BYU Wins ‘Big Game Belt’ Over UAB During Independence Bowl Week

SHREVEPORT, Louisiana – Chalk up at least one win for BYU football at the Independence Bowl. The Cougars took down UAB to claim the “Big Game Belt.”

There were three activities to determine the winner of the belt. On Tuesday night, the first activity took place during the welcome dinner where UAB defeated BYU in a Madden challenge. Then on Wednesday, there was an ax-throwing competition, in which BYU came away with a win led by punter Ryan Rehkow.

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— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) December 15, 2021

The third and final event was a game show at the Riverview Theater in Shreveport, hosted by an individual sporting a red bowl game blazer.

There were five different games within the game show.

The first game was called “And The Answer Is…” featuring BYU and UAB kickers in Jake Oldroyd and Reese Burkhardt. UAB took the win in that game, which included a question about the width of an NCAA goal post. Oldroyd missed the multiple-choice question, giving UAB the points.

Jaren Hall knows cartoons

BYU starting quarterback Jaren Hall was teamed up with offensive lineman JT Gentry for a game called “Know It All.” It was probably a fitting pick considering Gentry is viewed as one of the most intelligent players in the classroom on the team.

The three categories in the game were Heisman Winners, Cartoons, and Sports Talk. UAB got two of the Heisman winner questions right despite the game’s judges saying they were wrong after a Blazer player said “RGIII” instead of “Robert Griffin III.” They then fixed their mistake.

BYU got on the board led by Hall in the cartoons section when he quickly responded to a question that asked, “what is the vehicle in the Scooby-Doo series?” Hall answered, “The Mystery Machine.” The sophomore signal-caller also got an answer right about The Lion King.

BYU and UAB split the correct answers in the “sports talk” section.

A game called “Face Off” involved everyone in the auditorium. Turn right or left on what you think the answer is to a particular question. If you get the question wrong, you then sit down. The final two individuals left standing were a player from UAB and BYU wide receiver Terence Fall.

Fall came away with the win after correctly guessing who People Magazine crowned the Sexiest Man Alive was in 1985. The answer was Mel Gibson, in case you needed that random knowledge.

Family Feud with BYU Football

After that, the teams played a little bit of Family Feud. BYU’s five-man team included Talmage Gunther, Lopa Leiataua, Jackson McChesney, Ben Bywater, and defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki.

All of the answers in the survey questions were from the players on both teams.

UAB won the first survey question asking, “what would you skip if you were late for class?”. The second round went to BYU with the survey centered around “things you would find in a football coach’s office.” A UAB player had the answer that earned the biggest laughs from the crowd when he answered, “dip.” And no, he wasn’t referring to what goes with your chips.

The Blazers bounced back in the third round pulling off a clean sweep on the survey question that asked, “What is your favorite breakfast cereal?” Cinnamon Toast Crunch was the resounding number one answer among the players.

The night ended with a game called “Drop It Like It’s Hot.” Teams of three had to guess a multiple-choice question correctly. BYU’s team was Gunner Romney, Malik Moore, and Passing Game Coordinator Fesi Sitake. They came away victorious to give BYU the “big game belt” title.

No. 13 BYU vs. UAB

2021 Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl

Date: Saturday, December 18, 2021

Kick: 1:30 p.m. (MT)

Location: Independence Stadium (Shreveport, Louisiana)

TV: ABC

Radio: KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM — Extended pregame begins at 9 a.m.)

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.

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