FORT COLLINS, Colo. — The BYU Cougars have been late show regulars this season. Maybe they should consider changing their nickname to Night Owls.
Including Saturday's game at Colorado State, BYU has played four straight contests that kicked off at 8 p.m. MDT. They'll play at 8 p.m. for the fifth consecutive week next Friday when they host UNLV. The Cougars have yet to play a day game. Their season-opener against Notre Dame was also played at night.
Television determined the starting times for all of those games except for Saturday's. That one was pushed back by BYU. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which owns and operates BYU, held its annual General Conference on Saturday and the school does not allow the Cougars to play until the day's conference sessions are over.
Among BYU players, there are pros and cons to the late starts.
"It's hard because you have to sit around in the hotel," said quarterback John Beck. "We wake up at 9 o'clock in the morning and we leave for the stadium at about 5. So from 9 until 5, we have a walkthrough and meetings. The rest of the time you can't do anything because you don't want to waste your energy, so you sit around."
Linebacker Brady Poppinga enjoys night games. "It's fun to play when it's prime time, when everybody's watching," he said. "It's fun at night because it's like the day builds into it. The only problem is, I have insomnia. But I have insomnia anyway. (After the Boise State game) I didn't get to sleep until 7 the next morning, which caused me to get sick. Even if we played at noon, I still wouldn't be able to sleep. I'd replay the game in my mind. I'll take games any time of the day. I just love football. I love to play."
So how do the players spend their game days when they're not in team meetings?
"If it's a Saturday, we watch other college football games," Beck said. "On Friday (when the Cougars played at Boise State), I had to study for a class. You have so much time and you're sick of being inside. I love playing night games, but I'm excited to play a day game one of these days. After so many night games. I'd like a day game thrown in there."
Kickoff times for BYU's final five games have not yet been set.
HOMECOMING: For the second time in his tenure at BYU, coach Gary Crowton returned to Colorado State, where he was a backup quarterback in 1977. After Crowton finished his college playing career, he served a mission to Korea. Upon his return, he attended Idaho State before eventually graduating with a bachelor's degree from BYU.
Crowton said returning to CSU was not a distraction for him. "I think Fort Collins is a really neat town and I had a lot of great friends there when I was a student. It was a good experience. But right now, my focus is on football."
NOTES: Announced attendance was 32,511 . . . Backup quarterback Jason Beck did not make the trip to Fort Collins due to a sore elbow . . . Saturday was Homecoming at CSU . . . BYU captains were John Beck, Aaron Francisco, Matt Payne and John Denney . . . Curtis Brown's 19-yard gain in the first half was BYU's longest run from scrimmage of the season . . . Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson attended Saturday's game . . . BYU center Lance Reynolds suffered an injury in the second quarter and was replaced by Hanale Vincent. Reynolds later returned to the game.
E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com