‘Hungry to prove something’: Campaign to prove doubters wrong begins Saturday for Big 12 newcomers
Of all the college football games taking place this Labor Day weekend, BYU vs. Sam Houston doesn’t move the needle much outside of central Texas and the state of Utah, for obvious reasons.
Try telling that to the Cougars and Bearkats, however.
For BYU, it is its first football game as an official member of the Big 12. For Sam Houston, it is its first game as a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision and Conference USA.
“I am not really worried about making a good impression for everyone else. I know what we can do in terms of how our team can be, and the potential that we have. I would like to see us match that potential.” — BYU coach Kalani Sitake
Which team will make the best first impression?
Saturday’s kickoff at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo is at 8:15 p.m. MDT and the game will be televised by Fox Sports 1. The Cougars are three-touchdown favorites, but coaches and players have talked a lot this week about how Sam Houston has the talent and coaching to make things interesting.
“We can’t take them lightly. I know they are not going to take us lightly. It is Week 1, it is a big game for us. It is as big of a game for us as it is for them,” said BYU defensive lineman John Nelson. “We are prepared to play the best we can and how we know we can play.”
Another thing is certain: The Cougars have been talking about this day for eight months, and are tired of talking. Coach Kalani Sitake said they are “ready to roll.”
“I am not really worried about making a good impression for everyone else,” he said. “I know what we can do in terms of how our team can be, and the potential that we have. I would like to see us match that potential.”
While the Cougars see a high ceiling for themselves in 2023, not a lot of folks outside the program and their fanbase are matching that optimism. The low expectations have served as fuel, safety Malik Moore and others have said for weeks, even months.
“We are ready to prove ourselves,” Moore said.
So is Sam Houston, which won an FCS national championship in the spring of 2021 (the season pushed from 2020 due to the pandemic) and has one of the best coaching staffs in all of college football, according to Sitake.
“As far as the skill goes, they are a team that is in the state of Texas, so they have tons of talent,” Sitake said “They can recruit, they can develop. And as we watch the film, you can see there is a lot of great talent there. We are not taking anyone lightly. … Tons of respect for them.”
BYU is 6-1 in season openers with Sitake at the helm, the only loss coming to Utah (30-12) in 2019. Generally, the Cougars have started well, including last year’s 50-21 win over South Florida.
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For the Cougars, the main storylines entering the 2023 season — and also entering the opener against Sam Houston — are the revamped defense under new defensive coordinator Jay Hill and the debut of USC and Pitt transfer quarterback Kedon Slovis.
Hill talked Wednesday about having been “on the flip side” of these types of games when his FCS Weber State teams prepared to play higher-profile FBS teams and how much pride was on the line for the underdogs.
“Our mentality has to be, ‘It doesn’t matter who we play,’” Hill said. “What the name is on the front of the shirt really doesn’t matter. … That is going to be our constant goal, is to go in there and play great against a nameless, faceless opponent.”
BYU’s defense will be at less than full strength. Micah Harper (knee) and Talan Alfrey (shoulder), arguably BYU’s top two safeties, will not play as Harper is out for the season and Alfrey is out for four to six weeks.
“We are going to get their best shot,’ Hill said of the Bearkats. “We gotta be ready for everything they throw at us.”
Offensively, all eyes will be on Slovis, and what he can do with an offense that coordinator Aaron Roderick says has been upgraded at every position. BYU is healthier on offense than defense, although a few of the returning receivers — Kody Epps, Keanu Hill and Chase Roberts — were limited in fall camp and even this past game week.
Cougars on the air
Sam Houston (0-0)
at BYU (0-0)
Saturday, 8:15 p.m. MDT
Provo, Utah
TV: Fox Sports 1
Radio: KSL 102.7 FM/1160 AM
“There will be an adjustment period in the first game as we get used to the speed of the game and all the different things they do on defense,” Roderick said. “But hopefully we will settle in and play well.”
Another newcomer to watch is running back Aidan Robbins, a 1,000-yard rusher at UNLV last year who has said the offensive line the Cougars have assembled is as good, if not better, than what he ran behind at UNLV, and Louisville before that.
“Our guys will be prepared to play. I think this team is really mature and really hungry to prove something,” Roderick said. “We are not going to be a team that walks out there Saturday night not understanding that every game is a huge game and every snap matters.”
