SLC Times

AMERICANS FOR ENERGY INDEPENDENCE (AMERIPAC) issued the following announcement on March 15.

BYU’s football team will log plenty of miles, and get tested like almost never before, in its final season of independence before it joins the Big 12 in 2023.

The Cougars released their 2022 football schedule on Tuesday, and it is as difficult as advertised, although BYU will play two fewer Power Five teams in this season than it did in 2021 when it went 10-3, including 6-1 against P5 foes.

BYU will play teams from 11 different states and six different conferences, along with fellow independents Notre Dame and Liberty.

Perhaps the most startling revelation is that the Cougars will play 10 straight weeks before their first and only bye — the weekend of Nov. 12.

There are two changes from what was previously announced: BYU’s game against instate rival Utah State has been moved to Thursday, Sept. 29, which gives the Cougars two additional days to prepare for the Oct. 8 game against Notre Dame in Las Vegas. Notre Dame has a bye the week before it plays the Cougars.

Also, BYU will host East Carolina on a Friday (Oct. 28), giving the Cougars two midweek games.

In all, the schedule includes nine teams that qualified for a bowl game last season (two appeared in New Year’s Six games) and five programs that finished ranked in the top 25 last season.

It does not include rival Utah for the first time since 2015. The Utes and Cougars ended up facing off in the Las Vegas Bowl that year after they weren’t scheduled to meet in 2014 or 2015.

Power Five teams on the schedule include Big 12 champion Baylor on Sept. 10, Notre Dame on Oct. 8 in a Shamrock Series game at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, nationally ranked Arkansas of the SEC on Oct. 15 and Stanford and Oregon of the Pac-12. Oregon finished first in the Pac-12 North last year, while Stanford features quarterback Tanner McKee, a one-time BYU recruit who served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Brazil.

The Stanford game on Nov. 26 will also mark a homecoming for new BYU fullback Houston Heimuli, who played for the Cardinal the past four years.

Three Mountain West teams dot the Cougars’ 2022 schedule, including Utah State, which earned a No. 24 ranking last year after winning the Mountain West championship and beating Oregon State handily in a bowl game. The Cougars will face Boise State of the Mountain West for the last time in a while, as their series reportedly will end when BYU joins the Big 12. They will host former WAC and Mountain West rival Wyoming on Sept. 24.

The Cougars will travel to the East Coast twice, opening the campaign Sept. 3 against South Florida in Tampa, Florida, and returning on Oct. 22 to face Liberty in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Utah Tech of the Football Championship Subdivision, formerly known as Dixie State University, will play BYU for the first time on Nov. 19, which will be the Cougars’ senior day.

Kickoff times and television broadcast plans will be announced at a later date.

Season ticket renewals for home games at LaVell Edwards Stadium are currently underway for existing ticket holders. New season ticket sales will be announced in April and go on sale at the beginning of May.

Original source can be found here.