1978 Utah Utes football team

The 1978 Utah Utes football team was an American football team that represented the University of Utah during the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. Head coach Wayne Howard led the team to a 4–2 mark in the WAC and 8–3 overall.

1978 Utah Utes football
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
1978 record	8–3 (4–2 WAC)
Head coach	Wayne Howard (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Ron McBride (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Tom Gadd (2nd season)
Home stadium	Rice Stadium

1978 Western Athletic Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
BYU $	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	4	–	0
Utah	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
Wyoming	4	–	2	–	0			5	–	7	–	0
New Mexico	3	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Colorado State	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
San Diego State	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
UTEP	1	–	5	–	0			1	–	11	–	0
$ – Conference champion

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 9	7:30 PM	Idaho State*	Rice Stadium Salt Lake City	W 56–0	25,822[1]
September 23	6:30 PM	at Houston*	Astrodome Houston	L 25–42	30,004[1]
September 30	7:30 PM	Colorado State	Rice Stadium Salt Lake City	W 30–6	27,821[1]
October 7	12:00 PM	at Iowa*	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, Iowa	W 13–9	51,170[1]
October 14	7:30 PM	Weber State*	Rice Stadium Salt Lake City	W 30–7	23,458[1]
October 21	1:30 PM	at Wyoming	War Memorial Stadium Laramie, Wyoming	L 21–34	20,758[1]
November 4	1:30 PM	New Mexico	Rice Stadium Salt Lake City	L 12–24	24,182[1]
November 11	7:30 PM	at UTEP	Sun Bowl Stadium El Paso, Texas	W 38–0	12,300[1]
November 18	1:30 PM	BYU	Rice Stadium Salt Lake City (rivalry)	W 23–22	29,326[1]
November 25	1:30 PM	at Utah State*	Romney Stadium Logan, Utah (rivalry)	W 23–20	16,509[1]
December 2	7:00 PM	at San Diego State	San Diego Stadium San Diego	W 20–18	30,899[1]
*Non-conference game Homecoming All times are in Mountain time

[2][3]

Personnel

1978 Utah Utes football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB Randy Gomez   Frank Henry   Tony Lindsay FB Mike Moseley   James Teahan	Defense Pos. # Name Class   Mike Bailey   Jeff Griffin   Jeff Lyall   Guy Morrell   Tony Reed   Derek Washington   James Wilson	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K Jeff Hucko	Head coach Wayne Howard Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Game summaries

BYU

See also: 1978 BYU Cougars football team and Holy War (BYU vs. Utah)

BYU Cougars at Utah Utes

	1	2	3	4	Total
BYU	10	6	6	0	22
Utah	0	0	7	16	23

at Rice Stadium • Salt Lake City, Utah

• Date: November 18
• Game weather: Sunny • 43°F
• Game attendance: 29,326
• CougarStats

Game information
BYU Jim McMahon 15/38, 249 Yds, TD Lloyd Jones 1 Rush, 32 Yds 4 Rec, 67 Yds Utah Randy Gomez 20/31, 265 Yds, 3 TD, 2 INT Tony Lindsay 30 Rush, 104 Yds Frank Henry 8 Rec, 79 Yds, TD

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP BYU UTAH 1 BYU 20-yard field goal by Johnson 3 0 1 BYU Jones 37-yard touchdown reception from McMahon, Johnson kick good 10 0 2 BYU 52-yard field goal by Johnson 13 0 2 BYU 21-yard field goal by Johnson 16 0 3 Utah Teahan 25-yard touchdown reception from Gomez, Hucko kick good 16 7 3 BYU Interception returned 20 yards for touchdown by Francis, Johnson kick no good 22 7 4 Utah 37-yard field goal by Hucko 22 10 4 Utah Lindsay 42-yard touchdown reception from Gomez, Hucko kick good 22 17 4 2:15 Utah Henry 19-yard touchdown reception from Gomez, 2-point pass failed 22 23 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 22 23

NFL draft

One player went in the 1979 NFL Draft.

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL Club
Rick Partridge	Punter	8	208	Green Bay Packers

References

1. "1979 Utah Football Media Guide". University of Utah Athletic Department. Archived from the original on 2012-12-10. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
2. "Ute Record Book" (PDF). University of Utah. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
3. "1978 record". College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved 2009-09-24.