BYU Football Legends: Happy Birthday to LaVell Edwards and Steve Young

Edwards (center) is flanked by S.Young (left) and Gordon Hudson.

On a daily basis 960theref, a local sports radio station, broadcasting in the Athens, GA, area does a morning show.

The show is co-hosted by David Johnston and Stephen Hartzell and they cover Georgia Bulldogs football like no other show in the Northeast Georgia area.

As an avid listener, one of the more interesting segments of the show is the birthday list because it's always cool to remember those figures that time has forgotten.

That said, it seemed fitting to add a birthday tribute element to the 'Lady Sportswriter' site.

It's not a feature that will appear daily, as it does on 960theref but, if the birthday is sports themed—particularly college football related—then this site will take a moment to celebrate said personality with something brief.

So, what better way to kick off this newest feature than to say Happy Birthday to LaVell Edwards (former BYU football coach) and Steve Young (former BYU quarterback).

LaVell Edwards, born on this day in 1930, is a BYU coaching legend. His pass-happy offensive scheme led the Cougars to 18 WAC Championships, 1 National Title, and 1 Mountain West Championship.

His teams appeared in 22 bowl games and produced tons of talent at the quarterback position, including, Jim McMahon (Super Bowl Winning QB of the Chicago Bears), Ty Detmer, and current Washington Huskies head coach, Steve Sarkisian—to name a few. 

Edwards is considered by many in Provo to be a coaching legend and he finished his career (1972-2000) with more than 250+ wins.

The stadium where the Cougars play is named for him and his program has produced some well-known coaching talent in Norm Chow, Andy Reid, Kyle Whittingham, Brian Billick, Mike Holmgren, and the aforementioned Sarkisian. 

In the following clip, coach Edwards talks just a bit about the 1984 season where BYU went undefeated and finished ranked No. 1 in both the AP and the Coaches Poll:



Steve Young finished his career with 7,733 yards and 56 touchdowns to go along with 1,048 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns—in only three seasons.

Young was a three-sport star in high school, playing baseball, basketball, and football. While he was heavily recruited by the North Carolina Tar Heels, he chose to attend BYU. He wasn't a great passer, but he grew into the role well and was nimble enough on his feet to make things happen even when there seemed to be nothing open to him.

His versatility on the field made him a dangerous player to defend and his personality and good looks off it, made him a marketable commodity. He would eventually use both to his advantage as the USFL—in it's inaugural season—signed him to a 10-year, $40 million dollar contract, to play with the Los Angeles Express.

His Hall of Fame career as a San Francisco Forty-Niner is how many will best remember him, but he continues to remain Cougar blue—through and through.

In the following clip, Young displays some of his versatility in the Cougars 1983 match-up against the Missouri Tigers: (h/t MatcoSports)

LSU vs UNC: No Marvin Austin? No Greg Little?...The Heels Are in Trouble

The game between the LSU Tigers and the North Carolina Tarheels looked to be a great match-up between two teams with a lot to prove in 2010.

Les Miles, presumably the only SEC coach that is truly on a "hot seat" this year, is trying to show that the wheels on the bus at LSU are firmly mounted. He's got both the talent (albeit mostly young and inexperienced), and the opportunity (the SEC west is fairly open this season) to bring his Bayou Bengals back in a big way this season—if he can avoid the mistakes of last season.

As for Butch Davis and his Tar Heels, they were finally beginning to garner the kind of national attention that a team like North Carolina needs to really get the ball rolling. Their offense wasn't much to brag about but their defense, led by the supremely talented Marvin Austin, was going to be a showstopper. The unit returned nine defensive starters from 2009—most of whom were considered to be NFL level talent.

The presence of what was shaping up to be a very formidable defense was the reason why the opener against LSU looked as if it might go the Heels way—Vegas agreed—they were considered the favorites to win the game at one point. However, once the NCAA came calling, the complexion of the game changed. Now, we are not only uncertain as to how good this game will be, but whether it will be much of a game at all.

Yesterday, it was reported that defensive tackle, Marvin Austin has been suspended indefinitely. That was a mighty blow, but most saw that one coming. Now, today, it has been learned that Greg little will be out as well.

That hurts the offense a great deal because Little was the leading receiver in 2009. He tallied 724 yards and five touchdowns for the Heels last season and was one of the most explosive players on the team.

Little's suspension places more pressure on North Carolina quarterback, T.J. Yates, to make something happen—not good. Yates is already fairly pedestrian as a quarterback, does he really need to be placed in this position, this early in the season, on this grand of a stage? It just seems like a recipe for disaster.
 
Furthermore, even if Yates can hold it together, who can he count on to step-up and make plays for him at the receiver spot? Is Erik Highsmith ready to go from freshman phenom (37 catches, 425 yards, and two td's) to sophomore superstar? Is Jheranie Boyd ready to step in and become legit? Yates will need the play of both if he plans to keep the defense of LSU honest.

Ryan Houston and Shaun Draugn will also be counted on to try and exploit the weaknesses LSU has up front. The Tigers have plenty of talent, as mentioned above, but they are young and it is not yet known if they will be better than last season's unit (which often struggled with the pass rush and often gave up too many rushing yards).

If Houston and Draughn can find some room to run, they might be able to control the tempo of the game and keep the quick feet of the Tigers offense off the field—a must if they plan to keep the game interesting.

As of now, it is not known how many of North Carolina's players will miss the first game (up to 16 is possible), so it is hard to say just how thin the Heels' defense will be when it takes the field. However, if the rumors are true, and they will not only be without Marvin Austin, but possibly Quan Sturdivant (LB), Bruce Carter (LB), Kendrick Burney (CB), and Deunta Williams (FS) as well, nothing the offense does will matter because it wouldn't be enough—LSU would win the game handily.

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• AP Source: UNC's Little Won't Travel for LSU Game (abcnews.go.com)
• UNC suspends DT Marvin Austin indefinitely (sfgate.com)