BYU Football: The Ones that Got Away Pt.1

    Without a doubt, winning the close games can make the difference between greatness and also-ran status. In college football, the one that got away can haunt individuals and teams and schools for a lifetime.

In the case of the Brigham Young University Cougars, I am going to look back per year all the way to 1922, and see which opponent may have been their best chance to win one more and what their record would have been had they won that "one that got away". Incidentally, I acknowledge that the pure point tally is not always the best indicator of which game was the closest, per se, but I will try my best. Also, I will leave the pre-1997 ties as they are, only reversing the closest loss.
Hypothetically, if just one game per season could be re-engineered in this respect, imagine the 91 plus wins (no games for three years during WW II) and how it would have impacted the program in terms of its success... Ah, Cher sang a song that got on my nerves ...
"If I Could turn Back Time" --What Might Have Been!

Also, some of these opposing teams do not seem to exist anymore, or at least are smaller schools not eligible to play a bigger school, which is interesting unto itself.

1922 [1-5] (Played in 3 states)
BYU played Wyoming twice its inaugural season, beating the Cowboys in its only win, 7-0, but losing the last game of the season 0-13 to the same squad. Two Utah and two Colorado schools ended up handling BYU with no problem on the scoreboard in the other 4 defeats, the Cougars having a hard time putting points on the board. Buyer's remorse with the reverse loss: 2-4, first year. All things considered, the Y seemed lucky to get that one win through a single touchdown to nothing for their new rivals. The Cowboys of Laramie.

1923 [2-5] (4 States)
BYU lost to Colorado State by the score of 6-14, an improvement from losing by 0-33 the year before. BYU escaped by one over Montana State 7-6 (wherever that is), and blanked Western State 19-0 (whoever that is). Buyer's remorse with the reverse loss: 3-4, second year.

1924 [2-3-1] (3 States)
The Cougs lost to Utah State 9-13 in its third season. This pretty close loss would have given them their first winning season, and an all time best three victories. Shucks! They barely beat Northern Colorado 3-0 while pounding on Western State 26-0. I just looked up that they, also known as Western, are now a Division II program and are located in Gunnison, Colorado. Buyer's remorse with the reverse loss: 3-2-1, third year.

1925 [3-3] (3 States)
Again, so close to overall victors in their fourth year, I imagine a few seniors felt that! The closest loss was 0-14 to Utah State. BYU beat California-Davis in a squeaker 7-6, for its first opponent outside the Inter-Mountain West, meaning not a team from Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, or Montana. Buyer's remorse with the reverse loss: 4-2, fourth year. Oh, those Aggies!

1926 [1-5-1] (3 States)
Thank goodness for Western State, BYU's only victim that forgotten year! Their closest loss was at Northern Colorado, 0-12. Buyer's remorse with the reverse loss: 2-4-1, fifth year. The Cougars got roughed up with a new generation of guys on the gridiron. Maybe a religious school should stick to the books. Notre Dame?

1927 [2-4-1] (3 States Total, California First time)
The closest loss was to Northern Colorado, 7-21. At least they tied California-Davis. Does anyone know their mascot? Western State and Colorado Mines seemed to be BYU's sure things. Buyer's remorse with the reverse loss: 3-3-1, sixth year. Still only one California school competitor outside of the four core Rocky Mountain states. Was Heber J. Grant and other LDS administrators trying to widen the influence of the school? Methinks so...

1928 [3-3-1] (5 States Total, Idaho First Time)
So close! BYU tied arch rival Utah 0-0! But beside that bittersweet outcome, the closest loss was 0-10 to Utah State. Notably, the Cougars added a new state to their competition in a 9-6 opening win against the College of Idaho. Who is that now? Buyer's remorse with the reverse loss: 4-2-1, seventh year.

1929 [5-3] (6 Total States, Nevada First Time)
Success! It took eight years! It was the fall of the stock market crash but it was a breakthrough winning season for the Y. There was a close 12-13 loss to Montana State, but the Cougars got their first winner overall:  Buyer's remorse with the reverse loss: 6-2, eighth year. .380 winning percentage after two generations of players. Probably mostly members of the LDS faith. And they played in Reno, continuing to spread the culture of the Inter-Mouintain West ...

1930 (5-2-4) (7 Total States, Hawai'i First Time)
 Not half bad. Quite a few ties, but overall winning.  They played at Mount St. Charles and Regis, which I have to look up to see where those are located. (Montana and Colorado, respectively). Both losses were not close but the closer spread was 7-24 to Utah. Four ties in one season is kind of nutzo. The last game of the season the Cougars got pasted by the Rainbow Warriors, 13-49. That will not be the last time to be ambushed in Honolulu. But at least they got to visit the islands in December! Maybe they were distracted. Then again, maybe some Polynesians started paying attention to American football. Thanks, Heber J.!
Buyer's remorse with the reverse loss: 6-1-4, ninth year.

1931 (4-4) (6 States Total)
BYU played the UAY All-Stars in Provo to kick off the season, which they fortunately won 7-3. There is not a lot of Google knowledge about that team. The closest loss was against Northern Colorado, 0-6. The first 10 years, BYU was shut out  22 times. BYU in the 21st century is not known for getting goose eggs; it broke the all time consecutive game scoring streak from 1978 or so until 2003. But that is a chapter of BYU football for another day.
Buyer's remorse with the reverse loss: 5-3, tenth year. Close but no cigar. Not much tobacco at all, in fact.

Ten year total: 28-37-8, for a .431 winning percentage.

BYU accomplished a bit of good its first decade as a football program. I have written about the inspiration and insight of President Heber J. Grant in a blog with Foxsports, but I am not sure if that exists or is retrievable anywhere since they killed those blogs back in 2009 and 2010. I had been faithful to it from 2006 to 2009, it was quite disappointing. It was on papaclinchsaints'it blog or something like that. 

Anyway, the Cougars began with some humble beginnings and success but I think there were a few early flashes of what the program might someday do.

Win on the gridiron, play some big boys. And let people know about the the Honor Code and the LDS faith.