BYU Football 2021 Schedule Features Seven Games Against Power 5 Teams
Feb 27, 2021, 11:21 AM | Updated: 11:21 am
BYU head coach Kalani Sitake on the sideline during the Cougars win on November 6th, 2020. (BYU Photo/Jaren Wilkey)
(BYU Photo/Jaren Wilkey)
PROVO, Utah – BYU football formally released its 2021 schedule on Saturday, and barring any changes due to a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, the Cougars will face seven Power 5 teams.
Last year, BYU finished 11-1 and ranked No. 11 in the final AP Top 25 poll, the highest ranking for the Cougars since 1996.
The 2021 season opens for BYU on Saturday, September 4 in Las Vegas at the “Death Star.” No, it’s not a Star Wars movie, BYU will play in the Las Vegas Raiders Allegiant Stadium against the Arizona Wildcats from the Pac-12 Conference.
The 2021 @BYUfootball schedule has officially been announced.
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— KSL Sports (@kslsports) February 27, 2021
BYU then opens up their home schedule against rival Utah. Last year’s rivalry matchup was canceled due to the Pac-12 Conference going to a conference-only schedule amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Utah has won nine in a row in the series. The last victory for BYU against Utah was in 2009. Utah is expected to have one of the best defenses in the Pac-12 in 2021, but there are questions at quarterback and running back.
The Cougars then welcome an old WAC rival in Arizona State to Provo for the first time since 1998. Arizona State boasts one of the nation’s top quarterbacks in Jayden Daniels. The Sun Devils are coached by Herm Edwards, former New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs head coach.
BYU hosts South Florida in a game that will be a little bit of revenge for Kalani Sitake’s program. Two years ago, BYU lost against the Bulls in a surprising setback. USF is now coached by former Clemson Co-Offensive Coordinator Jeff Scott, who was winless against FBS competition last season.
The Battle for the Old Wagon Wheel returns to the schedule on General Conference weekend. BYU takes on Utah State on Friday, October 1 at Maverik Stadium in Logan. Utah State welcomes in former Arkansas State head coach Blake Anderson as their head coach, replacing Gary Andersen.
Typically, the first month of BYU’s schedule is where all the Power 5 competition takes place. That’s not the case in 2021. BYU has three games against Power 5 teams in the month of October and two P5’s in November. But before that, BYU hosts Boise State in Provo on October 9.
BYU has won the last two games in the series against the Broncos who are now coached by former Boise State linebacker and Oregon defensive coordinator Andy Avalos.
For the first time since 2014, BYU takes on a team from the Big 12 Conference, and there will be some familiar faces on the opposite sideline. BYU takes on the Baylor Bears in Waco on October 16. Baylor hired Jeff Grimes to be their offensive coordinator, and former BYU OL coach Eric Mateos to the same position.
Seven years after hosting Washington State in Provo, BYU makes its first-ever trip to the Palouse on October 23. Washington State is coached by former Hawaii coach Nick Rolovich and features one of the top running backs in the Pac-12 in Max Borghi.
A homecoming will take place on October 30 when the Virginia Cavaliers roll into Provo. Virginia is coached by former BYU head man Bronco Mendenhall. Mendenhall was BYU’s head coach for 11 seasons and won 99 games with the Cougars. He has built Virginia into a division contender in the ACC, highlighted by an Orange Bowl appearance in 2019.
BYU closes out its home schedule against Idaho State on November 6 then two weeks later makes its first-ever trip to Statesboro, Georgia to face the Georgia Southern Eagles.
The 2021 season closes out with a high-profile matchup on Thanksgiving weekend in Los Angeles against the USC Trojans. BYU defeated USC in double-overtime in 2019 where Kedon Slovis, was a true freshman signal-caller for the Trojans.
2021 BYU Football Schedule
Sept. 4 – vs. Arizona (Las Vegas)
Sept. 11 – UTAH
Sept. 18 – ARIZONA STATE
Sept. 25 – USF
Oct. 1 (Fri.) – at Utah State
Oct. 9 – BOISE STATE
Oct. 16 – at Baylor
Oct. 23 – at Washington State
Oct. 30 – VIRGINIA
Nov. 6 – IDAHO STATE
Nov. 20 – at Georgia Southern
Nov. 27 – at USC
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m., KSL Newsradio). Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper and the KSL Sports app.
