BYU, Liberty Held Postgame Prayer Together After Hard-Fought Game

PROVO, Utah – Both BYU and Liberty are faith-based institutions that navigate college football as FBS Independents.

After BYU defeated Liberty 31-24 in a hard-fought game, the two teams met after the final seconds ran off the clock for a postgame prayer at midfield.

#BYU and Liberty players met at midfield after the game for a postgame prayer. #LIBvsBYU #BYUfootball #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/GSQPesIpeD

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) November 10, 2019

Usually, after a college football game goes final, there is the customary handshakes and friendly exchanges between the two teams. What led to the postgame prayer?

“It was such a cool moment in the middle of the field when we were shaking hands. Our players were really impressed with them. It’s a unique game,” said BYU head coach Kalani Sitake.

It was definitely unique. The only other program that can claim in FBS college football to be an Independent along with a faith-based institution is Notre Dame. Saturday night’s win for BYU was the first time the Cougars faced the Flames in program history. The two programs will meet in 2022 at Liberty’s Williams Stadium in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Kalani Sitake on the postgame prayer with Liberty: “It was such a cool moment … Our players were really impressed with them. It was a unique game. The Liberty fans should be really proud of their players.”@BYUfootball @LibertyFootball #GoCougs #LIBvsBYU #BYU pic.twitter.com/4JCraNLDgJ

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) November 10, 2019

“I’m just going to say that the Liberty fans should be really proud of their players and the way that they competed,” Sitake said. “I thought it was really cool for us to have that moment. Just a lot of class and sportsmanship and there was a lot of competition in a violent game that BYU and Liberty played tonight, I thought it was such a great example of what’s great about the game too. That’s a credit to the players and what they’ve done and the hard work. At that moment when they were shaking hands, it was such a cool thing.”

BYU is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Liberty is a private Evangelical Christian university.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.