BYU football: Cougars' epic upset of Miami is stadium's No. 1 moment

Editor's note: This is the fifth in an occasional series that will explore sports venues throughout the state and revisit their most memorable moments. Today: Provo's LaVell Edwards (formerly Cougar) Stadium.

PROVO — BYU fans have a long-standing reputation for being relatively staid when they attend football games at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

But on Sept. 8, 1990, at least for one night, that reputation was ruined.

That's when BYU upset No. 1-ranked and defending national champion Miami, 28-21, on national television at what was then known as Cougar Stadium, renowned for its picturesque setting. Fans uncharacteristically showed up in droves well before kickoff, and not only did they stay through the entire game, but they also celebrated raucously (in a stone-cold sober way) on the field after the Cougars' landmark victory.

It stands as the most memorable event in the 45-year history of the stadium and one of the biggest college football games in the history of the state.

"I've never been in anything like that before," quarterback Ty Detmer said afterward of the spontaneous postgame party, which saw fans transform the field into a giant mosh pit. "I was just trying to high-five everybody. I took more hits going in (to the locker room) than I did the whole game."

Some fans wore blue Ty Detmer "ties" to promote the Cougar quarterback for the Heisman Trophy. As it turned out, Detmer stated his Heisman case loud and clear. And he had plenty of backing from the then-record crowd of 66,235.

"They were on their feet the whole night," Detmer said of the fans. "The student section right behind us really kept us going."

The game was billed as Utah's version of The Game of the Century. BYU's sports information office issued 300 press credentials, including media outlets like Sports Illustrated (which did a story on the game in its next issue), and reporters from places like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Dallas.

The BYU-Miami showdown was preceded by months of hype and buildup as Hurricane players boasted that their quarterback, Craig Erickson, was better than Detmer, that the Cougar offensive line was slow and that they would run over and past BYU's defense.

The 'Canes were a 131/2-point favorite over the No. 16 Cougars, and all week leading up to the game, just about everybody predicted a Miami win.

Legendary BYU coach LaVell Edwards, not one given to hyperbole, admitted that this game was huge.

"It truly is a big event for us," he said. "What I think it is, is a tremendous opportunity, the kind of game you hope will come along for your program."

Afterwards, Edwards said: "It obviously has to be one of the biggest nights we've ever had, the biggest regular-season night we've had."