BYU Football: Don't Hate the Schedule

In 2014, the BYU football team played lowly Savannah State on November 22 at LaVell Edwards Stadium and won by a 64-0 margin. People were disappointed and upset that BYU would play a team like this in November. Fans have been calling for better home games especially late in the season rather than playing a bunch of cupcakes.

Nov 29, 2014; Berkeley, CA, USA; Brigham Young Cougars quarterback Christian Stewart (7) looks to pass the ball against the California Golden Bears during the first quarter at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

What is interesting about these fans is that they don’t understand the schedule and the fact that BYU isn’t the only team that schedules a cupcake or two each season. Last season, Alabama played Western Carolina on November 22 and beat them 48-14. Is this any different than BYU playing Savannah State on the same day? Add to the fact that it didn’t matter that Alabama was playing a weaker opponent, they still had over 100,000 fans attend the game. BYU only had 52,000 attend its contest and yes we can attribute some of it to bad weather but that is still a pretty sad statistic.

I bring this to the attention of the fans so that they can understand the schedule. BYU has a front-loaded schedule every year. This year they play at Nebraska, Boise State, at UCLA, and at Michigan to start the season. That is basically half of a conference season for most teams. They don’t start the season off with a cupcake like Idaho State such as Utah did in the 2014 season. Or like Utah State does with Southern Utah in the 2015 season.

In 2016 the schedule gets even tougher to start the season. They start off with Arizona at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. They follow that up by travelling up to Salt Lake City to renew their rivalry with the Utes. They host UCLA in the third game of the year and then go out and play West Virginia in Landover, Maryland and Michigan State in East Lansing. On October 15, they host SEC foe Mississippi State and the week after that they travel up to Idaho to take on Boise State.

Oct 24, 2014; Boise, ID, USA; Brigham Young Cougars wide receiver Colby Pearson (3) scores a touchdown in front of Boise State Broncos safety Darian Thompson (4) during the first half at Albertsons Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Losness-USA TODAY Sports

Talk about a gauntlet to start the season. Five out of the first six games are against opponents from Power 5 Conferences. They only have nine games scheduled so far for 2016 and so I am assuming that one of the final three games to get scheduled will be against some cupcake.

The wish of the fans is that BYU can get a quality opponent to come to Provo late in the season. That might be unrealistic right now. Most quality opponents are in the brunt of their conference seasons and rather than play a competitive team like BYU they would prefer to play someone like Georgia State or Western Carolina. Why don’t you ask the Utes why they would rather take a bye the week before the PAC-12 Championship game than continue to play BYU on the last week of the regular season.

Sep 21, 2013; Provo, UT, USA; Brigham Young Cougars quarterback Taysom Hill (4) tries to run out of the pocket against the Utah Utes at Lavell Edwards Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports

Another problem is that BYU doesn’t help anyone build up their resume. When they were going 11-2 or 10-3 it was a different story because BYU was consistently ranked and it looked good for a team to play the Cougars. Considering that BYU has gone 8-5 four out of the last five seasons, it doesn’t bode well for athletic director Tom Holmoe being able to bring quality opponents to Provo late in the season.

That shouldn’t deter fans from being true fans. Do we wish that BYU was in a conference and had something to play for on a regular basis? Sure. However that is another thing that fans don’t realize. BYU does have something to play for each and every year now that the BCS is no longer in place. The highest ranked Non-Power 5 school gets an automatic bid to play in a New Year’s Six Bowl game. BYU is in that category and could realistically play in one of those big bowl games each and every year. Being ranked and playing in that bowl game should be a goal for every BYU team.

BYU Football: Don’t Hate the Schedule

By Kyle McDonald | Jun 10, 2015