Baylor Coach, Fans Give High Praise To BYU Football Game Atmosphere

PROVO, Utah – The future Big 12 tilt between BYU and Baylor left an impression on the folks from Waco.

LaVell Edwards Stadium was rocking on Saturday night during BYU’s 26-20 double-overtime win over the Bears. It’s remarkable to think how far BYU’s gameday atmosphere has come.

LES is making some noise!

📷: @BYUPhoto #BUvsBYU #BYUFootball #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/nNgZcfKTsQ

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) September 11, 2022

At the beginning of the Bronco Mendenhall era in 2005, fans from message board communities like CougarBoard were gathering to devise plans to get everyone to wear blue to games.

Fast forward to this year’s home opener, and the sea of royal blue from Cougar Nation left an impression on the Big 12’s defending champion.

That’s a significant change in less than two decades. Sure, a top 25 matchup helps the cause. But BYU’s fan base has shown since they were allowed back after the COVID-19 pandemic, they want to make a difference at LES.

Baylor coach Dave Aranda praised BYU

“A lot of praise and recognition to BYU. They played hard and I thought the environment was a good one. There was a home field advantage there,” said Baylor coach Dave Aranda on September 12. “I thought, collectively, for us, we let the outside affect the inside.”

#BYU takes down No. 10 Baylor! pic.twitter.com/CXwctab9rG

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) September 11, 2022

Even Baylor fans, who brought a strong contingent of fans filling up the northwest corner of LaVell Edwards Stadium, were impressed with BYU’s atmosphere.

BYU is a bunch of Ted Lassos

Baylor fan Mark C. Moore and blogger for OurDailyBears.com, part of the SB Nation network, raved about BYU’s fans and school, referring to them as “Ted Lassos.” If you’re unfamiliar with the series, that’s a compliment to BYU, as Lasso is one of the nicest TV characters you’ll probably ever see.

Moore continued by calling it one of the loudest road venues he’s ever attended in person.

“It was also the second-loudest stadium I’ve ever been to as a visitor at a college football game behind only Kyle Field. BYU fans are extremely loud, extremely passionate, and extremely disciplined. I would put them ahead of the Aggies in that regard, actually. When BYU is on offense, they are virtually silent—almost eerily so—until something positive happens. When BYU is on defense, they are nearly deafening.”

Baylor diehard fan “T-Rex” pleaded to Baylor’s marketing to get on the level of BYU’s gameday atmosphere.

I hope @BaylorAthletics Fan Engagement team spent the entire BYU game taking notes as to how a football game atmosphere should be done. Because we are far from that & it’s sad an independent out does a P5 Conference Champ in game atmosphere. Let’s work on this together bears!

— T-REX (@T_REX1991) September 12, 2022

“I hope @BaylorAthletics Fan Engagement team spent the entire BYU game taking notes as to how a football game atmosphere should be done. Because we are far from that & it’s sad an independent out does a P5 Conference Champ in game atmosphere. Let’s work on this together bears!”

Last year, Baylor defeated BYU in Waco, and they did it in dominating fashion. The Bears crushed the Cougars, 38-24 and committed no penalties. In Provo? Different story.

Walking up the aisle to my seat a guy handed this to me and thanked me for coming. 🥹🙂 pic.twitter.com/w7iVg9XbMe

— BNT (@BearNTex) September 11, 2022

The Bears committed 14 penalties for 117 yards during BYU’s double-overtime win. A similar look to what BYU’s rowdy crowd did to Arizona State last season, causing multiple false start penalties.

“I can remember being in the huddle of our offense on the sideline, I can remember being on the sideline and the huddle of our special teams, and the huddle of our defense, and just seeing real big eyes,” Aranda said. “So anytime you see the big eyes, that generally tells the story. That’s the forewarning of those things.”

BYU’s next home game will be a late-night tilt against the Wyoming Cowboys. When facing a team like Wyoming, it will be hard to replicate the atmosphere for a game against the Big 12 Champion. But, even last year, against teams such as USF, BYU’s student section, The ROC was in the stands to capacity 90 minutes before kickoff.

BYU fans are quickly making LES one of the best atmospheres in college football, and people that experience it are taking notice.

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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