BYU Football Team Adjusts Sleep Schedule For Early Baylor Game

PROVO, Utah – The “Vampire Cougs” storyline is coming out again this week for BYU football.

Reddit’s college football community, r/CFB, had a thread on BYU’s success at night compared to the daytime. This breakdown comes on the heels of BYU’s late-night upset over nationally-ranked Kansas State last Saturday in Provo.

Plus, the now 22nd-ranked BYU squad is gearing up to take on Baylor this Saturday in Waco. The kick time is early as it will get rolling on the banks of the Brazos River at 11 a.m. (CT)/10 a.m. here in Utah.

Since 2019, BYU has been 28-3 in night games and 9-14 in day games.

Last season, they were 0-5 in day games.

BYU is a vampire team update: Since 2019 BYU is now 28-3 in games with no sunlight, and 17-19 in games with sunlight.
byu/Kruger-Dunning inCFB

So far, amidst BYU’s 4-0 start to the 2024 season, the Cougars haven’t played a day game.

Is it cause for concern?

Typically, the best opponents are going to be games played during the day, so this shouldn’t come as a significant alarm. Also, this BYU team is better this year than the one who struggled through its first year as a Big 12 squad a year ago. But it is a trend entering Saturday’s tilt with the Bears.

To prepare for the early kickoff time, BYU’s sports scientists and training staff led by Drs. Coleby Clawson and Skyler Mayne have instructed players this week to wake up at 6:00 or 6:30 a.m. so they are used to Saturday’s earlier-than-usual game day routine.

“Last week, I was forcing myself to stay up until one o’clock in the morning and going to sleep so that I wouldn’t be hitting the third quarter [against Kansas State],” said BYU center Connor Pay to JJ & Alex on the KSL Sports Zone. “…So [this week] it’s the opposite, where they want us getting in bed by 9:30, 10 o’clock and waking up at 6:00 to 6:30 this entire week.”

Typically, BYU arrives on the road at a stadium two hours before kickoff. This Saturday that would be an 8 a.m. Utah time arrival. So that leaves an early game day in the heart of Big 12 country.

“So that’s kind of the bigger thing: it changes our sleep schedules just because we’re going to be getting up 6 a.m. Utah time [on Saturday] and we have to get up and eat. If you haven’t done that four or five days in a row, you’re going to feel pretty crappy waking up and eating that early when you haven’t been doing it.”

No. 22 BYU at Baylor

Date: Saturday, September 28, 2024

Kickoff: 10 a.m. (MDT)

TV: FS1

Radio: KSL NewsRadio (Extended pregame begins at 7 a.m.)

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.

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