I told my son that I’m probably going to cry that day. That’s going to be a great game to see. I haven’t been back to BYU in ages. To go back in this situation, I don’t know if it can get any better than that. – Tim McTyer
As a toddler, Torry McTyer used to attend BYU football games in Provo, hanging out with Cougar football players and running around the locker room.
It was the mid-1990s, and his dad, Tim McTyer, was a star cornerback at BYU.
Nearly 20 years later, Torry McTyer, now a backup cornerback at UNLV, will take the field for the first time at LaVell Edwards Stadium Saturday (5 p.m. MST, ESPNU) to face his dad’s alma mater.
It’s a day both Torry and Tim — who plans to attend his first BYU game in Provo since he finished his eligibility in 1996 — have been looking forward to for a long time.
“It means a lot to me and my dad,” said Torry, a 6-foot, 180-pound sophomore. “We always talk about it. I’m excited to play there.”
“It’s going to be interesting,” Tim McTyer told the Deseret News last summer. “I told my son that I’m probably going to cry that day. That’s going to be a great game to see. I haven’t been back to BYU in ages. To go back in this situation, I don’t know if it can get any better than that.”
While Torry went to some BYU games in Provo as a young child, he was too young to remember.
But Tim remembers Torry being in the locker room with the young son of Cougar star James Dye, Trey — who is now a freshman receiver at BYU.
“Torry was around a lot,” Tim said. “When he got older, he was a BYU buff at one point. I would come home and he’d be watching BYU highlights.”
Growing up, Tim regaled Torry with stories about his days in Provo, including the 1996 season when the Cougars finished with a 14-1 record and No. 5 national ranking after a Cotton Bowl victory.
“He told me all the accomplishments they had and how well they played together as a team,” Torry said. “He tried to stress to me the importance of being a leader.”
Torry starred as an all-purpose player at Cathedral High in Los Angeles. He caught 33 passes for 662 yards and 10 touchdowns to go along with two 80-plus-yard kickoff returns. Torry also recorded 30 tackles, including nine tackles-for-loss and 13 passes defended. He was a three-star recruit by ESPN and Rivals.com.
During his sophomore year of high school, Torry participated in a passing tournament at BYU. That was the last time he was in Provo.
Torry originally committed to California, but the scholarship offer was rescinded — reportedly because of the school’s high academic standards — just weeks before national letter of intent day.
BYU, Fresno State, UNLV and Wyoming were among the schools that showed interest in him late.
“(BYU) didn’t recruit me as much because my senior year, I was committed to Cal,” Torry said. “When they heard about that, they left it at that, because I was going there. They kind of backed off.”
Under different circumstances, could Torry have ended up at BYU like his dad?
“I couldn’t tell you,” he said. “I’m happy to be at UNLV. I’m trying to get better as a football player and help my team win.”
Torry made a recruiting trip to Wyoming but signed with UNLV the night before signing day in 2013.
As a freshman last year with the Rebels, he played in all 13 games, recorded eight tackles and had a 15-yard interception return. This season, Torry has appeared in all 10 games, tallying 24 tackles, two tackles-for-loss, and one pass breakup.
“He has a great attitude, he’s a good kid, and he can play. He’s a scrappy little guy,” Tim said of his son. “He’s faster and bigger than I was … I think he’ll be a great player and will probably play longer than I did.”
Many consider Tim McTyer one of the best cornerbacks ever to play at BYU. An All-WAC defensive back for the Cougars (1995-96), Tim then played for the Philadelphia Eagles (1997-98) and Cleveland Browns (1999) in the NFL.
“My dad will tell you I’m ahead of him from when he was playing," Torry said. "I’m faster than my dad, but we play two different styles. We have the same mentality, but I’m trying to build my own legacy and be my own player.”