The 7th-ranked BYU Cougars football team will have a big spotlight on it Saturday when it faces the 8th-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders on the road, in large part because ESPN’s “College GameDay” show will be airing from Lubbock.
The Cougars will be looking to buck a trend that goes back to 2004, as they have yet to win a contest fronted by a visit from the “GameDay” crew.
In fact, according to the NCAA, BYU is tied with three other schools in the West — Arizona, Arizona State and Oregon — for the worst record in the country in “GameDay” contests. All four are 0-3.
Here’s a look back at the Cougars’ three previous “GameDay” contests.
December 5, 2020: No. 18 Coastal Carolina 22, No. 13 BYU 17 (Conway, South Carolina)
In the completely strange, pandemic-altered 2020 season, BYU and Coastal Carolina were among just a handful of teams to play full schedules (the Cougars were an independent, while the Chanticleers were members of the Sun Belt Conference).
Both teams were among the better stories in college football that fall, holding 9-0 records heading into the week. Coastal Carolina was scheduled to face conference foe Liberty, but the Flames had to cancel the game because of COVID-19 cases within their program.
BYU did not have a game on its schedule that week, and with the success that both the Cougars and Chanticleers were having, fans were clamoring for the two sides to meet. With just a few days to plan, the game was scheduled, and it proved to be a dandy, though heartbreaking for the Cougars.
Coastal went up six at the end of the first quarter, but BYU led by a point at halftime and at the end of the third quarter. With 11:35 remaining, the Chanticleers went up 22-17 on a 2-yard touchdown carry from CJ Marable but they missed a two-point conversion attempt.
Neither team did much for the next 10-plus minutes, but the Cougars got the ball with 55 seconds remaining needing to go 82 yards for a touchdown.
Their first few plays only went backwards, but then they completed several big passes to end up at the 18-yard line with three seconds remaining.
Quarterback Zach Wilson connected with Dax Milne at about the 4-yard line, and Milne tried to muscle his way toward the end zone but was wrestled down a yard or two short and Coastal Carolina won.
The Cougars won their regular season finale the next week over San Diego State and then the Boca Raton Bowl over now-Big 12 Conference foe UCF to finish the season 11-1.
The Chanticleers beat Troy in their regular season finale but then lost to the same Liberty team that allowed Coastal’s matchup against BYU to happen in the Cure Bowl. Thus, the Chanticleers also finished the season 11-1.
October 24, 2009: No. 7 TCU 38, No. 16 BYU 7 (Provo, Utah)
Unlike in 2020, this game was not close. The Horned Frogs led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter and then scored another touchdown in the second before BYU got on the board with a touchdown with less than two minutes before halftime to make the score 21-7.
TCU controlled the second half for the runaway victory. The Horned Frogs finished the regular season undefeated and cracked the Bowl Championship Series. They lost to Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl and finished the season ranked No. 6 in the country.
The Cougars, who had entered the game against TCU with a 6-1 record, went undefeated the rest of the way (finishing 11-2), including a win in the Las Vegas Bowl over Oregon State.
November 20, 2004: No. 6 Utah 52, BYU 21 (Salt Lake City, Utah)
With Urban Meyer-led Utah on the verge of completing a historic season and BYU on the verge of a third straight losing season, this edition of the rivalry game stayed close in the first half before the Utes cruised to victory in the second half.
Leading by a touchdown at intermission, Utah stretched its lead to 17 in the third quarter and then won the fourth 14-0 to cap off an undefeated regular season and become the first team from a non-power conference (the Mountain West) to break into the BCS.
With Kyle Whittingham coaching his first game after Meyer left for Florida, the Utes thrashed the Pittsburgh Panthers in the Fiesta Bowl, 35-7. Meanwhile, BYU coach Gary Crowton resigned after the Cougars finished with a 5-6 record, and Bronco Mendenhall replaced him.