50 DAYS AND COUNTING

BYU FOOTBALL BEGINS IN
50 DAYS!!!

By UtahValley360 staff

July 15 is an insignificant day unless you are a BYU football fan waiting for the first game of the season.

Today marks 50 days until the first Cougar football game against the Arizona Wildcats in Glendale, Arizona on Sept. 3. In honor of the first game of the season beginning in just 50 days, here are 50 reasons to be excited for the upcoming football season.

1. New football coaching staff.
2. Return of BYU sons: Kalani Sitake, Ty Detmer, Ed Lamb, Ben Cahoon, Reno Mahe, Steve Clark, Mike Empey, Jernaro Gilford, Steve Kaufusi, need we say more?
3. Triple T threat: Tanner Mangum, Taysom Hill and Ty Detmer running the offense.
4. A healthy Taysom Hill running the ball and finding open receivers.
5. The optimistic start of the season.
6. With only a few months to the beginning of football season, preseason watch lists have us excited for our standout players.
7. George Q. Cannon going off each time the team scores.
8. Wearing the royal blue.
9. Reppin’ the Y.
10. Discussions on Twitter with great hashtags like #ThugMormon.
11. Listening to Greg Wrubell’s pregame show.
12. Marc Lyons saying before every game, “Greg, my boy, it’s a great day for a football game.”
13. Eating a Cougar Tail (or two) at the stadium.   
    
14. The return of Jamaal Williams … and his entertaining quotes.
15. Singing the fight song.
16. Taking pictures with Cosmo and watching his insane athleticism as he entertains the crowd.
17. Losing your voice while cheering.
18. The return of the Holy War.
19. Cling-wrapping campus symbols during the week of the Utah game.
20. New players emerging as favorites. For example, nobody knew they would love Tanner Mangum, Mitchell Juergens, Fred Warner or Ziggy Ansah at the beginning of their respective seasons.
21. The Warner brothers. Highly recruited Troy Warner will join his brother, Fred Warner, on the defense.
22. New BYU gear for fans.
23. New BYU uniforms.
24. Press-man pass defense: This should enable the defensive line to get more pressure on the quarterback.
25. Seeing BYU incorporate Ty Detmer’s pro-style offense.
26. The re-emergence of the tight end. BYU Offensive Coordinator Ty Detmer has said they will utilize the tight end position more. Somewhere Chris Smith is smiling.
27. Roasted cinnamon almonds.
28. Re-broadcasts on BYUtv after going to the game.
29. Seeing young BYU fans cheering. (You can never start them too young.)
30. The crisp fall game days with the leaves changing colors.
31. All the sports discussions from the banter on CougarBoard to the trash talk in the office.
32. Watching the team warm up in LaVell Edwards Stadium.  
33. The return of Jamaal Williams.
    
    
34. Senior punter Jonny Linehan’s tweets.
35. Pouring over stats on Sunday mornings.
36. Finally catching a free T-shirt when the cheerleaders throw them into the crowd.
37. Watching students on the front row slapping high fives with players after games, win or lose.
38. The Star Wars Imperial Storm Trooper arm movements in the student section as the marching band plays the Darth Vader theme song.
39. The Homecoming game. A tradition begun in 1911 by the University of Missouri, there’s something Rockwellian about the concept. FYI: BYU Homecoming game in 2016 is on Oct. 14 against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
40. Lighting the Y. A newly-installed lighting system will make this tradition much easier.
41. Increased usage of the “shaka” hand signal. A gesture sometimes known as “hang loose” and Hawaiian culture, flip the hand signal around (with fingers forward) and it’s the ASL sign for “Y.” Thanks Coach Sitake for mainstreaming this!
42. Watching zealous BYU fans attempting to start “the wave” in the stadium.
43. Rushing the field. Reserved for only huge wins, few things beat the rush of watching a student section spill onto the playing field and celebrating with their team.
44. Another student section favorite, the playing of “Popcorn Popping,” as students randomly spring from their seats one by one.
45. Watching the BYU trombone section lean toward each stadium section during the “B-Y-U” chant.
46. Feeling a certain sense of pride that BYU still begins each game with prayer.
47. Seeing how BYU incorporates pink into their uniform colors in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month in October.
48. The occasional trip to Boise State’s unnatural blue-turfed field, scheduled for Oct. 20 this season.
49. The passing down of the giant BYU flag through the student section.
50. Meeting family members on the southwest corner of the stadium near the cougar statue.
51. We think BYU fan Parker Andrus said it best for what we are looking forward to: The return of tradition, spirit and honor to BYU Football. “With the new coaching staff in place, Coach Sitake seems to have accomplished what (Bronco) Mendenhall couldn’t quite do: Unite ALL of Cougar Nation, past and present.”