BYU football has the distinct honor of playing home football games under the lights of LaVell Edwards Stadium. Cradled by the towering Wasatch Mountains to the East, the views from the stadium are second to none. Stuffed with an incredibly vocal fanbase, 64,000 strong, the stands were absolutely rocking for the Cougars' first taste of power conference competition (yes, by definition, Stanford does still affliliate with the ACC).
And Stanford's head coach had plenty of praise for the environment saturating every corner of BYU's home soil, even after a stuffing 27-3 loss at the hands of Kalani Sitake and his host Cougars.
Stanford Head Coach Frank Reich on the atmosphere at Lavell Edwards Stadium pic.twitter.com/VzyIq8B5vX
— Ben Criddle (@CriddleBenjamin) September 7, 2025
"This is a taste of college football for me," shared Stanford's head coach, Frank Reich, during postgame interviews. "This is a pretty cool atmosphere. I was standing out on the field talking to a couple of the coaches beforehand [about how] small the sidelines were. It was a lot of fun, as far as experiencing it as a college coach."
Reich, now with the Cardinal, has plenty of experience coaching football, but his resume is mainly full of NFL spots. Though Stanford is still very much a project, he enters the ranks of collegiate coaching after leading the charge for the Carolina Panthers and the Indianapolis Colts.
He's seen his fair share of football stadiums, so when he takes the time to praise the one in Provo, Utah, that means a bit more. College football's environments keep it unique, distinct, and special from other leagues like the NFL. The fans are louder, the environment is rich with tradition, and the football itself is wacky, experimental, and always exciting. Per this former NFL head coach, it's a noteworthy landmark on the football map.
BYU took down Stanford 27-3 on Saturday, and they'll enjoy a bye week next in preparation for a road test with East Carolina.