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Following a 44-36 win over San Diego State on Saturday -- the Cougars' 450 all-time victory -- BYU will return to Edwards Stadium for a nationally televised, Homecoming game against MWC foe Colorado State (3-3, 0-1) on Thursday, Oct. 9. The Rams, tabbed as the league's preseason favorite, are coming off a 34-10 win over Fresno State on Saturday. Game time is slated for 8 p.m. (MT). The game will be broadcast nationally live on ESPN2.
HOMECOMING NOTES
Thursday's game will mark the 79th Homecoming game at BYU since 1922. The Cougars have posted a record of 37-19 (.804) when playing on Homecoming. During the LaVell Edwards era, the Cougars posted a 27-13 record (.675) record in Homecoming games. Last season, the Cougars lost to UNLV 24-3 on Homecoming. Gary Crowton has posted a 1-1 record during his two years at BYU when playing on Homecoming. In Crowton's first season, BYU recorded a 63-33 win over Air Force, marking the second time BYU has recorded 63 points in a Homecoming game. The Cougars chalked up a 63-28 win over UNLV in the 1996 Homecoming game.
THE HISTORY: BYU vs. COLORADO STATE
Thursday's game will mark the 62nd meeting between the two schools, dating back to the first meeting on Nov. 25, 1922--a 33-0 Colorado State victory in Fort Collins. The Cougars own a slight 32-26-3 advantage over the Rams, including nine wins in the last 12 meetings. BYU has registered an 18-10 record when playing in Provo, and has not lost to the Rams at Edwards Stadium since 1994. Interestingly, the Cougars have not won a game in Fort Collins since 1995. Since then the two teams have traded wins, each coming out victorious on their home field. CSU has won both times in Fort Collins since 2000, while BYU has won twice in Provo since the 1999 season. BYU head coach Gary Crowton is 1-1 against Colorado State, while CSU head coach Sunny Lubick is 3-4 against the Cougars. Lubick is just 1-2 against BYU in Provo.
COMPLETE BROADCAST PLANS
TELEVISION - Thursday's game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2, beginning at 8:07 p.m. (MT). Gary Bender will call the action with Craig James lending game analysis. Holly Rowe will be reporting from the sidelines. Thursday's game will be rebroadcast on KBYU-TV, beginning at 10 p.m. (MT) on Friday, Oct. 10. The game will also be rebroadcast on BYU-TV, beginning at 9 p.m. (MT) on Friday, Oct. 10. Fans with access to the Dish Network (Ch. 9403) or Direct TV Plus (Ch. 374) home satellite systems will be able to view BYU-TV's rebroadcast. Some cable services in Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Wyoming and Washington also provide BYU-TV.
RADIO - Fans can tune to KSL Radio--the 50,000-watt home of the Cougars--and follow the action with the broadcast team of Greg Wrubell, Marc Lyons and Bill Riley. The game will also be broadcast to a national radio audience on the WestWood One Radio Network. Bob Papa will call the action with Shea Walker lending color commentary.
INTERNET - A live webcast of the game, which includes play-by-play and up-to-the-minute statistics, can be viewed by logging on to http://www.byucougars.com/football/ In addition, a live audio stream is available at http://www.ksl.com. Fans can also watch BYU-TV's rebroadcast on Friday, Oct. 10 at 9 p.m. (MT) by logging on to: http://www.byutv.org/streaming/.
THURSDAY'S STORYLINES
- Thursday's game will match two of the Mountain West Conference's all-time top two teams. The Rams own an overall 22-7 (.757) record against league opponents, while the Cougars, who have played two more league games than the Rams, own a 21-10 (.667) all-time league record.
- Always the premier game in the Mountain West Conference, Thursday's game will mark the fifth straight season the two teams have met on Thursday night. All five of the previous meetings have been televised nationally by ESPN or ESPN2.
- The Cougars are 1-2 in Provo this season, including back-to-back losses earlier this season.
- BYU has not lost to Colorado State in Provo since 1994.
- The Cougars will look to avenge a 37-10 loss at Colorado State last season.
