BYU announces 2015 football schedule

PROVO, Utah (April 30, 2015) — Brigham Young University today announced its 2015 football schedule. The 12-game independent slate features six home games and six road contests with teams from 10 states and six conferences, including the Big Ten, Pac-12, Southeastern, American Athletic, Mountain West and Northeast conferences. 

 

“This is a very unique schedule. It includes road games at three of the more storied college football stadiums in the country,” said BYU Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe. “We enjoy playing in different regions of the country and traveling to places we’ve never been. We also like bringing teams to Edwards Stadium that have never played in Provo. This schedule is full of these types of games. It should be an exciting year for our football program and our fans.”

 

BYU opens the 2015 season on the road at the University of Nebraska on Saturday, Sept. 5, at historic Memorial Stadium (see update below). Home of the Huskers since 1923, the 85,000-seat Memorial Stadium currently holds the NCAA record for consecutive sellouts. Entering the 2015 season, Nebraska has sold out an amazing 340-straight football games, a streak that dates back to 1962. The matchup marks the first meeting between the Cougars and Huskers of the Big Ten.

 

The Cougars return home Saturday, Sept. 12, for the home opener at LaVell Edwards Stadium against Boise State of the Mountain West. The game is just the fifth meeting between the two schools and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN or ESPN2. The Broncos own a 4-1 record over the Cougars, with BYU’s victory coming in 2013 in the last meeting in Provo. 

 

The Cougars hit the road again the following week for a Saturday, Sept. 19, matchup with UCLA of the Pac-12. The game will be played at the famed Rose Bowl and is the 11th meeting between the two schools dating back to 1983. The Bruins currently lead the series 7-3 on the strength of six wins from 1985 to 1995, while BYU is 2-1 against UCLA under head coach Bronco Mendenhall. 

 

Next, the Cougars travel to Ann Arbor to take on the University of Michigan of the Big Ten in Michigan Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 26. With a seating capacity of 109,901 “The Big House” is the largest football stadium in the United States and is one of the most widely recognized sports facilities in the world. BYU and Michigan have met just once in football with the Cougars earning a 24-17 victory in the 1984 Holiday Bowl. The win capped off a perfect 13-0 season for BYU and set the stage for the Cougars winning the 1984 National Championship.

 

After playing three of four games on the road to open the season, BYU returns home for a four-game October homestand beginning with the UConn Huskies of the American Athletic Conference. The game is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 2, at 8:15 p.m. MT and will be broadcast live nationally on ESPN or ESPN2. The Cougars and the Huskies opened the 2014 season at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut, in the first-ever meeting between the two schools, with BYU defeating UConn 35-10. 

 

The following week BYU will host East Carolina University, also of the American Athletic Conference. The Pirates and the Cougars will play on Saturday, Oct. 10, in BYU’s Homecoming game. The Pirates of Greenville, North Carolina, and the Cougars have never met in football. East Carolina earned back-to-back Conference USA championships in 2008 and 2009 and has played in nine bowl games over the past 10 seasons. 

 

BYU takes on its third straight American Athletic Conference opponent when the University of Cincinnati comes to Provo. The game is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 16, at 6 p.m. MT in LaVell Edwards Stadium and will be aired nationally on ESPN. The Bearcats and the Cougars have never met in football. The only teams BYU has faced from the state of Ohio are Bowling Green (1975, 1983) and Ohio State (1982, 1985, 1993).

 

“We’ve established a strong rivalry in a very short period of time with the American Athletic Conference,” said Holmoe. “We’ve already had some great games and look forward to scheduling additional AAC teams in the future.”

 

BYU wraps up its October schedule by welcoming Wagner College of Staten Island, New York, to Provo. The Seahawks and the Cougars will kickoff at 1 p.m. MT on Saturday, Oct. 24 in a game that will air nationally on BYUtv. Wagner College of the Northeast Conference is a private liberal arts college founded in 1883.

 

After a bye week, BYU hits the road again for a Friday, Nov. 6, matchup versus San Jose State in Spartan Stadium. The game is scheduled to kickoff at 8:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network. The Cougars and the Spartans have previously met 16 times in football. The first meeting was in 1946 and the most recent in 2012. San Jose State holds a 10-6 series record over BYU.

 

BYU next travels to face the University of Missouri of the Southeastern Conference at historic Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs, on Saturday, Nov. 14. Arrowhead has played host to 36 college football games throughout its 43-year history, including five Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship games. BYU and Missouri have only met once in football, with the Cougars defeating the Tigers 21-17 in the 1983 Holiday Bowl. The Tigers have previously played 30 games in Kansas City, including seven times at Arrowhead Stadium, going 5-2 overall from 2005-11.

 

The Cougars return home to host Fresno State on Saturday, Nov. 21, in LaVell Edwards Stadium. The Bulldogs won the Mountain West Conference West Division last year before falling to Boise State in the conference championship game. BYU and Fresno State will face off for the 10th time since the series got its start in Provo in 1956. This year’s matchup will be the first since both schools were members of the Western Athletic Conference in 1998. Fresno State leads the overall series 5-4.

 

BYU finishes the season against in-state rival Utah State in Logan on Saturday, Nov. 28, in a 1:30 p.m. MT kickoff being televised on CBS Sports Network. The Aggies of the Mountain West Conference are coming off a 10-4 season and a third-consecutive bowl victory. BYU and USU have split their last two meetings with each winning on the road. The last game in Logan was a 31-14 BYU victory in 2013. This year’s game will be the 85th meeting in the longtime rivalry that started in Provo in 1922. BYU holds a 46-35-3 overall advantage in the series.

 

In all, BYU’s 2015 opponents achieved a combined 92-63 record last year, which ranks the Cougars’ schedule tied for the 17th toughest in terms of opponent 2014 winning percentage. During the 2015 season, BYU will face teams from 10 different states, including Nebraska, Idaho, California, Michigan, Connecticut, North Carolina, Ohio, New York, Missouri and Utah. Eight of the 12 teams on the 2015 schedule qualified for a bowl game in 2014. 

 

Additional details regarding broadcast plans, game times and ticket information for the 2015 BYU football schedule will be released as the information becomes available. Season tickets to BYU home games are on sale now. 

 

UPDATE (June 12): Game time and television for BYU's season opener at Nebraska (2:30 p.m. CT to national audience on ABC). 

 

BYU 2015 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Date	Opponent	Time	Network
Sept. 5	at Nebraska	2:30 p.m. CT	ABC
Sept. 12	Boise State	TBD	ESPN or ESPN2
Sept. 19	at UCLA	TBD
Sept. 26	at Michigan	TBD
Oct. 2	UConn (Friday)	8:15 pm MT	ESPN or ESPN2
Oct. 10	East Carolina	TBD
Oct. 16	Cincinnati  (Friday)	6:00 pm MT	ESPN
Oct. 24	Wagner	1:00 pm MT	BYUtv
Oct. 31	BYE	TBD
Nov. 6	at San Jose St. (Friday)	8:30 pm PT	CBSSN
Nov. 14	at Missouri	TBD
Nov. 21	Fresno State	TBD
Nov. 28	at Utah State	1:30 pm MT	CBSSN