Sitake On Tennessee Trip: ‘Experience Will Be A Lot Better If We Can Cap It Off With A Win”

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee – The BYU Cougars football team is in Knoxville this week to face the Tennessee Volunteers and Cougars head coach Kalani Sitake says the opportunity to play in SEC country is “cool” but the “experience will be a lot better” if the Cougars can come home with a victory.

sports.ksl.com’s Sam Farnsworth interviewed Sitake from the field at Neyland Stadium, home of the Vols, to get the head coach’s thoughts the day before the matchup.

“I think it’s really cool for our guys to have this experience, so the experience will be a lot better if we can cap it off with a win but for the most part, we’re excited to be here and feel the environment that’s in this area right now and looking forward to tomorrow night,” Sitake told sports.ksl.com.

#BYU head coach Kalani Sitake spoke with @SFarnsworthKSL after the team’s walkthrough at Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium.

📺 Watch on @KSL5TV tonight at 10 pm.
📲 KSL TV app pic.twitter.com/tOnMYAQ0FV

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) September 6, 2019

The Initial Feel Of Neyland Stadium

“I think the guys are really impressed with the field. The situation that it’s in, it’s great. I think the grounds crew here has done an amazing,” said Sitake.

Neyland Stadium is a historic college football venue. The stadium is known for it’s orange and white checkered endzones and large crowds. The stadium has a seating capacity of 102,455.

Neyland Stadium is very crisp. #BYU #KSLsports #BYUvsTENN pic.twitter.com/oOIuqoJvVy

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) September 6, 2019

“I think our players are excited to be here,” Sitake continued, “It’s an impressive venue and looking forward to making some plays tomorrow night.”

Significance Of Matchup With Volunteers

The September 7 game will the first between the Cougs and the Vols. BYU’s first trip to the state of Tennessee was in 2014 when the Cougars played at Middle Tennessee State.

Tennessee meets BYU on the gridiron for the first time tomorrow night in Neyland Stadium. #CheckTheStats pic.twitter.com/kjk743PXHr

— Tennessee Stats & Info (@Vol_Stats) September 6, 2019

“I think it’s another opportunity for us to be out in this region for our fans. Our fans are all over the place so I imagine there’s gonna be a good number of fans here watching this game and then just to for our guys to be in a position where they can get to play a team that has so much tradition and a wonderful fanbase,” said Sitake.

BYU is 3-6 all-time against SEC teams. The Cougars have wins against Mississippi State (twice) and Ole Miss. The team has yet to face Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt.

The Cougars will host Missouri in 2020, Arkansas in 2022 and 2023, and Tennessee once again in 2023.

Bounce Back Game

The Cougars will look to rebound from a 30-12 rivalry loss against Utah last week while the Vols are also looking to get their first win of 2019.

BEAT TENNESSEE!!#BYUFOOTBALL #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/kuO4vHuaYL

— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) September 6, 2019

When asked about what the coaching staff’s message is to the team on gameday eve Sitake said, “Most of these guys have been through it already so we’re gonna explain to them visualizing and seeing themselves make plays tomorrow.”

Tennessee is looking to bounce back from their first loss since 2008 to a Group of 5 team. In Week 1, Tennessee was upset at home by Georgia State 38-30.

Back to work.

Week 2 | 7:00 PM | ESPN pic.twitter.com/OZHMoRoy0l

— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) September 1, 2019

“I think just trusting their preparation should give them a lot of confidence and they should rest easy tonight,” said Sitake.

The game will begin at 5:30 p.m. (MDT) and can be heard on KSL NewsRadio 1160 AM and 102.7 FM.

The game will be televised on ESPN.