BYU Football Homecoming Week — Texas Tech

BYU hosts Texas Tech in the annual homecoming game at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 21 at 5:00 p.m. MT on FS1.

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PROVO, Utah—BYU hosts Texas Tech in the annual homecoming game at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 21 at 5:00 p.m. MT on FS1.

Use this page as a one-stop shop throughout the week for everything related to the game. Updates will be made leading up to kickoff, including broadcast plans, news, fan events and game notes. 

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Homecoming

Learn more about all of BYU's Homecoming Week Activities.

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Game Info

BYU (4-2) vs. Texas Tech (3-4) Saturday, Oct. 21 Kickoff: 5:00 p.m. MDT

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FS1

Watch the Game

TV: FS1

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Listen to the Game

BYU Radio SiriusXM 143, BYURadio.org, BYU Radio app, KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM/1160 AM

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pregame

BYU Sports Nation Game Day Pregame and Postgame Shows

Watch the pre and postgame shows live on BYUtv

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Stats

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Game Notes

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BYU Notes

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Texas Tech Notes

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Big 12 Notes

Game Day Information

Cougar Canyon & Cougar Walk
Cougar Canyon will take place on the West side of the stadium from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on game day. Food trucks and activities for all ages are available. BYUtv's pregame show Sports Nation GameDay and BYU Radio’s Cougar Pregame Live will also be broadcast live from Cougar Canyon. The Cougar Walk will take place from the north end of Cougar Canyon in through the soutwest corner of the stadium, starting at 3 p.m.

Cougar Canyon is expanding this season, south of the stadium. Cougar Club members have access to Cougar Club exclusive activities there. There will be activities available to all fans as well.

LaVell Edwards Stadium has adopted a NO bag policy, except for a few exceptions. Small clutch bags, no larger than 5” x 8” x 1”, with or without a handle or strap can be taken into the stadium. Medically-necessary bags will be permitted after inspection. One bag per person. No outside Food or drink will be permitted.

To see all stadium policies, go to the LaVell Edwards Stadium venue page.

Enjoy the convenience and reliability of UVX and FrontRunner to get you to and from the BYU vs. Cincinnati football game this Friday. You can ride UVX for FREE and there will be extra service provided before and after the game.  For the best service, please head directly to the stadium stations, or bus, or UVX (it’s FREE!) within 15 minutes following the game. Note that UTA is adding even more busses to run for this 2023 season.

Visit rideuta.com/plan to plan your game day travel!

Parking passes for all designated BYU lots are digital this season. If you are a passholder, you will see the pass available to download in the same location where you download your digital ticket. Please ensure that you download the digital pass before you start driving to the stadium, and have the pass up on your phone and ready to display as you arrive at your designated lot. Also, familiarize yourself with the parking map, if necessary. Having your parking pass ready to display will greatly expedite the process of pulling into the lot. As all parking pass holders get used to this new process, there may be wait times. We encourage you to leave for the game a little earlier than you usually do to allow for some extra time to park.

Read more about BYU's Homecoming Week and activities. 

BYU’s Homecoming theme, “Lean into Light,” embodies a profound call to action, inviting all to embrace the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and allow His light to shine brightly through their lives. At its core, leaning into light symbolizes a deep and meaningful connection with the Savior, seeking guidance and strength from His teachings and allowing His divine influence to permeate our hearts and minds. 

To lean into light is to live as disciples of Jesus Christ, motivated by love for God and His children. As we grow in understanding of the Savior’s teachings, we find ourselves transformed, becoming beacons of His light to those around us. 

As BYU’s brand statement reads, “BYU strives to emit a unique light for the benefit of the world,” our Homecoming theme is meant to encourage our BYU community to be ambassadors of Jesus Christ, the ultimate source of light and truth. By embodying the principles of the Gospel, we not only strengthen our own faith, but also inspire those who cross our paths, inviting them to seek the same source of light and truth that has brought us peace and joy.

Watch BYU's Media Availability

Texas Tech Game Week—BYU Media Availability

Opening statement:
New week with a game at home. We're excited about it and homecoming. Going off of the postgame from last week, we were able to watch the film. Looking back at the game, TCU played their best game of the year and we didn't play our best game of the year. You guys have heard me say this over and over again, but my goal is to get us to perform at our best every week, regardless of the opponent. When you play in this conference and you play against really good teams, if they're playing at a high level and you're not matching that, you have no chance. That was the result for this game. There's still a lot of things for us to learn from to get better, and it was just disappointing that I wasn't able to get the guys to play at our best in all three phases. We're going to have to evaluate everything and see what factors we can improve on. The sense of urgency for us to get better quickly is even more now and pretty evident on some places that we can address.
 
On Texas Tech:
We're going against a really good Texas Tech team. They're well-coached. Joey McGuire is a legend in the state of Texas and coaching. He's done an amazing job putting together a really good staff. I know pretty much everybody on their staff and they all have great reputations as coaches and as recruiters. Talented team with a really big defense. I think they're the biggest defensive backfield I've seen in college football. They can run and they're strong and physical. Then you look at their front seven and they're well-coached and they get after the quarterback, so it's a tough task. Our offense has got to figure it out and find ways to get points on the board. They have very capable players and a strong offensive line.
 
