Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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PROVO — BYU has LaVell Edwards. Kansas State has Bill Snyder.
Those were the words of BYU head coach Kalani Sitake before the Cougars' Big 12 opener Saturday against No. 13 K-State (8:30 p.m. MT, ESPN), as he painted a picture of two programs with a limited shared history but a similar path through college football.
It starts with Snyder, who was one of only four active head coaches to be enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015 — a decade after Edwards' own induction.
BYU and Kansas State have met just eight times previously, with a 4-4 tie in the series. But one of the more memorable games in BYU program history was the 1997 Cotton Bowl, when Steve Sarkisian led the No. 5 Cougars to a 19-15 win over the 14th-ranked Wildcats.
The two teams haven't met in the regular season since 1977, when BYU won 39-0 to improve to 3-0 at home against K-State.
Throwback threads this week for @BYUfootball#uniswagpic.twitter.com/onE7KQSa2b
— UNISWAG (@UNISWAG) September 18, 2024
Derek Young is the publisher and lead football writer of KStateOnline.com, part of the On3 network. And while he admits he was too young to recall much of the 1997 Cotton Bowl meeting between the two teams, he sees a potentially tight game playing out for a game where the Wildcats are 6.5-point favorites.
"Because of the atmosphere, because of the spot, because of the opportunity in front of BYU and where Kansas State is at on their schedule ... BYU knows what is in front of it," Young said. "If they were to pull off this upset, and knowing what they have after K-State, they could go on a crazy start to the season. You're no longer just talking about 4-0, but now a great opportunity for 5-0 and 6-0. I expect BYU to potentially play its best game of the season this weekend.
"On the flip side, I'll say this: Kansas State will enter this game far more tested than BYU, from an opponent's standpoint."
Young joined the KSL.com Rocking Royal podcast to break down K-State rising star quarterback Avery Johnson, the run game powered by Dylan Edwards and DJ Giddens, and a Wildcat defense that has out-performed preseason expectations in the first three games of the season.
Listen to it all in the podcast player below, or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and anywhere else you listen to podcasts.