- CSU, the Mountain West Conference preseason favorite, is off to an 0-1 league record, falling earlier this season (Sept. 27) to Utah, 28-21, in Fort Collins.
- Colorado State has not played on the road since Sept. 6--a 23-21 win at Cal.
- While BYU head coach Gary Crowton graduated from BYU in 1983, he actually played college football at Colorado State before serving an LDS Church mission.
- Thursday's game could mark the return of BYU quarterback Matt Berry after suffering a broken hand four weeks ago in the Cougars' 10-7 win over New Mexico. Berry traveled to San Diego State, but did not play. Berry's return is expected to be a game-time decision.
THE STREAK IS STILL ALIVE ... 356 GAMES AND COUNTING
Following John Beck's four-yard touchdown run in the first quarter against San Diego State, BYU extended its NCAA-record streak to 356 games without being shutout. BYU was last shutout during the 1975 season (Sept. 27, 1975 vs. Arizona State.) Interestingly, the Cougars do not have a single player on their rosters who was alive the last time BYU was shutout.
MILESTONE VICTORY
The Cougars' 44-36 win over San Diego State on Saturday marked BYU's 450th all-time victory, dating back to the 1922 season. Over that 80-plus-year span, the Cougars have posted a mark of 450-347-26 (.563). The win also marked the 20th victory for head coach Gary Crowton since taking over the helm of the BYU program in 2001. In his third season at BYU, Crowton has racked up a record of 20-12 (.625). Over the span of his career, including three years as the head coach at Louisiana Tech Crowton is 41-25 (.621).
INJURY INFORMATION
Sophomore quarterback Matt Berry has been listed as questionable for the Colorado State game. Berry suffered a broken bone in his hand four weeks ago. He has not played since the first half of the New Mexico game. His status will be determined at game time. Senior defensive back Brandon Heaney suffered a season-ending shoulder injury against Georgia Tech. The injury is to the opposite shoulder he had surgically repaired after last season. Heaney had surgery in early September on the injured shoulder and will miss the remainder of the season. Reserve linebacker Lawrence Cowan will be out 1-3 weeks after dislocating his elbow against Stanford. Another reserve linebacker, Bryant Atkinson, has missed the Stanford, Air Force and San Diego State games with a knee injury and has been listed as questionable for the CSU game. Cornerback Nate Soelberg did not play against Air Force or San Diego State after suffering a concussion against Stanford. He has been listed as probable for the Colorado State game. Senior linebacker Levi Madarieta has a stress fracture in his foot. He has been listed as a game-time decision for the Colorado State game.
HOME SWEET HOME
With a perfect 6-0 record in Provo during the 2001 season, the Cougars have recorded 12 undefeated home season since the 1967 campaign. In fact, since the stadium was expanded to 65,000, the Cougars have posted eight different seasons without losing a game in Provo. The 2001 perfect home season marked the first since 1998. BYU finished the 2002 season with a 4-2 home record, marking the team's 31st consecutive non-losing home season. In 2003, with a victory over Georgia Tech, BYU got off to a 1-0 start, but dropped an 18-14 decision to Stanford and a 10-24 conference loss to Air Force to fall to 1-2 on the season. The Cougars are 169-54 (.758) in Provo, dating back 40 years (1963), including a 10-5 (.667) home record against MWC opponents since 1999.
AMONG THE BEST IN THE MWC
In the four-year history of the Mountain West Conference, the Cougars have posted a 22-10 record against league opponents. During that span, the Cougars have registered a combined, overall record of 35-20 (.636). Overall, the Cougars have won more league titles, and have been to more bowl games than any other team in the MWC. BYU has won two of the four MWC titles. Of the seven MWC opponents, only Air Force has a winning record over the Cougars posting a 3-2 record against BYU in the five-year history of the Mountain West. Colorado State and Utah each have posted a 2-2 record against BYU. The Cougars own a winning record over four MWC opponents, including New Mexico (4-1), San Diego State (4-1), UNLV (3-1) and Wyoming (4-0).
