BYU to open 2013 football season at Virginia, host Cavaliers in '14
Provo •The BYU Cougars will open the 2013 football season at Virginia and will play host to the Cavaliers at LaVell Edwards Stadium in 2014, the schools announced Wednesday.
Next year's game will take place Aug. 31 at Scott Stadium, while the 2014 game is scheduled to be played Sept. 20, BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe said.
"I really like this series with Virginia," Holmoe said. "It's been more than a decade since we played at Virginia. It should be a great game for BYU fans in that part of the country and will provide a unique travel experience for both teams."
Tuesday, BYU announced it would play at Michigan in 2015. Last week, the Cougars signed a home-and-home agreement with Cincinnati that calls for the Bearcats to play in Provo in 2015 and BYU to play at Cincinnati in 2016.
BYU has now announced 11 games on its 2013 schedule. The road schedule now includes games at Virginia, Utah State, Houston, Wisconsin, Notre Dame and Hawaii. The Cougars will play host to Texas, Boise State, Utah, Georgia Tech and Middle Tennessee State.
Because it plays at Hawaii in 2013, BYU is allowed by NCAA rules to play a 13th game if it desires, but it most likely will not.
The Cougars and Cavaliers have met three times, with Virginia winning the 1987 All-America Bowl in Birmingham, Ala., by a score of 22-16. Virginia defeated BYU 45-40 in Provo in 1999, and the Cougars won 38-35 in overtime at Virginia in 2000, LaVell Edwards' final season.
"We feel fortunate that we were able to schedule a series with BYU, a school with a strong football tradition, on such short notice," said Jon Oliver, Virginia executive director of athletics "Historically, the games have been very competitive and we look forward to opening the season against them in 2013 in Scott Stadium."
The series was made possible after the Atlantic Coast Conference decided its member schools would go from a nine-game league schedule to eight games in 2013 and beyond.
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