KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Before he won the Heisman Trophy in 2017, Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield took the Sooners into historic and massive Neyland Stadium and escaped with a 31-24 win.
“That’s a different type of loud,” Mayfield said later. “I can’t even describe it. It was unbelievable.”
Added teammate Ty Darlington, an offensive lineman: “The noise was a constant, oppressive force. I could literally feel it on my skin.”
It is into that steaming cauldron of excitement, hostility and raucousness — and angst, after last week’s stunning 38-30 loss to Georgia State — that the BYU Cougars venture Saturday night deep in the heart of SEC country. Kickoff for the first-time matchup of programs with proud college football histories that have fallen on more difficult times recently is at 7 p.m. here in the Eastern time zone, 5 p.m. back in the Intermountain West.
It will be warm and sticky — about 88 degrees, with 59 percent humidity, according to most projections — but partly cloudy and a little bit breezy.
And the other atmosphere, the one generated by some of the most passionate fans in college football, nearly 90,000 strong, will be “unbelievably crazy,” says a new member of BYU’s coaching staff who has gone into the 102,455-seat stadium before with SEC combatants Arkansas and LSU.
“A lot of people will be in the stadium after a nice, long day of (merry-making), and they will have a lot of energy, a lot of juice,” said BYU offensive line coach Eric Mateos. “It is going to be loud, loud, loud. Just the overall pageantry is something to behold. That place is fun — the pregame festivities, all those things are quite enjoyable. It’s one of the best places in the world to play ball.”
The fourth-largest venue in the country boasts the familiar checkerboard orange and white squares in the end zones, the Vol Navy (boaters dock on the banks of the Tennessee River just outside Neyland), the “I will give my all for Tennessee today” wooden sign that players tap on their way out of the locker room, and more.
Players wear the recognizable “Power T” helmets, take part in the “Vol Walk” around two hours before kickoff, run through the giant “T” formed by the Pride of the Southland Marching Band and, of course, said band plays the catchy tune “Rocky Top” over and over and over again. And then again.
“Rocky Top is one of my favorite songs of all time,” said Mateos, the colorful Cougars assistant. “I got kind of addicted to it in 2015 when I was at Arkansas. We played that song in the building 24 hours a day, played it in the weight room, played it lifting weights. And I am going to be honest with you, I never got tired of it.”
Mateos had a speaker attached to his waist Tuesday after practice, and said he “blasted that great song in my offensive line’s ears when they were trying to hear the quarterback, because that’s what they are in for Saturday. It’s a catchy tune. I have a lot of respect for it.”
BYU’s coaches and players seem to have a lot of genuine respect for Tennessee’s team as well, despite the Vols’ lackluster start, which is similar to theirs after Utah trounced them 30-12 nine days ago.
“They are an SEC team,” said running back Ty’Son Williams, the transfer from South Carolina. “They’ll be good.”
Sophomore quarterback Zach Wilson called it “an amazing opportunity” to test his mettle against one of the most storied programs around.
“We like traveling to away games,” Wilson said. “We feel like that hate (directed) towards us, and people booing against us, is something that keeps us driving. … It will be an amazing experience for us to see something like that.”
“If you could combine church and a football game at BYU, that’s how I would (describe) the University of Tennessee football atmosphere. The people worship the sport. It means everything to them. I have seen grown men cry. For instance, when Tennessee threw the Hail Mary to beat Georgia a few years back, I watched some of my friends’ dads burst into tears, how happy they were.” — BYU quarterback Joe Critchlow, a Tennessee native.
Like Mateos, BYU offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes has coached at Neyland several times, once with Auburn and with LSU.
“It is one of the elite places to play in the SEC, just a beautiful venue,” Grimes said. “Those places are always fun to go into, and there will be a lot of pageantry. People drive their boats up to the stadium on the river right there. It will be a lot of fun.”
BYU backup quarterback Joe Critchlow, who grew up in Franklin, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville that is three hours away from Knoxville, might have had the best description of the entire “Rocky Top experience” after Tuesday’s practice in Provo.
“If you could combine church and a football game at BYU, that’s how I would (describe) the University of Tennessee football atmosphere,” Critchlow said. “The people worship the sport. It means everything to them. I have seen grown men cry. For instance, when Tennessee threw the Hail Mary to beat Georgia a few years back, I watched some of my friends’ dads burst into tears, how happy they were. It is a different environment (than at LaVell Edwards Stadium). I am excited for our team to go down there and hopefully do really well.”
Against a different type of loud.
• . • . •
BYU (0-1)
at Tennessee (0-1)
Neyland Stadium
Saturday, p.m. MDT
TV: ESPN
Radio: KSL 1160 AM/102.7 FM