Boise State athletic director wants to schedule future games with BYU. Here’s why
Boise State and BYU don’t have any football games scheduled for now, but Broncos athletic director Jeramiah Dickey said he hopes that will change.
“We have to get them back on the schedule,” Dickey told the Idaho Statesman on Sunday. “We have so many fans who support us and BYU. It’s a game that brings communities together, and I’d love to play them in the future.”
Boise State and BYU have played every year since 2012, and the Broncos went 6-5 in that span, including a 31-28 loss Saturday in Albertsons Stadium. The all-time series dates back to 2003, and Boise State owns an 8-5 advantage.
Dickey, who was hired in January 2021, experienced his first game between the Broncos and Cougars in Albertsons Stadium on Saturday. The stands were packed, and a crowd of 36,461 watched Cougars wide receiver Puka Nacua haul in the game-winning touchdown pass with 1:46 to play.
Dickey tweeted before the game that he was working on scheduling future meetings between the rivals. He said Sunday that he hasn’t had anything beyond general conversations about it with BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe. Dickey also said he understands that his counterpart in Provo, Utah, has his hands full right now.
BYU, an FBS Independent since 2011, will join the Big 12 in 2023. The Cougars are preparing to play at least eight conference games a year moving forward. They need to balance their schedule with nonconference games that boost their College Football Playoff resume while preserving in-state rivalries.
BYU is likely to continue its annual rivalry game with Utah and keep Utah State on the schedule on at least some basis.
Dickey said he’d be OK with it if Boise State and BYU played every two or three years once the Cougars get settled in the Big 12. He just wants the rivalry to continue.
“It’s not going to happen overnight, but I have a lot of faith we can get something done,” he said. “I understand that they probably can’t play all three of us every year. We just hope to get to a place where we can schedule some home-and-homes in the future.”
BYU head coach Kalani Sitake is also in favor of getting Boise State back on the schedule. He said last week that he doesn’t “want to see a good thing end.”
Boise State players say it’s important to them, too.
“It’s a historic game,” Boise State wide receiver Stefan Cobbs said last week. “It’s a game we look forward to every year.”
Boise State (6-3, 5-0 Mountain West) travels to Nevada on Saturday (8:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network).
This story was originally published November 7, 2022 at 1:12 PM.
