PROVO — One hundred yards on a football field determine the outcome of any football game in America.

But sometimes, the sport itself can affect more than the scoreboard.

That was the message after University of Missouri system president Tim Wolfe resigned Monday morning, effective immediately, following an outcry of racial injustice on the Columbia, Missouri campus that included a strike by at least 30 football players and coaches from all football-related activities over the weekend.

Missouri chancellor R. Bowen Loftin later announced he would resign from his position with the state university system, effective Jan. 1.

The student-athletes made a statement that they would not practice or play ahead of Saturday's game against BYU at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City unless the university president resigned after allegations of his mishandling of racial relations on campus. They officially began their strike Sunday, and by Monday morning, change was effected.

Now, the game will go on as normal.

"I think Missouri has been dealing with some very important, but also difficult, issues," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "We are grateful that they have been able to reach the beginning of a resolution. We look forward to preparing for the game at Arrowhead Stadium. It is a unique opportunity for our football team to play against a great program in a storied venue."

It just shows the power of football, especially in college athletics-obsessed areas like the southern United States.

It also proved a reminder to the BYU football team that sports — while fun — can also be about more than a game.

"Sports are a part of human society, and sometimes they transcend the game — sometimes it's more than a game in different aspects," BYU quarterback Tanner Mangum said. "This could be an example of that.

Sports are also used as a vehicle to get messages out there, and I think this is definitely the case here: sports is being used as a vehicle for a message."

The Cougars (7-2) stressed they don't know everything that is happening in Columbia, Missouri, and that makes it difficult to comment on the racial tensions currently engulfing the campus. But running back Adam Hine said the players have been trying to simply focus on what they can control — which includes Saturday's kickoff (5:30 p.m. MT, SEC Network).

"I didn't know how much jeopardy we were in, but it feels good to be able to play," said Hine, who returned from a high-ankle sprain Friday against San Jose State. "From my viewpoint of being injured, I feel blessed to be able to suit up and play on Saturday."

With news of Wolfe's resignation early Monday morning in Utah, Hine and the Cougars will try to jump right back into the normal, week-by-week routine that encompasses a typical college football season.

After all, there's only so much they can control.

"We're going to prepare just the same, as we always plan to prepare," Hine said. "For them, there will probably be a little more emotion behind the game. But we are excited to go and play, and we'll stick to our game plan that we have right now."

The news reports and tensions could manifest themselves in an emotional Missouri team Saturday in Kansas City. But BYU will just have to match that emotion, defensive end Bronson Kaufusi said.

"There will be a lot of emotion, but I think as a team we just need to raise our intensity and aggression — just play harder," Kaufusi said. "That's what we want to come out and do."

Mendenhall has spent significant time with Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel, who released a statement over the weekend backing his players' right to speak their minds, even if it meant being held to as few as 23 active players Saturday. Pinkel has confirmed that the game will be played as normal, and the Tigers are scheduled to resume all football activities by Tuesday.

Both coaches have led teams in transition recently, with Pinkel taking the Tigers to back-to-back SEC championship games just four years into their conference move and Mendenhall leading the Cougars into a new era as an FBS independent.

The two are also motorcycle enthusiasts and Harley Davidson riders, as well as acting as the faces of two high-profile Nike affiliates in college football. And while the Provo-based coach doesn't know all the circumstances his Columbia counterpart is facing, one word stood out in Mendenhall's reaction to Pinkel's philosophy: Respect.

"In terms of how you handle that situation, I have no idea how to even begin to answer that," Mendenhall said. "There are way too many things I don't know to even comment. I know him, I respect him and I am sure he is doing what he believes is best."

Related

U. of Missouri president, chancellor leave over race tension

The president of the University of Missouri system and the head of its flagship campus resigned Monday with the football team and others on campus in open revolt over what they saw as indifference to racial tensions at the school. President Tim Wolfe, a former business executive with no previous experience in academic leadership, took "full responsibility for the frustration" students expressed and said their complaints were "clear" and "real." For months, black student groups had complained that Wolfe was unresponsive to racial slurs and other slights on the overwhelmingly white main campus of the state's four-college system. The complaints came to a head two days ago, when at least 30 black football players announced that they would not play until the president left. A graduate student went on a weeklong hunger strike.

The Tigers would have owed BYU $1 million if they had cancelled the game for any other reason than war, government restriction or an act of God, according to the terms of the contract. By agreeing to resume football activities, Missouri will only owe the requisite $250,000 to BYU for agreeing to play at Arrowhead Stadium this week, according to an ESPN report. The Tigers will receive the same sum from BYU when they make the return trip to Provo in 2020.

With the game back on, the Cougars are relieved they can return to the field as scheduled.

"That will be good; obviously, we want to play," Mangum said. "It will be good to continue the schedule as normal as possible. We'll continue to play football. That's all we can control right now, and we'll go from there."

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