BYU and LSU to face off in AdvoCare Texas Kickoff

PROVO, Utah — BYU football is scheduled to play LSU in the AdvoCare Texas Kickoff on Saturday, Sept. 2 at 8:30 p.m. CDT, which will be televised nationally on ESPN. Statement from BYU Athletics regarding Hurricane Harvey. 

Fans can tune in for live coverage on the BYU Sports Network with Greg Wrubell, which can be found on BYU Radio Sirius XM 143, KSL 1160 AM/102.7 FM and BYUCougars.com. The radio coverage will begin 6:30 p.m. CDT.

BYUtv will provide pregame and postgame coverage with Countdown to Kickoff starting at 7:30 p.m. CDT. Postgame coverage runs for half an hour after the game.

BYU (1-0) vs. LSU (0-0)

Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017
Kickoff: 8:30 p.m. CDT
NRG Stadium (72,220)
Houston, Texas

BYU Games Notes

LSU Game Notes

Notes

ADVOCARE TEXAS KICKOFF. BYU and LSU are participating in the AdvoCare Texas Kickoff. Last year, No. 15 Houston took down the No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners 33-23 at NRG Stadium.

BYU vs. RANKED TEAMS. A win over the Tigers would BYU its first win over a ranked team since a 35-24 win over No. 20 Boise State in Provo on Sept. 12, 2015. The Cougars have gone 3-7 in their last 10 outings against ranked teams.

GAME TWO. Thanks to a week zero game, the saying "teams improve the most from game one to game two" will be put to the test this week. BYU is 5-5 in game two of the season over the past 10 seasons. The point differential in those 10 seasons went from +9.8 in BYU's favor in game one to +13.4 in game two.

FACING COACH "O." BYU has never faced Ed Orgeron as a head coach. However, Orgeron has seen the Cougars a few times as an assistant coach over the years, most notably in 1990 as the defensive line coach for the No. 1 ranked Miami Hurricanes. Current BYU offensive coordinator Ty Detmer was under pressure all day and sacked twice by the Hurricane defensive front. Detmer ended up getting the best of them, however, throwing for 406 yards and three touchdowns to give the Cougars one of their most historic wins in program history with a 28-21 upset in Provo over the reigning national champions.

HONORING LAVELL. Legendary hall of famer and beloved head coach at BYU for 29 seasons, LaVell Edwards, passed away on Dec. 29, 2016. The always steady and humble coach will be honored in several ways throughout the season, including the team wearing a uniform patch featuring the classic stoic profile he displayed for years on the Cougar sidelines.

Quotes

Head coach Kalani Sitake

Last week’s game film
“Watching the film, we saw a lot of what we expected, but also more positive things. I think we thought ‘doom and gloom’ after the game, but we saw a lot of good things with just a few mistakes that could have changed the whole game. Whether it was penalties, missed assignments or mental breakdowns, they can all be fixed. We had a good practice today and good lift this morning, so we are going to focus on getting better and making sure those things don’t show up this Saturday.”

Houston
“The main concern for our team is the people in Houston. All you have to do is see all things happening there, so our concern is to hope that everyone is safe and that things can get taken care of down there. We are not really worried about the football game — people come first. A lot of our players and myself have friends and family in that area, so that is our main concern.”

LSU
“LSU has a lot of tradition and they’re a good program. Everything you can think of, they’re up there with all the great schools. We are just evaluating what we’re going to see on the field. The tradition won’t beat you, so we will focus on the team and the players and really today try and correct what we can do better to make sure that we have a better chance of success and winning.”

“Derrius Guice is a really good player. I think he only had six starts last year when Fournette was hurt, and in the games that he played he got 1,300 yards rushing or so. He was dynamic and he can run. It’s going to be a huge task for our guys, but I think Fred and the boys are ready roll. We’ll see what happens with our defensive front and our linebackers being able to stop the run. We’ll prepare for it and see what happens.”

