BYU Football Will Fly Out Of Salt Lake City For Arkansas Game

Sep 14, 2023, 1:13 PM | Updated: 1:14 pm

KSL Sports

SALT LAKE CITY – BYU football goes on the road this weekend for the first time in the 2023 season. The Cougars are gearing up to travel down to SEC Country to face the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Trips against teams in the SEC don’t happen for BYU. The last time BYU faced a team from the Southeastern Conference was 2019 against Tennessee. But something that happens even less for BYU is flying out of Salt Lake City.

BYU typically flies from Provo Airport, located six miles west of BYU’s campus. This week, the flight has to be from Salt Lake City International Airport as Provo Airport undergoes scheduled maintenance on the runways.

Provo Airport undergoing runway maintenance

“This week, [Provo airport is] resurfacing the tarmac. So this is the first time that I’ve actually traveled out of Salt Lake for any of our away games,” said BYU defensive end Tyler Batty during his weekly interview with KSL Sports on the Cougar Tracks Podcast.

BYU will take buses from Provo to Salt Lake City before taking a nonstop afternoon flight into Fayetteville, Arkansas.

When flying out of Provo, players drive to the airport on their own.

“So normally, you just take your car to the airport, park it, walk out, get on the plane, and away we go. It’s pretty sweet,” Batty said on the usual travel out of Provo Airport.

BYU football will fly out of Provo again next week

BYU will return to its usual travel schedule next week when they leave for their first Big 12 Conference game against the Kansas Jayhawks on September 23. Provo Airport is expected to resume operations on Tuesday, September 19.

During the flight, BYU head coach Kalani Sitake and the coaching staff usually sit in Delta’s Comfort+ section. BYU’s starters get the chance to sit in first class.

Hal & Fili are holding it down on the ground

While coaches, staff, and players enjoy the comforts of charter flights, the BYU football equipment truck is on the road. Equipment truck drivers Hal & Fili left BYU’s Student Athlete Building on Wednesday night.

🚨TRUCK TRACKER🚨Hal and Fili are off to Arkansas! #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/MlewwSKcUD

— Josh Hewitt (@byuequipment) September 14, 2023

It’s the first road trip for BYU’s new wrap on the track.

BYU vs. Arkansas

Date: Saturday, September 16, 2023

Location: Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium (Fayetteville, Arkansas)

Kickoff: 5:30 p.m.

TV: ESPN2

Radio: KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM) — Extended pregame coverage begins at Noon

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.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X and Threads: @Mitch_Harper.