BYU Athletics Announces The Touchdown Club

BYU Athletics is pleased to announce the creation of the new BYU Touchdown Club. The BYU Touchdown Club invites all BYU fans to donate $1 or more for each touchdown BYU scores this season, with all contributions funding the scholarships of walk-ons to the football team.

Perhaps more than any program in the nation, BYU has attracted and cultivated great walk-on players, individuals who have often turned down scholarships from other schools to play for the Cougars. Under Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall, 29 former walk-ons have earned one of the 85 football scholarships BYU is able to offer each year and many have become starters, team captains and even All-Americans for the Cougars.

The goal for the first year of the Touchdown Club is to raise $65,000 — enough to fund the scholarships of any of the eight former walk-ons on the roster that have not been provided by individual scholarship donors.

“It’s an aggressive goal,” said Cougar Club Executive Director Mike Middleton. “However, we believe this is an unprecedented opportunity for BYU fans across the nation to unite to accomplish something remarkable.”

The contributions of Touchdown Club members are charged to the credit card of their choice each Monday after a game. With BYU averaging 58 touchdowns per season over the last four years, becoming a Touchdown Club member will not present a financial hardship for most BYU fans.

“We’re asking our fans to consider giving about $60 or more, made in small donations over a four-month period,” Middleton said. “Simply by giving up an occasional burger or a movie once in a while, they can make a difference for the walk-ons that our program attracts and prepares for greatness.”

Along with team captain Andrew Rich and standout running back Bryan Kariya, former walk-ons Shane Hunter, Landon Jaussi, Marco Thorson, B.J. Peterson, Jameson Frazier and Matt Marshall are on this year’s BYU team.

A complete listing of all walk-ons who’ve earned scholarships since Bronco Mendenhall became BYU head coach is on the Touchdown Club web site www.byutouchdownclub.com. Other former BYU walk-ons who have had outstanding collegiate careers include All-Pro Chad Lewis and Consensus All-American Dennis Pitta.

In partnership with the BYU Army ROTC, members of the Touchdown Club will be on the field each game firing the Cougar Battalion’s “George Q” Cannon every time BYU gets into the end zone.

Fans interested in joining the Touchdown Club, or learning more about it, can click HERE for more information.