In the first-ever meeting as Big 12 opponents, BYU travels to Boone Pickens Stadium Thanksgiving weekend to take on Oklahoma State battling for bowl eligibility. A win over the Cowboys will give the Cougars their sixth win of the season and a place in the postseason.
 
The inaugural meeting between the BYU and Oklahoma State came nearly 50 years ago in bowl season, when the two matched up in the 1974 Fiesta Bowl.
 
The Cougars, led by third-year Head Coach LaVell Edwards, won their second Western Athletic Conference title in program history while earning the school's first ever bowl bid. BYU finished the regular season nationally ranked and on a seven-game winning streak after starting the season 0-3-1.
 
It was the first time in the Fiesta Bowl's history that Arizona State did not represent the WAC as its conference champion.
 
For the Cowboys, coached by Jim Stanley, they returned to the postseason after a 16-year drought and earned the school its first bowl bid as a member of the then Big 8 Conference with a 6-5 record.
 
"Our seniors and upperclassmen were happy (receiving the bowl bid)," recalled Terry Miller, a 2022 College Football Hall of Fame and 2023 Oklahoma State Football Ring of Honor inductee. "For me (as a freshman), I didn't have a great understanding of what it meant. I looked at it as an opportunity to play another game with more hoopla surrounding it."
 
The Cougars entered the Fiesta Bowl averaging more than 24 points per game. They were led by quarterback Gary Sheide who threw for more than 2,100 yards and 23 touchdowns. He was in his second year running a new and innovative offense installed by Edwards called the West Coast.
 
BYU entered the game as the favorite. Sheide immediately went to work in the first quarter completing four passes for 43 yards leading the Cougars to two Mark Uselman field goals and a 6-0 lead. They were the only points BYU scored.
 
Part of that was due to a stellar Cowboys defense to stay in the game and also because that defense stopped Sheide on a scramble late in the first quarter and knocked him out of the game.
 
"One thing I remember is that we had a good defense," recalled Miller. "I know that Brigham Young had a potent offense with an excellent QB. We had some defensive lineman, namely Phillip Dokes, who made it their mission to not let him beat us."
 
The Cowboys quickly capitalized when Tony Buck intercepted backup Cougar QB Mark Giles' pass and returned it to the BYU 26. Three plays later, Offensive MVP Kenny Walker scored from 12-yards out to give the Cowboys a 7-6 halftime lead.
 
Tight defenses remained the theme on this cool and cloudy day at Sun Devil Stadium. Abby Daigle extended the Cowboys lead to 10-6 in the third quarter with a 42-yard field goal.
 
The Cougars' best chance to regain the lead occurred midway through the fourth quarter. Starting on its own two-yard line, Giles drove BYU to the Oklahoma State 26. They failed to convert on 4^th-and-3 when Giles' pass was incomplete, and the Cowboys defense forced three interceptions.
 
The Cowboys secured the 16-6 win with less than two minutes to play when Gerald Bain scored on a 40-yard halfback pass play from Leonard Thompson to post the school's fourth postseason win.
 
"The atmosphere reminded me of Bedlam (annual Oklahoma-Oklahoma State matchup) when we arrived in Tempe for the Fiesta Bowl," said Miller. "I remember as an 18-year-old freshman finishing my first season in a bowl game. It turned out to be pretty good for us."
 
The only other meeting between the schools came two years later in the Tangerine Bowl (now called the Citrus Bowl).
 
Miller grew into one of the country's premier running backs. He ran for 173 yards and a bowl-record four touchdowns as the Cowboys routed BYU, 49-21.
 
"We reflected on our experiences in the Fiesta Bowl when preparing for the Tangerine Bowl my junior year," said Miller. "Our line blocked and executed well. We were a good team in 1976."
 
As the teams close out their 2023 regular seasons this weekend, BYU is looking for a different result than the bowl season contests that will propel the Cougars into the 2023 postseason.