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PROVO — There are 654 miles between BYU and University of Phoenix Stadium, where the Cougars opened the 2016 season against Arizona.
A much shorter drive exists between BYU and the University of Utah, where the Cougars fell to the Utes, 20-19, just 45 miles from home.
In BYU’s third road trip in the first four games of the year, travel will play a much more significant role.
BYU (1-2) will travel 2,139 miles across two time zones to face West Virginia (2-0) at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, at 1:30 p.m. MDT on Saturday — the Cougars’ furthest trip east since a double-overtime loss to Memphis in the Miami Beach Bowl in 2014.
In a deviation from previous seasons under former head coach Bronco Mendenhall, the Cougars will not sponsor firesides at local LDS Church buildings on road trips. That makes the trip to the greater Washington, D.C., area strictly a business trip.
“We’re excited,” wide receiver Garret Juergens said. “It’ll be good. But we’ll be ready, rested, and ready to show the East Coast what we can do.”
Since 1980, BYU is a 8-17 all-time in games played in the Eastern Time Zone. The Cougars haven’t won since a 35-10 victory at Connecticut in 2014, boasting a 2-7 mark on the Atlantic seaboard since 2010.
“The time change, you want to say it doesn’t affect you,” said defensive end Corbin Kaufusi, who went to New York City with last year’s BYU basketball team for the NIT semifinals. “But whether it’s subconscious or not, it takes a toll. I’m not quite sure how it will be with football, but I think this is a good move (to leave Thursday).”
To help counteract the negative effects of traveling from west to east, BYU head coach Kalani Sitake pushed travel plans up a day. The Cougars departed Provo after practice Thursday morning and flew to the Washington, D.C., area.
After a walk-through at FedEx Field on Friday, BYU players and staff did the usual tourist events: visiting the Lincoln Memorial, looking out over the Washington Monument, and acclimatizing to the nation’s capital.
“I think when you go two time zones — it makes things difficult,” Sitake said. “The climate is different for us. It’ll be hot. But it will be hot for them as well as hot for us.”
Sitake made plenty of road trips as a former player, including three road trips to open the first month of his senior season in 2000. The Cougars played in Jacksonville, Florida; Charlottesville, Virginia; and Syracuse, New York, that year, going 1-2 on the trip.
But there was one thing Sitake could count on in long road trips as a player, and he’s beginning to see that as a coach at his alma mater.
“We played at a lot of different places, and it was difficult. We are going to have a lot of fans, though, for a neutral site,” Sitake said. “I’m looking forward to a great place at FedEx Field, and playing in the nation’s capital.”
Among the biggest differences: weather. The projected temperature at kickoff at the NFL’s Washington Redskins’ stadium is a partly cloudy 77 degrees with 60 percent humidity.
“The climate is different for us. It’ll be hot,” Sitake said. “But it will be hot for them as well as hot for us.”
While the game is a neutral-site game, West Virginia appears to be at a geographic advantage. The stadium is just 225 miles from the Mountaineers’ campus in Morgantown.
“These neutral-site games are always very important to us,” West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said. “They’re important for our fan base. We’ve played them before and we’re going to continue to play them again. You guys know what the schedule is. I’m a big fan of them and I know our fan base is as well, and will show up and support us as much as they can.”
Of course, BYU also expects plenty of fan support in the nation’s capital.
“I like playing at those better than the opponent’s field. It’s fun. It’s a good experience,” defensive back Micah Hannemann said. “And BYU has a lot of fans everywhere, so it almost makes it half and half and better at these neutral sites.”
