After some last-minute game alterations, BYU has announced its football schedule for this upcoming season.
After starting the 2011 season away at Ole Miss, BYU is starting the 2012 season off with two consecutive home games against Washington State and Weber State.
'The first game of the season is always so important,' BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe said, 'especially when you play someone at home. If we get that win under our belt, we set the tone for the rest of the season.'
BYU will play mostly home games during the first half of the season until the Cougars head to South Bend, Ind., to compete against the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, followed by a game at Georgia Tech.
'This will be a tough travel,' Holmoe said. 'It is tough on a team. ... This is a little bit of a challenge to go back to back against these challenging teams.'
Similar to last season, BYU scheduled several games against WAC foes later in the season. Last year, this caused an unhappy fan base in November. This year, a game scheduled at San Jose in mid-November will be exciting for the large fan base near the bay, Holmoe said, hoping to keep the last part of the season energized.
As one of four independent schools in the country, BYU's schedule is more flexible than most other schools, making the scheduling more opt to change, Holmoe said. This was in part the reason for the delayed schedule, with some changes in the last couple months scheduling teams and moving some dates around with several Wac teams.
However, Holmoe shows confidence in this upcoming season.
'It is a good schedule, I think it will be better than last year,' he said.
Saturday
09/01/12Washington State Cougars
LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo, UTSaturday
09/08/12Weber State Wildcats
LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo, UTSaturday
09/15/12at Utah Utes
Rice-Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City, UTSaturday
09/22/12at Boise State Broncos
Bronco Stadium, Boise, IDSaturday
09/29/12Hawaii Warriors
LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo, UTFriday
10/05/12Utah State Aggies
LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo, UTSaturday
10/13/12Oregon State Beavers
LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo, UTSaturday
10/20/12at Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame Stadium, Notre Dame, INSaturday
10/27/12at Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Bobby Dodd Stadium, Atlanta, GASaturday
11/03/12--- Open Date Saturday
11/10/12Idaho Vandals
LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo, UTSaturday
11/17/12at San Jose State Spartans
Spartan Stadium, San Jose, CASaturday
11/24/12at New Mexico State Aggies
Aggie Memorial Stadium, Las Cruces, NM