BYU Football DE Tyler Batty Needed Stitches On Injured Ear

PROVO, Utah – After BYU football defeated SMU last week in Dallas, defensive end Tyler Batty looked like a boxer who had gone through a championship fight.

That’s because he had a large bandage over his left ear.

Look at Tyler Batty’s ear.

He missed the end of #BYU’s first defensive series in the third quarter because he was being attended to by trainers.#BYUFootball pic.twitter.com/fYH2EEmJ8I

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) September 7, 2024

When Kalani Sitake was asked about his preseason All-Big 12 defensive end’s ear in the postgame, he was surprised by the extent of the injury to his star defensive end’s ear.

During SMU’s first offensive series of the third quarter that resulted in one of their five field goal attempts, Batty left the field moments before SMU’s 4th down attempt to extend the drive.

Tyler Batty explains what happened to his ear during the SMU game

In a weekly interview on Cougar Tracks on KSL Sports, Batty explained what happened to his ear.

“I know there’s been a lot of speculation and a lot of questions about [my ear] from the game,” Batty said in a weekly conversation with KSL Sports. “It was just a weird play there. In the third quarter, I’m just wrapping up and making a tackle.

“We were kind of gang-tackling someone on our sideline, and I took a helmet to the ear. A helmet to the ear happens all the time, right? You get a little pinch, it just stings for a second and then on you go. No big deal. So it was annoying for a second but it wasn’t anything crazy and I didn’t realize that anything more than just a pinched ear had happened. I was like, ‘It stings for a second, whatever. Move along.’

“I play a couple of more snaps and then their offensive linemen start to comment on it and are like, ‘Oh, hey, this guy’s bleeding. He’s got blood all over!’… Then I looked down at my shoulder and I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s a bit of blood. I wonder where that’s coming from.’ Then just the way things went, I ended up getting subbed out. I get over to the sideline, take my helmet off, and when I had gotten hit, it had pinched my ear hard enough that it had pretty much sliced my ear and left just a little flap. There’s this little piece of flesh hanging on and a little flap of skin holding it on. So the ear was bleeding like crazy.”

Despite having a “piece of flesh hanging,” Batty returned to the game and put together one of the best hits, a tackle on SMU QB Kevin Jennings.

Batty later explained that he got stitches on his ear in Dallas.

“So after the game, they stitched it up. I’ve got like five stitches, I think, to clean that up. But outside of that, it’s been fine.”

Do you think this hit was before or after Batty hurt his ear??? I mean… I think he may be wanted by authorities in Texas now. @Tyler_Batty2 #BYU #BYUFootball @KSLSports @huutransuperman pic.twitter.com/QGbnSdFxVK

— Sam Farnsworth (@Samsworth_TV) September 7, 2024

BYU football, Batty gear up for Wyoming this weekend

Through two games in the 2024 season, Batty has recorded seven tackles, five quarterback hurries, and one pass deflection.

Batty will lead BYU’s defense in a rivalry matchup against the Wyoming Cowboys this Saturday night in Laramie. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. (MT) on CBS Sports Network and KSL NewsRadio.

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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