Day two of Independence Bowl Week

SHREVEPORT, La. – National Signing Day, practice and bowl game activities filled day two of the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl week. 

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The early signing period kicked off Wednesday morning and BYU signed 19 new recruits. Coaches, recruiting and support staffers spent the morning receiving and promoting national letters of intent from the Cougars' new class. After the 19 recruits were officially signed, head coach Kalani Sitake and the coordinators spoke to members of the media on a Zoom press conference to give details on this year's class. Read more about the 2022 recruiting class. 

The team got its first action on the practice field while in Shreveport in the early afternoon. A full 17-period practice at high school, Loyola College Prep, helped the Cougars prepare for Saturday's game. The team will practice again Thursday and hold a final walk through Friday.

Following practice, the team participated in an axe throwing competition at Bayou Axe against UAB, coming out victorious over the Blazers. 

During the competition, Coach Sitake and other coaches participated in television production meetings with the ABC crew for Saturday's game. Each game week features a production meeting with the producers and game commentators to gather background information and get to know coaches and players from the team in preparation for the broadcast. 

Coach Sitake also participated in other media interviews during the day, including a live interview on The Jim Rome Show in the afternoon. Watch the interview here. 

The evening concluded with another friendly competition with UAB, dubbed "The Big Game Show" by the Independence Bowl committee. Both teams competed in various game show type activities, with BYU winning the final event to take home the top prize for the week's competition.

The Cougars will participate in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes breakfast on Thursday, have another practice session and participate in other bowl events.