BYU football: TCU loss not the first big setback for Cougars

PROVO — Considering what was on the line last week — a No. 9 ranking, a 16-game winning streak and BCS aspirations — BYU's 32-7 loss at TCU was a bitter one that will live on in infamy around Provo.

Not that this will make Cougar fans feel any better, but the program has experienced painful setbacks with national implications before. Here are 10 others, in chronological order:

Year: 1979

BYU's record, ranking: 11-0, No. 9

BYU's winning streak: 11

Indiana 38, BYU 37

Summary: The Cougars, ranked in the top 10 for the first time ever, fell to Lee Corso's Indiana team in the Holiday Bowl after missing a 27-yard field goal with seven seconds remaining. It ended BYU's perfect season and knocked the Cougars out of the top 10 in the final rankings.

Year: 1981

BYU's record, ranking: 5-0, No. 8

BYU's winning streak: 17

Final score: UNLV 45, BYU 41

Summary: The Cougars, with Steve Young at quarterback in place of an injured Jim McMahon, lost their homecoming game to the Rebels on a touchdown pass with 19 seconds remaining. BYU finished the season 11-2.

Year: 1985

BYU's record, ranking: 6-1, No. 7

BYU's winning streak: 5

Final score: UTEP 23, BYU 16

In one of most stunning upsets in college football history, the Cougars, just a year removed from claiming the national championship, inexplicably lost to a Miner program that had won only 11 games in the previous 14 years. UTEP finished the season 1-11. BYU was a 35-point favorite and hadn't lost a conference road game in four years. BYU, which finished 11-3, lost to Ohio State in the Citrus Bowl.

Year: 1990

BYU's record, ranking: 4-0, No. 4

BYU's winning streak: 4

Final score: Oregon 32, BYU 16