Some goodbyes are easier than others. In BYU’s case, saying adios to silent Saturdays in November will be a raucous occasion. The late-season byes represent the cost of independence when your name isn’t Notre Dame and BYU has paid a high price.
While LaVell Edwards Stadium sits in stillness this weekend, the Cougars are in recovery mode — physically and mentally. The schedule, which began on Sept. 3 at South Florida, triggered a run of 10 straight games, including Power Five opponents Baylor, Oregon, Notre Dame and Arkansas.
The heavy toll showed up in performance (5-5) and in prescriptions. In fact, BYU went through those 10 games without ever using the same starting lineup in consecutive weekends — on both sides of the ball.
Injuries are part of the game, but there is a reason why the P5 programs stage their bye weeks before November. No Big 12 team has a November bye. For eight of the 10 conference squads, their breaks were scheduled throughout October ahead of the stretch run for league championships.
Football is brutal. Players need time to heal and sometimes the fans could use a healthy break too.
As a new independent, BYU was just happy to have a 12-game schedule when it broke from the Mountain West Conference in 2011. But what followed has been 12 years of asking players to do something no one else is doing — play for extended periods without a break, and sometimes that means playing hurt.
Imagine if quarterback Jaren Hall had 13 days off after banging up his shoulder against Utah State on Sept. 29. Instead, he had to heal while valiantly grinding through Notre Dame, Arkansas, Liberty and East Carolina.
Time will tell if that stretch of games cost him a draft selection? It wasn’t until last week that Hall started looking and throwing like his old self as he diced up Boise State for a career high 377 yards and three touchdowns.
Hall’s story is not unique. There is a long list of injured Cougars who were caught in the 10-game grind and, without a break, never got back to 100%.
Discounting the 2020 COVID-19 season when schedules were put together on the fly, and in some cases on three days’ notice, BYU averaged 7.5 games before an off week.
In seven of those 11 seasons, the Cougars played no fewer than eight games before a bye. In 2021 they played nine straight without a break and this fall they went one further — beating Boise State 31-28 in BYU’s 10th consecutive weekend of competition.
Adding to the overall challenge of surviving independence, 46 of the Cougars’ 54 games against P5 foes were played before Nov. 1 and eight of the 11 games against Boise State were also played before November.
The schedule difficulties aren’t an excuse. They just reflect the tough road BYU chose to travel in 2011. Athletic director Tom Holmoe had to be a buyer, not a seller and he never was able to set the price, unless it’s making a deal with the likes of Utah Tech (Nov. 19, 1:30 p.m., BYUtv).
The process has been harder on the players than anyone else and to their credit, the Cougars are 26-9 over the last three seasons, including 7-4 against P5s with Stanford on the schedule for Thanksgiving weekend.
BYU’s invitation to join the Big 12 will pay off in a variety of ways. The dollar figures forecast a financial windfall the athletic department has only dreamed of. But for the athletes who are taking and delivering the hits, a timely bye week will make a world of difference.
When the Big 12 announces its 2023 football schedule next month, there are two dates to watch for. First, the conference home opener, which will be historic, and second, the bye week, which will be critical.
The Cougars open 2023 with home games against Sam Houston and Southern Utah before welcoming a run of 10 straight P5 opponents, beginning out of conference at Arkansas on Sept. 16.
An early October break might be just what the doctor ordered — or requires.
There are undoubtedly tough seasons ahead where winning will not come as easy as Cougar Nation has grown accustomed to, but one thing is certain, joining the Big 12 gives BYU a chance to finally say goodbye to bad byes — those silent Saturdays in November will be over.
Dave McCann is a contributor to the Deseret News and is the studio host for “BYU Sports Nation Game Day,” “The Post Game Show,” “After Further Review,” and play-by-play announcer for BYUtv. He is also co-host of “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com.
