironically, BYU wore the whiteout uniforms in their only loss that season: a road loss at Washington. After the game, legendary BYU coach LaVell Edwards vowed to never wear the whiteout uniforms again.

While paying homage to the 1996 season to any degree is a great idea, going with the uniforms that LaVell Edwards swore he would never wear again is an interesting choice. In the opinion of this author, the royal blue uniforms would have made more sense for this throwback uniform. After all, that was the uniform that BYU wore when it beat Kansas State. Wearing that same uniform against Kansas State in the Big 12 opener would have been very cool. Still, BYU fans have been hoping for a 1996 throback uniform and they got their wish.

Steve Sarkisian BYU football 1996
Aug 24, 1996; Provo, UT, USA, FILE PHOTO; BYU Cougars quarterback Steve Sarkisian (12) looks to throw against the Texas A&M Aggies at LaVell Edwards Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Brouillet-USA TODAY NETWORK / Peter Brouillet-USA TODAY Sports
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Casey Lundquist

CASEY LUNDQUIST

Casey Lundquist is the publisher and lead editor of Cougs Daily. He has covered BYU athletics for the last four years. During that time, he has published over 2,000 stories that have reached more than three million people.

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