The late LaVell Edwards dreamed of a night like this — and he fought for it too.
During October 2003, the retired Edwards sat before a Senate Judiciary Committee and testified against the Bowl Championship Series. Edwards believed the BCS was unfair and limited access to programs fighting to survive outside the power conferences.
Sam Houston (0-0)
at BYU (0-0)
Saturday, 8:15 p.m. MDT
Provo, Utah
TV:Fox Sports 1
Radio:KSL 102.7 FM/1160 AM
Tonight, 20 years later, and after joining the Big 12, head coach Kalani Sitake will finally take the program Edwards pioneered into college football's promised land — with access to all the milk and honey they can eat — which by today's translation would mean a trip to the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
"That's the vision LaVell had from long, long ago," Sitake told BYUtv's "GameDay" program. "I thank everybody for allowing it to happen."
BYU makes its long-awaited debut as a Power Five program tonight in Provo against Sam Houston (8:15 p.m. MDT, FS1). In a symbolic tandem, this first game as a P5 links the history of Edwards' final home game — with Sitake as the tie that binds the two.
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The spirited fullback suited up for Edwards on Nov. 18, 2000 — the same afternoon that Cougar Stadium was renamed LaVell Edwards Stadium in his honor. Prior to the game, President Gordon B. Hinckley of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints addressed the team in the locker room, where he offered some simple advice: "Don't muff it."
Following BYU's 37-13 trouncing of New Mexico , President Hinckley announced the name change. As the stunned Hall of Fame coach hugged his wife Patti, Sitake and his teammates jumped for joy.
Edwards and President Hinckley have since passed away, but Sitake can still apply the prophetic message to his own historic night — "Don't muff it!"
"Sometimes that's the easiest advice, don't mess things up!" Sitake said with a smile. "Luckily, I have a lot of good people around me that can make good things happen. I'm not really worried about the result. Sometimes we get too fixated on that, and we can't even enjoy the game. I want it to be a fun pregame leading up to it, I want it to be a fun 60 minutes on the clock for our boys, and I want it to be fun afterwards."
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Sitake soaked in as much insight as possible from Edwards while he was alive, even though most of it had nothing to do with football.
"We probably talked more about culture and family," Sitake said. "I'm glad that his picture is in the locker room and I'm glad the stadium is named after him. I'm also glad that I get to represent him and his family as one of my mentors. We are at my alma mater, it's like a dream come true. The fact that the stadium is named after him — it means even more."
Depending on who you listen to, the forecast for success this fall ranges from as high as eight wins to as low as two as BYU begins play in the Big 12. Sitake, however, is noticeably confident that good times are ahead.
"I'm not really focused on trying to prove anybody wrong," he said. "I'm just trying to make everybody else right."
For Sitake, tonight is already a win-win. He is living out the dream of his mentor, while living in his own dream at the same time.
BYU coach LaVell Edwards and Utah coach Ron McBride greet each other before the game at Rice Eccles Stadium at the University of Utah, Friday, November 24, 2000. | Johanna Kirk, Deseret News
You can watch Dave McCann's interview with Kalani Sitake, including who the coach credits for the team culture, tonight on BYUtv's "GameDay" at 6 p.m. MDT.
