sport 2006 byu cougars football team
Reuben LaVell Edwards ( October 11 , 1930  December 29 , 2016 ) was an ___MASK41___ head coach for Brigham Young University ( BYU ). With 257 career victories , he ranked as one of the most successful college football coaches of all time . Among his many notable accomplishments , Edwards guided BYU to a national championship in 1984 and coached Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer in 1990 . Edwards played football for Utah State University and earned a master ' s degree at the University of Utah prior to coaching at BYU . LaVell Edwards Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium in Provo , Utah , on the campus of Brigham Young University ( BYU ). Primarily used for college ___MASK60___ , it is the home field of the BYU Cougars . The playing field is natural grass and is at an elevation of 4 , 649 feet ( 1411 m ) above sea level . The field runs in the conventional north  south direction , with the press box along the west sideline . The Mountain West Conference ( MW ) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the NCAA Division I FBS ( formerly I - A ). The MW officially began operations in July 1999 . Geographically , the MW covers a broad expanse of the Western United States , with member schools located in California , Colorado , Hawaii , Idaho , Nevada , New Mexico , Utah , and Wyoming . Craig Thompson has served as Commissioner of the MW since its founding in 1999 . The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman ), is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college ___MASK60___ in the United States whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity . Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence , perseverance , and hard work . It is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust in early December before the postseason bowl games . History . Even after the emergence of the professional National ___MASK60___ League ( NFL ), college ___MASK60___ remained extremely popular throughout the U . S . Although the college game has a much larger margin for talent than its pro counterpart , the sheer number of fans following major colleges provides a financial equalizer for the game , with Division I programs  the highest level  playing in huge stadiums , six of which have seating capacity exceeding 100 , 000 . In many cases , college stadiums employ bench - style seating , as opposed to individual seats with backs and arm rests . This allows them to seat more fans in a given amount of space than the typical professional stadium , which tends to have more features and comforts for fans . ( Only two stadiums owned by U . S . colleges or universities  Papa John ' s Cardinal Stadium at the University of Louisville and FAU Stadium at Florida Atlantic University  consist entirely of chairback seating .) The 2006 BYU Cougars ___MASK60___ team represents Brigham Young University in the 2006 college ___MASK60___ season . The Cougars won the Mountain West Conference ( MWC ) championship outright with an 11 - 2 record ( 8 - 0 in the MWC ) , their first unbeaten conference play since 2001 ( 7 - 0 MWC , 12 - 2 Overall ) . This was also BYU ' s third season with at least a share of the MWC title ( co - champions with CSU and Utah in 1999 , and sole champions in 2001 ) . BYU finished the 2005 regular season with a 6 - 5 record and 5 - 3 for the conference . They would end their post - season with a 35 - 28 loss to California in the 2005 Las Vegas Bowl at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas , Nevada . The Cougars play their home games at LaVell Edwards Stadium , named after its legendary coach , LaVell Edwards . ___MASK41___ , referred to as football in the United States and Canada , and also known as gridiron , is a sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end . The offense , the team with control of the oval - shaped football , attempts to advance down the field by running with or passing the ball , while the team without control of the ball , the defense , aims to stop their advance and take control of the ball for themselves . The offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs , or plays , or else they turn over the football to the opposing team ; if they succeed , they are given a new set of four downs . Points are primarily scored by advancing the ball into the opposing team ' s end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponent ' s goalposts for a field goal . The team with the most points at the end of a game wins . Ty Hubert Detmer ( born October 30 , 1967 ) is an ___MASK41___ coach and former player . As a player , Detmer won the Heisman Trophy in 1990 while playing quarterback for Brigham Young University ( BYU ). He went on to play professionally in the National Football League ( NFL ) for twelve seasons . He has been the offensive coordinator at BYU since December 2015 . At BYU , Detmer broke several NCAA records and was twice recognized as a consensus All - American . A late - round pick in the 1992 NFL Draft , Detmer played for five NFL teams , mostly in a back - up role . Division I ( D - I ) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the ___MASK66___ ( NCAA ) in the United States . D - I schools include the major collegiate athletic powers , with larger budgets , more elaborate facilities , and more athletic scholarships than Divisions II and III as well as many smaller schools committed to the highest level of intercollegiate competition . Nevada ( ___MASK46___ for " snowy "; see pronunciations ) is a state in the Western , Mountain West , and Southwestern regions of the United States of America . Nevada is the 7th most extensive , the 34th most populous , and the 9th least densely populated of the 50 United States . Nearly three - quarters of Nevada ' s people live in Clark County , which contains the Las Vegas  Paradise metropolitan area where three of the state ' s four largest incorporated cities are located . Nevada ' s capital is Carson City . Nevada is officially known as the " Silver State " because of the importance of silver to its history and economy . It is also known as the " Battle Born State ", because it achieved statehood during the Civil War ( the words " Battle Born " also appear on the state flag ); as the " Sage - brush State ", for the native plant of the same name ; and as the " Sage - hen State ". Nevada borders Oregon to the northwest , Idaho to the northeast , California to the west , Arizona to the southeast and Utah to the east .