The Phantom of Provo

When the football players at Brigham Young University, a big Mormon school in Provo, Utah, huddle before the game, they do not pray for victory. "We just pray," says a player wryly, "that we'll come out in one piece." For 21 seasons, the toothless Cougars were the pussycats of the Skyline Conference, winning only 69 of 203 games against such middling opposition as Wyoming, Montana, Utah State. B.Y.U. now belongs to the new Western Athletic Conference, and with only three victories in nine games, it is still the weakling of its league. But this season, the Cougars have grown at least one gleaming fang: a laconic, crewcut tailback named Eldon ("The Phantom") Fortie, whose record on offense is the best in college football.

In his first eight games, Fortie piled up 1,738 yds. running and passing. No other back came close to his total. Oregon's highly publicized Quarterback Terry Baker was 287 yds. behind: Miami's Ace Quarterback George Mira was 448 yds. away; and Northwestern's Tom Myers trailed Fortie by 575 yds. Fortie's touchdowns: twelve running, six passing, out of B.Y.U.'s 23. Last week, even though Brigham Young lost to Western Michigan 28-20, Fortie stole the show: he gained 131 yds. on the ground (an average of 5.5 yds. per carry), passed for another 75 yds., and accounted for two touchdowns. "If Fortie were playing for a big-time team, they'd say he's the greatest player since Jim Thorpe," says Brigham Young's Coach Hal Mitchell. "And that's exactly what he is."

"Don't Feel Bad." Rival coaches may not go all the way with Mitchell's extravagant praise, but they have learned to wince whenever Fortie takes off. "When he's carrying the ball, you'd better figure on six or eight men getting in on the tackle. He'll wiggle away for sure if you don't," says Wyoming Coach Lloyd Eaton. A scrawny 168-pounder who could pass for the water boy, Fortie does not bulldoze through the line; nor can he boast a scatback's breakaway speed. But he has a knack for darting through holes, shifting direction and bouncing off tacklers. He also knows how to make the most of the run-or-pass option play in Coach Mitchell's old-fashioned single wing. "Fortie wouldn't be so hard to stop if you only knew what he was going to do," says one opposing player. "Tell the guy not to feel too bad," says Fortie. "I never know what I'm going to do either. If I see daylight, I run. If I see a receiver open, I pass."

An all-purpose halfback-quarterback at Salt Lake City's Granite High in 1958, Fortie drew only fleeting interest from college scouts. University of Utah boosters invited him to a recruiting banquet, but the dinner was postponed. Utah State talent hunters asked him to a swimming party, took one look at his skinny body in swimming trunks and crossed him off. When less choosy Brigham Young offered him an athletic scholarship, devout Mormon Fortie jumped at the chance. As a sophomore at B.Y.U., he played second-string T-formation quarterback: last year, as a single-wing tailback, he was a sensation when he played, but he spent almost half of the season on the bench, nursing an injured ankle.

Now & Then. This year Fortie is at peak form--even if his team is not. Against George Washington, he picked up 272 yds. rushing; Brigham Young lost. 13-12. Against Arizona, he ran and passed for 343 yds., and B.Y.U. lost that one too, 27-21. But fortnight ago, when cellar-dwelling Brigham Young took on league-leading New Mexico, Fortie got some unexpected help from the usually leaky B.Y.U. defense. He scored one touch down, passed for two more, and outgained the entire New Mexico team 232 yds. to 107 yds. in an upset 27-0 victory. "I'd rather be on a winning team than be the nation's top ground gainer." says Phantom Fortie wistfully. "Now and then, of course, the two seem to be related."

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