2022 BYU Football Schedule Announced

Mar 15, 2022, 10:36 AM | Updated: 10:45 am

BYU vs Baylor Football Game Action Shot...

The 2022 BYU football schedule will include a matchup against future Big 12 rival Baylor in Provo. (Jaren Wilkey/BYU Photo)

(Jaren Wilkey/BYU Photo)

BY MITCH HARPER

KSL Sports

PROVO, Utah – The 2022 BYU football schedule is now official. BYU unveiled its 2022 slate, which includes five games against Power 5 opponents.

This 2022 campaign marks BYU’s final year as an FBS Independent before moving into the Big 12 Conference in 2023.

#BYU officially releases the 2022 football schedule.

Utah State game moves to Thursday, Sept. 29, and ECU on Friday, Oct. 28.#BYUFootball @kslsports pic.twitter.com/GpTOKy6Meu

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) March 15, 2022

“We’ve got to stay humble and stay hungry and just get after it. I think a lot of people want to talk about next year. This is a good test for us to see if we can be focused,” said BYU football coach Kalani Sitake on the goals for the 2022 season.

“I don’t think –and this is my fault– as a team, we were focused enough to win the bowl game last year, even with the injuries and all that being said, I just want to make sure that going into this year that our guys stay hungry. When we are hungry and we want it, we’re a really good team. So it’s avoiding things like complacency and entitlement. And that’s my job to get these guys ready for that.”

Final Independent Season

BYU opens the 2022 season on September 3 in Tampa, Florida, at NFL venue Raymond James Stadium to take on the South Florida Bulls from the American Athletic Conference. The following week on September 10, BYU hosts defending Big 12 Champion Baylor Bears in Provo. Last season, Baylor defeated BYU 38-24 in a matchup between two future Big 12 rivals.

BYU was ranked No. 18 in the KSL Sports’ Way-Too-Early preseason Top 25 for the 2022 season. BYU will play four of the five Power 5 games and check into the rankings.

Those teams are Baylor, Oregon (September 17), Notre Dame (October 8), and Arkansas (October 15).

2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣2️⃣ SCHEDULE pic.twitter.com/VFvsDsXXTy

— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) March 15, 2022

After another sneak-peek at life in the Big 12 Conference, BYU will go on the road again to face the Oregon Ducks in Eugue for the first time since Ty Detmer’s Heisman Trophy-winning season in 1990. Former Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning now coaches Oregon.

A pair of Bowl-winning teams from the Mountain West Conference round out the first month of the season in Wyoming (September 24) and Utah State (September 29). A long-time WAC & Mountain West rival in the past, Wyoming makes its first trip to Provo since 2010.

For years, the Battle for the Old Wagon Wheel has been a weeknight fixture. BYU/Utah State will kick on a Thursday night before General Conference weekend.

Notre Dame is a highlight on BYU’s slate

BYU will square up with fellow FBS Independent Notre Dame on October 8 in Las Vegas. That game will air on KSL 5 TV in primetime as part of Notre Dame’s Shamrock Series. The Irish are now coached by former ND defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman, who replaced LSU’s Brian Kelly.

The back half of the schedule includes a rare home game against an SEC foe in Arkansas on October 15. Arkansas’s trip to Provo will mark the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

BYU will make only its second trip to the east coast on October 22 when they face the Liberty Flames coached by Hugh Freeze.

A Friday night home tilt with East Carolina rounds out October. Then November includes three games, starting with Boise State on the road on November 5, newly named Utah Tech on November 19 for Senior Day in Provo, then Stanford in Palo Alto to close out the season on November 26.