I loved Jeff Blanc. He was one of my all time favorite BYU players. What a competitor. He wasn’t very fast but knew how to hit the holes quick, was a tough runner, and a really good receiver out of the backfield. He once held the all time BYU career rushing yardage record. He broke the record of Fleet Pete Van Valkenburg Lavell’s first big star in his first season in 1972. In Lavell’s first year he didn’t have a really good QB and Van Valkenburg led the nation in rushing and then backed up OJ Simpson in Buffalo several years but hardly saw the field in the NFL.
I will never forget Jeff Blanc as a freshman in 1973. He was buried on the depth chart at running back and BYU lost about three tailbacks to season ending injuries and he got his chance late in the year and played well. I remember Paul James interviewing Blanc after BYU beat New Mexico when Jay Miller caught about 22 passes in the game to set an NCAA record and James asked Blanc if he was looking forward to playing the Utah game the next week. Blanc said we are going to kill them and James laughed and said Utah is 7-3 and beat Arizona State and might go to a bowl game and BYU is 3-6 and is going nowhere. Blanc said we are hitting our peak at the right time and they are made to order for us. The Utes were a speed team that year and it snowed the whole game and BYU pushed them all over the field and had a 30-3 lead at half and won about 46-22. I was sitting in the end zone bleacher seats in Salt Lake with my cousin Kay Omer, the brother of former BYU strength coach Jay Omer. Kay was a big Utah fan and he drove us to Salt Lake that day and he was freezing and had seen enough so we left about midway through the fourth quarter with the score about 46-3 before Lavell called off the dogs and Utah got a few cheap scores late. That game was the beginning of a string of blowouts over Utah in the 70s and turned the series in BYU’s direction for about 20 years. The Y had won a close one over Utah in Lavell’s first season in 72. Lavell’s only losing season was in 73 and BYU was 5-6 but the rout of Utah made it a successful season for BYU fans who never could have imagined what was in store in future seasons. At that time BYU only had one conference championship in their entire history.
Another thing I loved about Lavell Edwards is that he always kept things in their proper perspective. Paul James asked him after the 73 Utah game if the win made the season a success and Lavell said we are only 4-6 and will have a losing season so I can’t say the season is a success but it was a great win for us.
Sorry about the ramble but there are references that trigger fond memories about past BYU seasons. I remember Lavell saying in 1975 in a post game interview after Blanc had rushed for about 200 yards that Blanc was the best football player he had ever coached. Of course that was before the string of great QBs, NFL linebackers and others. He was only in his 4th season at the Y and hadn’t coached his great teams yet.
players and generally romped over the SLC schools. In fact Boise still puts out decent talent and was a good JC football program. Thanks