BYU Wore the Cursed 1996 Whites and Routed Kansas State

BYU beat No. 13 Kansas State 38-9 on Sept. 21, 2024, in 1996 throwback whites the Cougars had last worn in their only loss of that Cotton Bowl year. Players had voted for the all-white look over the royal home kit the 1996 team actually took to Dallas.

Head coach Kalani Sitake’s club moved to 4-0 and 1-0 in the Big 12. Kansas State fell to 3-1 and 0-1. The 29-point margin is the largest BYU has ever posted against a top-15 ranked team.

They Wore the 1996 Loss Kit Against Kansas State

The night was sold as a salute to the 14-1 Cotton Bowl club, honored on the field as part of BYU’s 100th football season. The threads did not match the bowl. On Jan. 1, 1997, Steve Sarkisian’s Cougars beat No. 14 Kansas State 19-15 in royal, not white, and finished No. 5 in the AP poll, their highest close since the 1984 title.

The all-white combo had one 1996 credit: a 29-17 loss at Washington on Sept. 14, 1996, the only blemish on that season. It was also the first time LaVell Edwards had sent a team out in all white. Chad Lewis, the tight end from that roster and later a BYU associate athletic director, said on BYU Radio’s Deep Blue podcast that he still did not want the look back.

I just don’t like white on white. We went up to Washington, got beat white on white, and I was like, ‘I don’t want to do that ever again.’

Chad Lewis, 1996 tight end and BYU associate athletic director, on Deep Blue

Lewis also recalled Edwards getting hot in Seattle over socks and other wardrobe talk before kickoff. The 2024 locker room went the other way. Given a choice between the royal home top the 1996 team wore in Provo and the Washington whites, the players picked white.

What the All-White Throwbacks Looked Like

BYU’s July 1, 2024, release said the Cougars would take the field in the white with royal trim and black drop shadows Sarkisian’s group used in 1996, with stripe-free white pants and a stadium asked to dress white under the lights. Kickoff was 8:30 p.m. in Provo.

THE 1996 THROWBACK KIT

• Jersey: White, royal numbers with a black drop shadow, two thick royal sleeve stripes outlined in black, and a drop-shadow Block Y on the sleeves.
• Helmet: White with the oval Y, a royal facemask, and thin black inner stripes inside two blue center stripes.
• Pants: Plain white, no university stripe, on Nike’s Vapor F.U.S.E. template.
• Crowd: A whiteout at LaVell Edwards Stadium, 64,201, the largest home crowd since 2009.

A similar all-white set had also been worn at Fresno State in 1995. After 1996 the look did not last. BYU left this font and trim behind after 1998, then shifted toward navy and tan in 1999.

Who's excited for the throwback unis!? pic.twitter.com/uAntEitIUT

— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) September 20, 2024

Wide receiver Parker Kingston, asked about the drip before the game, called them “definitely some pretty dope unis, especially going all white at home.” Dining even rolled out CougarTails with white vanilla frosting beside the usual maple, as if the pastry line had to match the helmets.

A 31-0 Burst Buried No. 13 Kansas State

Kansas State led 6-0 on Chris Tennant field goals of 32 and 27 yards and held BYU to 241 total yards by the end. The Wildcats still never reached the end zone. BYU’s defense took the ball three times, and each takeaway became a touchdown.

HOW THE 38-9 GOT ON THE BOARD

1. 8:01, first quarter: Tennant 32-yard field goal, Kansas State 3-0.
2. 9:07, second quarter: Tennant 27-yard field goal, Kansas State 6-0.
3. 2:10, second quarter: Will Ferrin 31-yard field goal, Kansas State 6-3.
4. 1:08, second quarter: Tommy Prassas 30-yard fumble return, BYU 10-6.
5. 0:29, second quarter: Chase Roberts 23-yard pass from Jake Retzlaff, BYU 17-6.
6. 13:01, third quarter: Darius Lassiter 3-yard pass from Retzlaff, BYU 24-6.
7. 10:45, third quarter: Parker Kingston 90-yard punt return, BYU 31-6.
8. 5:12, third quarter: Tennant 28-yard field goal, BYU 31-9.
9. 12:02, fourth quarter: Sione I. Moa 21-yard run, BYU 38-9.

From 6-0, BYU scored 31 straight before Tennant’s last kick. Sitake called it a great game and said he was proud of the energy and effort even if it was not error free. Freshman Moa, who ran 15 times for 76 yards, said a lot of people were surprised and that the locker room was not.

Kansas State’s own box score shows 367 yards, 33:03 of possession, and no touchdowns. Avery Johnson went 15-of-28 for 130 yards with two interceptions. DJ Giddens ran 19 times for 93 yards. Chris Klieman, the Wildcats’ coach, said he had hurting guys in the locker room and that the team had not played very well.

Parker Kingston Covered 90 Yards After a Muff

Kingston’s return is tied for the third-longest punt return in BYU history. He first muffed the catch, scooped the ball on his own goal line, ran across the field, then went the length of the sideline. Retzlaff finished 15-of-21 for 149 yards and two scores with no picks. Roberts had 47 yards and the 23-yard touchdown. Harrison Taggart led the defense with 10 tackles and took an interception to the Kansas State 27 to set up Lassiter’s score.