On linebacker Ben Bywater's season-ending shoulder surgery:
I love Ben. I think when the injury occurred, it was more of a 'what are the options?' If you guys know Ben, he's gonna want to play and I think as we started to look into it and started getting more feedback and advice from the professionals, Ben was so focused on just getting back on the field of playing. The best thing to do was look at his options. The right decision is to get the surgery and get him healthy and not to put him in harm's way. I would do the same and I have to think of him as if he was my son. We still need his leadership... and he's done a great job with that getting Harrison [Taggart] and Siale [Esera] ready to play that position.
 
On other injuries:
Tanner Wall is out for the year as well. When we evaluated, he had surgery, and we're pretty safe to say that he'll be out for the year. That's unfortunate because he started playing really great football. For now, that's the season-ending ones. The guys that got banged up in the TCU game came back and played again, so I think we'll be okay there.
 
On running back Aidan Robbins' availability:
 
He practiced last week, and we gave him enough practice to try to see where he could be. We feel really good about this week in participating, but we've got to get him out there and see how he can handle practice and he's still got to compete against the guys that are currently there on the depth chart. I think there's a higher possibility of him playing this weekend than before. He's been banged up all year. There was a point in camp where he got banged up and just been playing through some injury. We're hoping to get the full, 100% Aidan back.
 
On takeaways from the team effort:
The effort is there. We've got to do our part and then all the other parts that factor into earning a victory. That's all the little details. If you're looking at what would really be helpful - our offense was in third and long for the majority of the game and we didn't convert third downs. On our defensive side, we had way too many third down conversions. We had opportunities to get off the field and we didn't do that.
 
On handling adversity this season compared to last year:
I think you have to learn from the times, and we're in a different stage now where the motivation to play is way different. I think last year, it was more about just getting to a bowl game, a bowl game we already knew what we were going to be playing. Just being really honest with you guys, with this year, there's still a lot to play for and the affiliation with the conference is huge. Every week is going to be a special moment whether you're on the road or at home. We have an opportunity to showcase our talent on national tv in front of our awesome fans at home and in front of our fans on the road. We appreciate their support and what they do for us as a program.

On possibly preparing to face a backup quarterback a second week in a row
You don’t change much. All of our coaches have been coaching for years, so we’ll still prepare the same. Playing a backup quarterback is never easy because you don’t know what they do, what the offensive coordinators have planned for them and their skill set, but you just prepare for what you’ve seen in weeks before or look at a little bit of high school film to see if he’s mobile or not.

On how Ben Bywater’s injury affects the defense
It hurts us, but all of fall camp and spring ball, we’ve been getting those younger guys ready to pick up the rifle if anybody was to go down. It sucks that he went down, he’s a great player and one of the best linebackers I’ve played with and I only got to play with him a few weeks.

On having injured players stick around and participate
It’s a big difference. Him (Ben Bywater) not fully separating himself and helping the younger guys, because as players that have been around and been in college for a lot of years, we see things differently. A lot of young guys just want to learn and know what we know. A lot of the corners are always picking my brain. They want to know how I saw something after they see me make a play or jump a route, so I think it’s huge for him to still be there helping those younger line backers get ready for their future and not just this season.

On struggles on the offensive side of the ball:
I would just say probably just coming off of the first play. We just had a little setback with the whole interception and pick six. It just kind of took the momentum away I felt like.

On the wide receivers’ capability:
I felt like we've been doing a pretty decent job. I feel like there are things we can do better as a whole and as individuals. Kedon’s not the only one on the team. We got to be doing our jobs as receivers and getting open.  Another thing is that even if we’re not open, we are making those tough catches. We call ourselves playmakers for a reason. Coming down with those big catches for sure is one thing we can work on.

On playing Texas Tech and Texas with being from Texas and his father Lloyd having played for  Texas Tech:
It means a lot. Like I was saying to my parents in the bye week, ‘This next week is going to be real big.’ I have a lot of boys on other teams and stuff like that. It’s going to mean a lot in general because my pops went there [Texas Tech]. I grew up watching Texas Tech because he always watches them on Saturdays. I was always sitting there watching the game right there with them. It’s going to mean a lot for multiple reasons. A lot for family, and for bragging rights in the family.

On losing Ben Bywater for the season
He’s a great player and a big part of our defense so not having him sucks a lot. Like you said, it’s football and we have to do with what we’ve got. Harrison stepped in so we have a lot of faith and confidence in him and are confident that he’s going to make plays. 

On mentality after TCU loss
The mentality right now is we need to get more pressure on the quarterback. It doesn’t matter how we can do it. Preferably with the four guys on the D-line but that’s something that we have to step up in and it’s not going to be easy from here on out.

The mentality is, it doesn't matter who we are playing, where it’s at, or what time it is, we’ve got to bring it as a defense. That’s something that all of our position coaches are reiterating and at the end of the day, we are the players playing on the field and we’ve got to bring it. We’ve got to learn from TCU but we’ve got a whole new game ahead of us.

On team leadership and adversity
I think we have really good leaders on offense and defense. I think everyone understands the importance of each and every game and no one is taking it lightly. I think our mentality is that it doesn’t matter who we are playing. We’ve got a game on Saturday. We’ve got to do as best as we can to be ready for it and try and win that game.