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Provo • Exactly 44 years and a day after LaVell Edwards made his head coaching debut at home with a 32-9 trouncing of Kansas State, former BYU fullback and current Edwards protege Kalani Sitake will make his long-awaited premiere here on Saturday against an even more formidable foe, UCLA.
Kickoff is at 8:15 p.m. and the game will be televised by ESPN2.
"Oh my goodness, the debut stuff is a little overrated," said Sitake, 1-1 as a head coach after an 18-16 win over Arizona and a 20-19 loss to Utah, where he coached for 10 years and dreamed of one day returning to lead his alma mater. "I feel like this season is already [to the] midseason."
Not counting his stint in 2002 as a graduate assistant at BYU, Sitake is 3-2 coaching games at LaVell Edwards Stadium, all when he was with Utah as a linebackers coach (2005-08) and defensive coordinator (2009-14).
He has acknowledged heading into the visiting locker room before those five games as being "weird, surreal and a bit awkward," at first. This one, BYU's latest home opener since that 54-10 loss to Utah on Sept. 17, 2011 that Sitake helped engineer from the west sidelines, will be different.
"I am excited to hear all our fans and we will give them something to rise and shout [about]," he said.
It definitely won't be easy. UCLA is a three-point favorite and features one of the top quarterbacks in the country in sophomore Josh Rosen.
"Yeah, it is going to be difficult, but I think our guys are up to the task," Sitake said. "To have UCLA here in September, it is going to be great for our fans, great for our team, and we are all excited about it."
After Gary Crowton succeeded Edwards in 2001, the Cougars crushed Tulane 70-35 in his home debut. Bronco Mendenhall wasn't as fortunate when he took over for Crowton in 2005 — the Cougars came out flat and fell 20-3 to Boston College.
Neither of his three predecessors faced as difficult a schedule in their inaugural season, home or away, as Sitake will in his, however.
"I wouldn't want it any other way," he said. "There are great teams all throughout our schedule. Our players are excited about it. I am happy our administration and AD Tom [Holmoe], got these guys on our schedule."
Barring a reshuffling of the schedule that could be brought on by an invitation to join the Big 12 — hopes that seem to be fading by the day — next year's home opener is against Utah, after a trip to Houston to play the SEC's LSU. California visits Provo first in 2018, after a trip to Arizona.
But for now, the Cougars have to deal with UCLA and Rosen.
"He has a [big] arm," said BYU linebacker Francis Bernard. "He can definitely throw the ball downfield. He is a great quarterback, probably one of the best quarterbacks we will play against."
Fellow linebacker Fred Warner, who faced Rosen last year at the Rose Bowl when UCLA rallied late for a 24-23 win, said Rosen is similar to BYU sophomore Tanner Mangum.
"He can throw the rock and he can move in the pocket very well," Warner said. "He's a great player."
The Cougars will try to slow Rosen in the first half without starting free safety Kai Nacua and backup cornerback Austin McChesney. The defensive backs will serve half-game suspensions after their controversial ejections for targeting against Utah — rulings that were upheld by Pac-12 officials in the replay booth and indirectly benefitted UCLA, a Pac-12 school.
"That will be tough having them out for the first half, but that also pulls us together as a defense, knowing that we need to play for them, and take care of business on our side of the ball," Warner said.
Offensively, BYU will attack a UCLA defense that ranks 80th in the NCAA (385.0 yards allowed per game) with large doses of senior running back Jamaal Williams, said to be healthy after a bout with dehydration against Utah.
Offensive coordinator Ty Detmer, also making his home coaching debut, said quarterback Taysom Hill will be directed to look downfield more and the playbook will expand in an attempt to get the ball into the hands of playmakers such as Mitchell Juergens, Jonah Trinnaman and Moroni Laulu-Pututau.
"We have a great foundation of things to build on from last week," Detmer said. "But [UCLA] is a very talented team. They've got great players across the board. It's going to be a heckuva challenge."
Twitter: @drewjay —
BYU vs. UCLA
P At LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo
Kickoff • 8:15 p.m.
TV • ESPN2
Radio • 1160 AM, 102.7 FM, Sirius XM 143
Records • BYU 1-1, UCLA 1-1
Series history • UCLA leads, 8-3
Last meeting • UCLA 24, BYU 23 (Sept. 19, 2016)
About the Bruins • They are coming off a 42-21 win over UNLV in which sophomore quarterback Josh Rosen threw for 267 yards and sophomore running back Soso Jamabo ran for three touchdowns. … They are making their first trip back to Provo since a 59-0 loss in 2008. … They are 37th in the country in total offense, averaging 483.5 yards per game, and 23rd in passing offense (311.5 ypg.). … Their offensive line has given up six sacks in their first two games.
About the Cougars • They are 8-3 in home openers since 2005 and have won four straight home openers. They have won eight straight home games, dating back to a 42-35 loss to Nevada in October of 2014. … They are fifth in the nation in turnover margin (+2.5). … Senior QB Taysom Hill needs 14 yards to become the 13th BYU quarterback to reach 5,000 passing yards in his career. … Jamaal Williams needs 709 yards to become the school's all-time rushing yardage leader.