BYU vs. No. 14 Oklahoma: How to watch, listen to, or stream the game

Workers move a Y display off of the LaVell Edwards Stadium field in Provo before a BYU football game on Friday, Oct. 28, 2022.

No. 14 Oklahoma (5-2, 8-2) at BYU (2-5, 5-5)

Kickoff: Saturday, 10 a.m. MST.
Venue: LaVell Edwards Stadium (Capacity: 63,725)
TV: ESPN
Livestream: ESPN.com/watch
Radio: KSL 1160 AM/102.7 FM/BYU Radio Sirius XM 143.
Series: BYU leads, 2-0
Weather: Mostly cloudy skies at kickoff, with temperatures in the low 50s throughout the game. Winds will be light and variable, with gusts up to 5 mph from the southwest. Scattered rain showers are expected throughout the day, with most of the rain showers in the evening long after the game is supposed to finish.

The trends

For BYU: The Cougars are coming off their third-straight blowout loss and still trying to become bowl eligible after starting the season with a 4-1 record. They have dropped four of their last five games, all by at least 29 points.

BYU was sliding before junior college transfer Jake Retzlaff replaced an ailing Kedon Slovis at quarterback, but the junior from Riverside (California) City College has not been able to get the offense going, either. The Cougars are 7-10 against ranked teams under coach Kalani Sitake and their last upset of a ranked team came last season when they knocked off No. 9 Baylor in Provo, 26-20 in double overtime.

For Oklahoma: The Sooners bounced back in a big way after back-to-back losses to Kansas and Oklahoma State took them out of contention for the College Football Playoff. They drubbed West Virginia 59-20 last week as quarterback Dillon Gabriel accounted for eight touchdowns — five passing and three rushing. Gabriel is a semifinalist for the Davey O’Brien Award and quarterbacked UCF when the Cougars demolished the Knights in the Boca Raton Bowl in 2020.

What to watch for

The 10 a.m. MST kickoff is the earliest kickoff for a BYU game in 20 years. The last time BYU played this early, it lost 21-14 to New Mexico at LES on Nov. 13, 2004.

BYU dropped to 4-1 at home with a 45-13 loss to Iowa State last week, a Cyclones team that OU thumped 50-20 in Norman on Sept. 30.

With No. 24 Oklahoma State up next, the Cougars need to win one more game to get bowl eligible and avoid missing out on a bowl for the second time in 19 years. They last failed to make a bowl in 2017, when they went 4-9 and offensive coordinator Ty Detmer was fired at season’s end.

Oklahoma is in a four-way tie for second place in the Big 12 with ISU, Kansas State and OSU, while BYU is in a five-way tie for ninth with Baylor, Houston, UCF and TCU. The Sooners are playing for the first time in the state of Utah, and possibly the last because they are headed to the SEC next season.

The Sooners are the only team in the country to score 59-plus points in at least three games this season, having put 73 on Arkansas State, 66 on Tulsa and 59 on West Virginia.

Key player

Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel throws during game against Kansas, Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023 in Lawrence, Kan.

Dillon Gabriel, senior, Oklahoma, quarterback: The redshirt senior who transferred to Norman from UCF by way of his native Hawaii is a fringe candidate to win the Heisman Trophy. Gabriel has accounted for 36 touchdowns through 10 games and ranks in the top 10 in the country in several key statistical categories. He’s third in points responsible for per game, for instance, with 21.6 points per game.

It will be a long day for the BYU defense if it can’t slow Gabriel, widely considered to be one of the country’s top QBs and is a semifinalist for the Davey O’Brien Award. As of Thursday afternoon, BYU had not named its starting QB.

Quotable

“Remember your early-morning seminary days. The Cougar Tails will taste really good early in the morning, right? Hot and fresh, ready to roll. Away we go. It is going to be a lot of fun. I don’t know what the weather is going to be like. This will be a really cool experience. Let’s get ready to roll, man. I am excited to play this game. The earlier the better. We went from late to playing early. Pretty cool. It is going to be weird going home after the game and having the sun out.” — BYU coach Kalani Sitake.

“I think (the Cougars) are really good. Obviously I have played BYU before, so I just know what they are about. They are very physical and have played well together. They had a tough stretch, but shoot, that place is special and different, kinda unique, in college football. … At the end of the day it is going to be a great game and a great experience, so I know we are excited about it. I know it will be a great atmosphere, so everything that comes with it, we are ready.” — Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel.