9 Best BYU Cougars Football Players

The Cougars have also won one national championship, which came in 1984. 

Today, you can bet on the Cougars college football odds at the best online sportsbook in your area or online.

Before you dive into their current football odds, though, check out my list of the nine best BYU players of all time.

Before you dive into that, though, check out my list of the nine best BYU players of all time. 

9 Best BYU Cougars Football Players

1. Ty Detmer

Detmer is BYU’s all-time leader in passing yards (15,031), passing touchdowns (121), total yards (14,665), and total touchdowns (135). 

He won the Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Award in 1990. 

He also won the Davey O’Brien Award and Sammy Baugh Trophy, was the UPI Player of the Year, and was a two-time consensus All-American. 

Jim McMahon and Steve Young are both Super Bowl winning quarterbacks from BYU.

Heisman-winning QB Ty Detmer had one of the greatest seasons of all time when he won the highest honor in college football in 1990.

This has led to BYU being referred to by some as a “QB factory”. pic.twitter.com/nHk6mOS8Fe

— The Get Back Coach (@TheGBCoach) May 15, 2023

The program retired his No. 14, and he’s enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame. 

2. Steve Young

Young started two seasons for the Cougars, completing 71.3% of his passes for 3,902 yards, 33 touchdowns, and 10 touchdowns in his final season. 

He finished his career there with 7.733 yards (seventh), 56 passing touchdowns (eighth), 8,817 total yards (sixth), and 74 total touchdowns (sixth). 

He won the Davey O’Brien Award and Sammy Baugh Trophy, was a unanimous All-American, two-time WAC Offensive Player of the Year, and two-time first-team All-WAC, and the Cougars retired his No. 8. 

He’s enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame. 

3. Jim McMahon

McMahon was the quarterback for the Cougars just before Young, and he won the Davey O’Brien Award, Sammy Baugh Trophy, and was named a unanimous All-American, and first-team All-American. The Cougars retired his No. 9.

He finished his career with 9,536 passing yards (fourth), 84 passing touchdowns (third), 9,723 total yards (fifth), and 94 total touchdowns (third). 

4. Gifford Nielsen

Nielsen started a trend of excellent quarterbacks in the program, followed by McMahon, Young, Robbie Bosco, Detmer, and more. 

He finished his career with 5,830 passing yards, 55 touchdowns (10th), and 29 interceptions. 

He was the WAC Offensive Player of the Year in 1976 and was also a first-team All-American that season. 

The Cougars retired his No. 14, and he’s enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame. 

5. Zach Wilson 

Wilson played at BYU from 2018 to 2020. 

As a true freshman, he became the youngest signal-caller in BYU history. 

He was named MVP of the 2018 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl and the 2020 Boca Raton Bowl. 

In his final season, he completed 73.5% of his passes for 3,692 yards, 33 touchdowns, three interceptions, and ran for 10 scores. 

He was named the Polynesian Football Player of the Year in 2020.

In program history, Wilson is ninth in passing yards (7,652), tied for eighth in passing touchdowns (56), eighth in total offence (8,294 yards), and seventh in total touchdowns (71). 

6. Luke Staley

Staley saw limited action while at BYU, but he had a massive season as a junior.

He had 196 carries for 1,596 yards, 24 touchdowns, 32 catches for 334 yards and four more scores. 

That season, he won the Doak Walker and Jim Brown Award. He was a consensus All-American, the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year, and first-team All-Mountain West.

He won other accolades, too, including the Mountain West Freshman of the Year (1999) and was second-team All-Mountain West (2000). 

The Cougars retired his No. 6.

He holds the Cougars single-season rushing touchdowns record. 

7. Robbie Basco

Right after Young left for the NFL, Basco took over and led the Cougars to a 13-0 record, ending with their first national championship in 1984. 

That same year, he won the Sammy Baugh Trophy, was a third-team All-American, the WAC Offensive Player of the Year, and first-team All-WAC. 

In 1985, he was second-team All-WAC.

The Cougars retired his No. 6, the same number as Staley. However, retirement didn’t come until 2017. 

8. Kyle Van Noy

A linebacker for the Cougars from 2010 to 2013, Van Noy ranks tied for sixth in sacks with 26. 

Additionally, he was a three-time first-team All-Independent. He was the Independent Defensive Player of the Year by College Sports Madness and SB Nation in 2013. 

While at BYU, he recorded 226 tackles, 62 tackles for loss, and seven interceptions, including two pick-sixes. 

9. Austin Collie

Collie played at BYU in 2004 and returned in 2007 after a two-year mission to Buenos Aries, Argentina. 

As a freshman, he was named the Mountain West Freshman of the Year after catching 53 passes for 771 yards and eight touchdowns. 

He’d then play two more seasons, highlighted by his junior year when he caught 106 passes for 1,538 yards and 15 touchdowns. 

He was second-team All-American, first-team All-Mountain West, and second-team All-Mountain West. 

Austin Collie has been named to the #BYU Hall of Fame. He and the rest of the 2019 hall of fame class will be recognized at halftime of Saturday's game against USC. https://t.co/CUVJlrpKxP

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) September 12, 2019

Despite playing just three seasons, he ranks third in receptions (215), second in receiving yards (3,255), second in receiving touchdowns (30), and third in all-purpose yards (4,649). 

His 106 receptions in 2008 is the school’s single-season record. 

He’s in BYU’s Hall of Fame.