Sione Takitaki’s play
"Sione Takitaki played well. He made some big plays, but wasn’t perfect. He left some out there too, but he’s really twitchy and has a lot of explosiveness that showed up on the field. We can coach guys like that. He makes bigs plays, but we changed some things up scheme wise and played a three-man front and took him out to play linebacker quite a bit. He probably could’ve made a lot more plays if we kept the four-man front going, but based on what we were seeing from Portland State during the game, we thought the three-man front would be a better adjustment. I thought Sione did a great job making that move and he and the coaching staff did a good job just sacrificing his pass rushing skills, but he was able to cover quite a bit. The stuff you don’t see in the stats he was taking away in throws and tackling in opening space, but he’s definitely one of our best players.

Ed Orgeron
When Coach Orgeron was at Ole Miss, he and I connected. I was just a nobody coach and I just remember him taking the time to just talk to me. I’ve always had that connection with him. He’s just a really friendly guy and always open to talk to you, never a guy to “big time” anyone and I’ve always appreciated that about him. He’s a good guy and I will talk to him before and after the game, but he’s a really good coach too. He knows his stuff and I’m honored to go against him as head coaches in this game. 

Senior linebacker Fred Warner
Taking on a program like LSU
"LSU that’s a team that you grow-up watching. LSU is an SEC powerhouse school. They are going to have good athletes, but I’m confident that we have just as good athletes and that we can compete with them."

Going up against LSU's Derrius Guice
“He’s a guy that has been all over the media so far. He’s a great player. Watching him last season for Leonard Fournette, he’s a powerful running back. He can make guys miss, so we are just going to have to contain him and hold him to minimal points.”

Houston
“It’s hard to watch those families being effect by such a tragedy like that. A lot of people are worried about where the game is going to be played, but I think the main focus should be on our prayers for those families affected by this and let the game handle itself.” 

Junior defensive back Tanner Jacobson
Hurricane Harvey
“It’s sad to see. I was just looking at a couple videos that my friend from Houston posted. It’s pouring, it’s flooding and I’m sure it’s hard for people to get food. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Houston right now. I’m hoping that they are staying 'Texas tough.' It’s definitely on our mind right now.”

LSU offense
"It’s a lot of shifts and it’s a lot of motions. They are trying to get you distracted and get your eyes to different spots to get you off your assignment. They’re trying to confuse you, trying to suck you in with a play fake here and there. We need to be disciplined as a defense and coachable." 

Sophomore wide receiver Talon Shumway
On today’s practice
“There was a good focus today, especially after seeing where we are after the first game. We know exactly what we are looking to improve. We are focused on getting work done.” 

On LSU
“It’s always good to play a good team, but every week we play an excellent opponent. We are more concerned about the team and what they do than the conference they come from. We know they are a good team, and we look forward to the challenge.”

On Houston
“I served my mission in south Texas, so I’ve been in contact with a few people to see how they are doing. It’s been devastating for people down there, so we are concerned. The venue situation will work itself out, but we are more concerned with the people down there and their safety.”

Freshman tight end Matt Bushman
On first game
“I think we did well. Obviously after the first game there are things we can get better. We’ve been watching the film. We know that there’s things we kind of killed ourselves on the drive and shot ourselves in the foot a couple times and penalties mess us up, but overall, we won the game and put some points on the board. Week by week we’ll just keep putting points on the board.”

On Houston
“When these natural disasters happen, there is a soft spot in my heart for those people. Growing up in New Orleans, I was about 9 years old when Hurricane Katrina hit. It was tough. Our house wasn’t completely destroyed, but it was messed up. School didn’t start back up for about six more months, so our family made the decision to drop everything and move to Arizona to live with my grandparents for a while. It’s tough, and I feel for the families in Houston. It’s hard, but I know they are strong people. Our thoughts, prayers, and concerns go out to them.”

On LSU
“I’m really excited. They are solid and are a national powerhouse. It’s the second game of my college career to go out and play them, but I can’t wait. I know they’ll be hard hitters and really athletic, but we just have to show our stuff and hopefully it’s just as good.”

“They have really athletic defensive backs. They are tough and know how to play the game — we just have to prepare. As receivers and tight ends, we’ll have to get off the press and use our hands to get them off of us — get some separation. We are just working to get the best techniques. We have to be really physical this game and step it up from last week — it’ll be a fight.”