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Opposing teams will now find it more difficult time playing in the LaVell Edwards Stadium.
As the Cougars prepare for their upcoming game against Texas State, a new wrinkle is added to the equation — not from the opposing team’s scheme — but from the fans back in LaVell Edwards Stadium.
The 60,000-seat stadium will no longer remain silent at kickoff when the Cougars take on the Bobcats. However, the stadium will only seat 6,000 fans.
The state of Utah still requires the COVID-19 protocols and social distancing requirements, but Brigham Young University fans can now cheer their Cougars on in person.
Jake Gonzales, a student at BYU, is looking forward to being back at the stadium for the game. “I feel like the best part of college is going to the games, like, that’s why I wanted to go to BYU more than anything. And so once they said that they were going to let fans in the games, I was freaking out.”
Martin Carter also is excited that BYU will be hosting fans at football games, although he is not attending Saturday’s game at Texas State. He says, “Yeah, actually, I’d love to go. I mean, I always loved going last year.”
Brandon Clark is already ready to attend the game on Saturday as well: “I was super excited. I remember my roommates and I, we were talking about going to the game, and super excited about the announcement.”
The parking lots at LaVell Edwards Stadium, which has been home to many tailgates and hangouts before Cougars games, have remained somewhat silent over the last few months. But it will now be present to a small fraction of what it has seen in past years — something is better than nothing.
Head Coach Kalani Sitake knows the significance of having fans back in the stadium and what it means to his players and coaches: “Well, our players and our coaches, we love our fans. So, that’s gonna be the main part is that we appreciate our fans so much and look forward to having them there. ”
Masen Wake, fullback for the Cougars, feels that not only do the players and coaches love the fans — it fuels them to play better and to play harder.
“Even when there is just, like, the opponent’s fans, that just fuels me inside. I don’t know about the other players, but I mean, that energy…definitely brings your game to another level.”
Cougar Nation will now participate live in this Saturday’s game against the Texas State Bobcats as No. 12 BYU looks to go 6-0.
The university put a limit of 30,000 fans for the first time since the creation of LaVell Edwards Stadium — then known as Cougar Stadium, in 1964 — but Cougar fans hope to make 6,000 feel like 60,000.
