The start of the BYU Football season is only four days away.
BYU Football starts THIS WEEK. This week we will get to watch BYU and Utah play in the first game of the season. 96 days ago when I started this countdown I honestly felt that getting to this point was going to happen, yet here we are.
As we get into the last four it should be no surprise that three of the players will be quarterbacks. After all, quarterbacks are what put BYU on the map and are a big reason why they are considered one of the biggest programs in the nation as opposed to being FCS or Division II like so many other teams who start in D1 before dropping down.
Today's featured player probably did enough in his career to forever keep BYU from dropping to a lower division by going out and winning a National Championship.
No. 4 Robbie Bosco - Quarterback - 1983-1985
The fact that the number four player for all time is the quarterback that won the National Championship team says something about the Top 3 players. Robbie Bosco led the Cougars to a 24-3 overall record and would have been a three year starter except for the guy in front of him was Steve Young. Bosco wasn't the flashiest player ever, in fact often times a fan new to BYU Football history often believes that Steve Young, Ty Detmer or Jim McMahon won the National Championship. However, Bosco was a very strong passer and an excellent decision maker and did what he had to do to win, even if it meant limping around the field.
And he won a freaking National Championship.
Rankings
Impact A+
Bosco was a little bit lucky that he played when he did, and honestly there are probably four or five other former BYU quarterbacks that would have been able to win the National Championship in the same situation. But Bosco took advantage of it. His play throughout the season in 1984 forever impacted BYU Football and College Football in general. It showed that a pass heavy team from a smaller conference can hang with the big boys and win a National Championship. BYU will always be relevant because of that and we can thank Bosco for that.
Statistics A
During the National Championship season, Robbie Bosco had one of the greatest seasons ever for the Cougars throwing for 3,875 yards and 33 TD's both NCAA leading numbers that season. On top of that, he only threw 11 Interceptions that season and completed 61.8% of his passes which led the WAC. In 1985, although he was more accurate and had more yards, his other stats went down a bit with 24 Interceptions and less yards per play he was still the NCAA leader in TD's and passing yards. For his career, again starting in only two seasons, he had 8,400 passing yards, 66 TD passes, 4 TD runs, 64% completion and only 36 interceptions.
Memorable Moments A+++
Just in case you haven't noticed yet, Bosco won a National Championship. That in itself would win an A+ on this ranking even if he only played in that one game. Bosco was so much more than that one game. But I'm going to focus on that game. Early in the game, Bosco was suffered a leg injury and had to be carried off the field. After talking with doctors about the seriousness of the injury he decided to go back in the game. Despite limping the rest of the game, Bosco motivated his team and led them to victory. Sure, beating No. 3 Pitt that year and destroying the Utes was great for him as well, but that game where he led the team to victory for the Championship after literally being carried off the field earlier forever changed BYU.