PROVO — After a couple of months of devastating scheduling cancellations and a sudden postponement of a long-wanted football game at Army, the news has suddenly improved for BYU.
Not only do the Cougars appear to be an outstanding football team, having thrashed Navy and Troy over a 19-day span, they now have the chance to prove it against a more high-profile opponent.
Rival Boise State is back on the Cougars’ schedule, an expected development that gives BYU’s now nine-game slate a major upgrade.
“We are pleased the Mountain West Conference determined to play football in 2020 and worked with Boise State to allow this previously scheduled nonconference game to be played.” — BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe
The Broncos will host BYU on Nov. 7 at Albertsons Stadium, adding back a game originally set for Nov. 6 before the Mountain West Conference decided on Aug. 10 to postpone its 2020 season due to challenges managing the COVID-19 virus.
“We are pleased the Mountain West Conference determined to play football in 2020 and worked with Boise State to allow this previously scheduled nonconference game to be played,” BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe said in a school news release.
The announcement validates Holmoe’s long-stated desire to be patient before the season started about adding to the Cougars’ November schedule. He told BYU fans some games would open up when some conferences decided to play, and he was right.
Boise State is obviously not a Power Five opponent, something BYU’s schedule still lacks. But the Broncos are annually as formidable as any upper-level P5 team when they are playing on the blue turf of Albertsons, a place BYU has never won. The Broncos are now BYU’s best future opponent, just ahead of Houston (Oct. 16), which has yet to play due to multiple cancellations or postponements because of the virus.
“The annual game between BYU and Boise State has become a much-anticipated regional rivalry between two universities with great football traditions,” Holmoe said.
A kickoff time and television broadcast plans will be announced later. If the game has implications for a New Year’s Six bowl, and early indications are that it could, it could get a prime time spot and national television broadcast interest.
Boise State opens its season Oct. 24 at home against Utah State. If there are no more cancellations or postponements, the Nov. 7 game would be BYU’s eighth and BSU’s third.
The Cougars play host to Louisiana Tech on Friday at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.
If there is a downer for BYU fans, Thursday’s news makes it appear unlikely the Cougars will get a game with Central Florida the first weekend of November, as some hoped.
As of now, BYU has (Saturday) openings on Nov. 14, Nov. 28, Dec. 5 and Dec. 12. Army has an opening on Nov. 28 as well, but as of this week officials at BYU and Army have not announced the postponed Sept. 19 game has a new date.
BYU and Boise State have met every year since 2012. The agreement extends a series that began with a four-game agreement in 2012 and was later pushed through the 2023 season.
Last September, the schools announced another 10-game contract that runs from 2025 through 2034.