NCAA Denied BYU Football’s Waiver Request To Practice On Election Day

PROVO, Utah – Time is ticking for BYU to prepare for Friday night’s Top 25 showdown against Boise State.

BYU rolled through Western Kentucky on Halloween night by a score of 41-10, elevating the Cougars to a 7-0 record. The first time they’ve reached that mark since 2001. But now all attention zeroes in on Boise State, and they have to do it in a hurry because the Cougars will be down one less day of practice due to Election Day.

This year, the NCAA passed legislation that prohibits college programs from any athletic-activities to take place on Election Day (Tuesday, November 3rd). This is the first year this has happened. That’s tough for BYU football.

Sitake said that his team applied for a waiver to be able to practice on Tuesday (Election Day). But the NCAA denied their request.

This is the first year the NCAA has implemented legislation that requires teams to not participate in athletic activities on Election Day. #BYU

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) November 1, 2020

BYU never practices on Sunday due to being a school owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That’s typical. Now Tuesday goes out as a potential practice day, and suddenly the Cougars are left with two days of practice heading into Friday on the Blue Turf.

No practice for BYU Football on Election Day

BYU coach Kalani Sitake said that his program applied for a waiver to allow his team to practice on Tuesday, but the NCAA denied their request.

“Nothing is more difficult for us because we don’t do anything on Sunday,” said Sitake after Saturday’s win over WKU. “So we applied for a waiver and got denied. We’ll have to just deal with it. I now look at this as a Thursday game with preparation.”

Sitake’s 7-0 BYU squad will have Monday and Wednesday to practice before a travel day to Idaho on Thursday, one day before a game night on the blue turf.

#BYU will only be able to practice on Monday and Wednesday leading up to Friday's Top 25 showdown against Boise State. Thursday will be a travel day.

Tough week coming up for the Cougars.#BYUFootball @kslsports

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) November 1, 2020

“We’re an experienced team; guys are going to be ready,” said BYU QB Zach Wilson. “No matter how many days of practice, we’re gonna heal up, take our rehab seriously, make sure everyone’s healthy, and you know, for me, it’s the film study. I know other guys are gonna be like that, but the mental reps are, you know, just as good if not better than the practice reps against the scout team, and so that’s going to be crucial this week.”

The clock is rolling and the short turnaround comes on a week that marks one of the biggest BYU football games in nearly two decades.

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.