BYU Football Will Play At Coastal Carolina In College GameDay Spotlight Game

PROVO, Utah – BYU football finally found another game to its 2020 schedule. The No. 13 ranked Cougars will travel to Conway, South Carolina, to face No. 18 Coastal Carolina from the Sun Belt Conference.

There was a lot of chatter yesterday about the possible game. Now it’s official.

BYU and Coastal Carolina have announced a game on Dec. 5, 2020, at Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina. 

ESPN’s College Gameday will be on site for the matchup, and the game will be broadcast at 5:30pm EST on ESPNU.

➡️ https://t.co/hDhdJGN6Xw#BYUFOOTBALL #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/DB2Qg5jf3T

— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) December 3, 2020

This game came to be due to the 9-1 Liberty Flames having to back out of the game due to “COVID concerns” in their program. Liberty’s starting quarterback Malik Willis is one of the notable individuals in their program that has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

BYU Football to play Coastal Carolina

BYU, who has made it clear in 2020 that they will be “mobile and flexible” with their schedule, stepped in and agreed to fill the void. A void the Chanticleers wanted to have filled due to ESPN’s College GameDay making its first-ever trip to Conway, SC.

Having College GameDay was a significant reason why the undefeated Chanticleers wanted to find an opponent to replace Liberty. BYU was happy to step in on the short notice.

Yesterday, as reported here at KSL Sports, BYU held a team meeting with Tom Holmoe present after 3 p.m. (MT), informing them the Coastal Carolina game was a possibility. The coaching staff then studied film on Coastal Carolina before taking the field for a late practice on Wednesday night for the Chanticleers.

BYU coaches stayed up late on Wednesday night/Thursday morning, preparing for the rare undefeated matchup in December. The BYU Football Equipment truck was seen leaving the Provo campus last night for what they called a “quick run to Taco Bell.” Obviously, the drive will consist of a little bit more than an order of bean and rice and cheese burritos.

Just a quick run to Taco Bell… pic.twitter.com/RHKwxkwLvJ

— BYU Equipment (@byuequipment) December 3, 2020

Earlier this season, BYU traveled to Navy in a cross-country game and left Provo the day before the game. BYU will do the same this week for the showdown with the Chanticleers who’s campus is 2,208 miles from Provo. Allowing for the Cougars to get another day of practice before making the trek to Conway.

First-ever meeting

This will be the first-ever meeting between BYU and Coastal Carolina. The Chanticleers currently have one win over a CFP Top 25 team in Louisiana, and they also have a victory against a Power 5 team to open the season versus Kansas.

Coastal Carolina is a football program launched in 2003 as a member of the Football Championship Subdivision. The Chanticleers made the jump from FCS to FBS in 2016 and formally joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2017.

No. 13 BYU at No. 18 Coastal Carolina

TV: 3:30 p.m. (MT)

Kickoff: ESPNU

Date: Saturday, December 5th, 2020

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.