On the night the program honored the 1996 Cotton Bowl team, BYU athletics recorded touchdowns in all three phases for the first time since 1996. That earlier night was a 45-17 win at Utah State, when Shay Muirbrook returned a fumble 45 yards and James Dye took a punt 79 yards. The 2024 echo was a scoop-and-score, two thrower-to-receiver scores, and Kingston’s punt return.

Kansas State left Provo 0-4 all-time in that stadium. The series had been split 4-4. BYU had been 3-0 at home against the Wildcats, plus the Cotton Bowl, and Kansas State had not visited since 1977. This was also the first Big 12 meeting after BYU’s first season in the league had skipped the matchup.

Nike’s First BYU Uniforms Came From 1996

The throwback was a Nike kit because 1996 was the first year BYU football wore Nike uniforms and apparel, a year after Nike’s first NFL apparel deal. Footwear ties went back to the late 1970s and a friendship among Edwards, Nike executive Bill Kellar, and co-founder Phil Knight. Athletic director Tom Holmoe, announcing a new seven-year deal on March 8, 2019, called that relationship one of his fondest memories as a player, coach, and administrator. The contract, which more than doubled the prior annual value and added cash and a higher royalty rate, ran through 2025-26.

Football joined Nike Elite in 1999. The whole athletic department went all-Nike in 2009. Josh Hewitt, in his third season as director of equipment operations, said 1996 has a special place in BYU history and that the calendar lined up for this uniform in this week. He also said Nike had been a good partner on apparel, footwear, and headwear, and that mixing facemasks and helmets gave the staff more looks without leaving the traditional base.

Hewitt put recruiting in the same sentence as tradition. The staff, he said, will try to stay traditional and still mix it up for players and recruits. The 2024 plan called for 12 combinations, one per game, from all-royal to navy to the 1996 whites.

White Won a Player Vote Over Royal

Uniform talks with player reps and staff started in January and February 2024. Hewitt said the question is what the players like and what looks good, with helmet color contrasted against the opponent. At Wyoming the week before, BYU wore royal helmets because the Cowboys were in white. Against Kansas State he called white at home a special chance.

Every time we’ve done that in the past, it seems we’ve had a good outcome.

Josh Hewitt, BYU director of equipment operations

Coulson Kunz, who runs the BYU Uniform Tracker account, had noted this would be the eighth time under Sitake that BYU wore white jerseys at home. Kunz treats jinxes as noise and tracks combinations the way a clerk tracks inventory. He has logged roughly 39 uniform and helmet mixes since Bronco Mendenhall’s era began around 2005, and he has said college design has been drifting back toward 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s looks. BYU, in his view, still designs more conservatively than Oregon while letting the variations pile up.

The older objection never quite died. Lewis did not want white on white. Edwards had not wanted the Seattle wardrobe circus. The 2024 roster voted for the look anyway, and Hewitt’s home-white hunch got a 38-9 data point.

An 11-Win Season Walked Out in Those Whites

The K-State game was the fourth win of an 11-win 100th season. BYU finished 11-2 with an Alamo Bowl win, 36-14 over Colorado on Dec. 28, 2024, and landed at No. 13 in the final AP poll. The Cougars were 7-2 in the Big 12, tied for first, and missed the title game on tiebreakers. Preseason media had picked them 13th of 16 in the league. It was the program’s 13th 11-win season and the highest AP finish since No. 11 in 2020.

1996 COTTON BOWL NIGHT AND THE 2024 REMATCH

THE 2024 CLOSE

• Final record: 11-2, 7-2 in the Big 12, No. 13 AP.
• Bowl: Alamo Bowl, 36-14 over Colorado on Dec. 28, 2024.
• Preseason slot: 13th of 16 in the Big 12 media poll.
• K-State night: Held a ranked team without a touchdown and won by 29.

UNISWAG named the throwbacks Uniform of the Week after the game. Two seasons later the all-white 1996 kit still had not come back as a gameday uniform, and the royal 1996 home look fans still ask for had not either. In September 2026 the student section was still handing out 1996 replica jerseys at LaVell Edwards Stadium. The loss kit got one perfect night. The bowl kit is still on the shelf.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did BYU Wear All-White in the 1997 Cotton Bowl?

No. The Cotton Bowl win over Kansas State was in the royal home uniform, not the all-white alternate. The whites in 1996 were reserved for the Washington trip, and a related all-white set had been used at Fresno State in 1995 before Edwards’s staff moved on from the combo.

When Did BYU Become an All-Nike Athletic School?

BYU football first wore Nike uniforms in 1996, joined the Nike Elite program in 1999, and became an all-Nike school in 2009, when the deal expanded to footwear, apparel, and equipment for every team. The later seven-year extension announced in 2019 ran through the 2025-26 year.

How Many Times Had Kansas State Won in Provo Before 2024?

Zero. The Wildcats’ last trip to Provo was 1977, and BYU was 3-0 at home in the series plus the Cotton Bowl win in Dallas. After the 38-9 defeat, Kansas State stood 0-4 all-time at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Who Did BYU Name as Offensive Leader in the Alamo Bowl?

Running back LJ Martin was named the Alamo Bowl Offensive MVP after 121 yards from scrimmage, 16 carries for 88 yards and two touchdowns, and two catches for 33 yards in the 36-14 win over Colorado that closed the 11-2 season.