1984 revisited: From a walk-on to national champ, Kelly Smith played key role for Cougars

Editor’s note: Fifth in a series exploring BYU’s 1984 national football championship.

Kelly Smith’s 13-yard touchdown reception with 1:23 remaining gave BYU a 24-17 victory over Michigan in the 1984 Holiday Bowl. The catch not only secured the Cougars’ perfect 13-0 season, but it also won BYU its first and only national championship.

Football is a numbers game and in 1984, there was no number more significant than 13 for Smith. He married Julie (Lewis) on July 13 (Friday). 1984 was coach LaVell Edwards’ 13th year at BYU, and Smith’s 13th touchdown of the season against Michigan gave the Cougars their 13th win, 13 days before The Associated Press crowned them national champions — 40 years ago.

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“It seems like yesterday,” Smith said. “I can still see myself making that catch.”

The magnitude of the moment is never far from his thoughts, but Smith admits the true magic of 1984 was the myriad of little things that, when added together, helped create the biggest achievement in the 99-year history of BYU football.

The former walk-on from Beaver High played a hand in some of the biggest plays during the Cougars’ toughest games to help preserve victories that season. The returned Latter-day Saint missionary and his teammates received a standing ovation from members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints one evening, and he and his teammates managed to turn the unlucky number 13 into a numeral of good fortune.

Including his Holiday Bowl performance, Smith caught 56 passes and rushed 53 times for a team that began 1984 unranked in the polls and finished on top of the world. The catch to beat Michigan was his only “game-winning” touchdown, but Smith also produced much-needed offense in four BYU wins that could have easily ended in defeats.

Here’s a look at some of the highlights and most memorable games for Smith during that magical season.

BYU 18, Hawaii 13 (‘We were fortunate’)

Smith rushed seven times for minus one yard, but his four-yard touchdown burst gave BYU a 12-0 lead in the second quarter.

“They were tough,” Smith said of the Warriors. “I was as sore and as beat-up as any game I ever played.”

Fueled by their home crowd, Hawaii staged a late rally, and had defensive back Kyle Morrell not pulled off his goal line tackle, the perfect season would have never happened — and the Cougars knew it.

“We were all somber and quiet (in the locker room) knowing that we were fortunate to win that game — and we were,” Smith said. “The play that Kyle made, we were just in awe, and it saved the game. As we kept going, it seemed like every game there was one or two plays that kept us undefeated.”

BYU 41, Wyoming 38 (’We won, showered, changed and headed out the door’)

During the shootout in Provo, Smith rushed 13 times for 88 yards and scored a touchdown in a 41-38 victory against Wyoming. The victory moved BYU to 6-0 and up to No. 6 in the Associated Press Top 25.

“Same thing (as Hawaii). We were fortunate to win,” Smith said. “We had a mature team. There was not a lot of hoopla or rah, rah. We won, showered, changed and headed out the door.”

BYU 30, Air Force 25 (‘A lot of people probably saw this’)

Smith caught four passes for 82 yards and scored a TD in BYU’s 30-25 victory at Air Force on ESPN.

“They had to haul the snow out of the stadium to get the game going,” Smith said. “I broke up the sideline and (Robbie) Bosco found me for a 56-yard touchdown. I was thinking, ‘Oh, hey, a lot of people probably saw this touchdown because it was on ESPN.’”

BYU 24, Utah 14 (‘The hype was short-lived’)

The Cougars took the field in Salt Lake City ranked No. 3 and were greeted by a chorus of boos and pelted by a variety of thrown fruit.

“One thing Utah did to get motivated was they warmed up in white pants and red tops, but when they came back out for the game, they were wearing all red for the first time,” Smith said. “The crowd went crazy, but the hype was short-lived.”

Smith caught six passes for 47 yards, including a fourth-quarter touchdown catch to put the game out of reach and win himself a new car — or so he thought.

“My dad told me before the season that ‘if you score 11 touchdowns, I’ll buy you a new car,’” Smith said. “I scored that touchdown (his 11th) and just starting shouting, ‘BMW!’ But I never got the car. He said it was for ‘motivation.’”

What BYU did get in that victory was the nation’s No. 1 ranking after No. 1 Nebraska lost to Oklahoma and No. 2 South Carolina was upset by Navy.

“Everybody was excited. I was thinking, we are No. 1 in the country, can we keep it going?” Smith said. “I honestly felt, in my heart, that they do not want us to win it. They are going to bump somebody ahead of us.”

A special dinner

Prior to the Holiday Bowl against Michigan, the Cougars were invited to a special dinner with the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles at the Hotel Utah (now Joseph Smith Memorial Building) in Salt Lake City.

“I remember LaVell huddling us up and saying, ‘Make sure you behave yourself. This is a big deal — kind of like what it is to have dinner at my house!’” Smith said. “It was amazing to know that they knew who we were. They all stood up and cheered us. To me, that was a big deal.”

BYU 24, Michigan 17 (‘They thought they were going to clobber us’)

With a perfect 11-0 record and No. 1 ranking, Smith and the Cougars faced the 6-6 Wolverines in San Diego. Michigan had been ranked as high as No. 13 earlier in the season, but an injury to quarterback Jim Harbaugh changed their fortunes, but not their attitude.

“They thought they were going to clobber us,” Smith said. “They were talking about how we didn’t play anybody and did not deserve to be No. 1.”

Smith caught 10 passes for 88 yards and scored two touchdowns. An in-game adjustment proved to be Michigan’s downfall.

“We changed our half-back option route because they were blitzing off my side every single time. I simply turned to the outside and Robbie threw me the ball. Eight of my catches came from that play,” Smith said. “Their coach Bo Schembechler was screaming at their linebackers, and they were screaming back at him, ‘Coach, you told us not to cover him! You said if we blitzed, we could get to the quarterback!’ I kept getting open because they didn’t cover me.”

With the game tied at 17, Bosco marched the Cougars to the 13-yard line with 1:37 to play. BYU called for the halfback-option pass to Smith, but this time, Michigan put two defenders on him. The focus quickly shifted to tight end David Mills.

“We were hoping we could catch Dave running behind me and that he would be open, but Michigan flat-out tackled him,” Smith said. “I saw Robbie step up in the pocket, so I broke to the outside and went up the sideline — and here comes the ball. I had to catch it. He zipped it in there.”

Not lost in the commotion of the moment was the yellow penalty flag lying on the field.

“We thought the flag was on us,” Smith said. “I didn’t know it was on them until I saw Robbie put his arms up into the air.”

Waiting for word

Once the cheering stopped and fans exited Jack Murphy Stadium, the long wait began for the final polls to be announced.

“That was the worst part of the whole season,” Smith said. “Waiting for the New Year’s bowls to happen. I thought there was no way they were going to give it to us.”

Without cellphones and social media, news traveled differently in 1984. The team gathered at the football office on Jan. 2, when they finally received the news — BYU had won the national championship.

Even today, 40 years later, the now-retired educator and football coach who lives in St. George with his wife Julie, reflects on 1984 for reasons other than going undefeated.

“The thing I think about the most are the friendships I made,” Smith said. “The accomplishment is more about how we did it the right way. We were great friends and we played hard together. When you look back, that was the fun part. But the winning — yes, that was awesome!”

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