PROVO, UT – BYU football is back. On Saturday night, Kalani Sitake and the BYU football program kickoff the 2024 season at home agains the Southern Illinois Salukis. The game is nearly sold out. If you’re unable to attend the game, below is all the information you need to either watch or listen to the game.

This game will only be available to watch on ESPN+. ESPN+ is a streaming-only service, meaning you will need an ESPN+ subscription (separate from cable) to watch the game.

TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Listen: BYURadio.org, KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM/1160 AM
Kickoff Time: 6 PM Mountiain Time

BYU (0-0) vs Southern Illinois (0-0)
Saturday August 31, 2024
6:00 PM MT Kickoff
Lavell Edwards Stadium (62,073)

The Cougars kickoff the 2024 season against FCS foe Southern Illinois. The Salukis are an FCS powerhouse and they come into this game ranked no. 11 in the preseason FCS poll.

BYU has never lost a game to an FCS opponent with a perfect 18-0 record.

Earlier this year, BYU unveiled the uniforms it will wear in every game this season. For the season opener against Southern Illinois, BYU will wear the all royal uniforms with white facemasks on the royal helmets. This exact combination (if you include the facemask) has not been worn before.

CHANNAHON —The Illinois Department of Transportation announced on Thursday that repairs to the bridge carrying Interstate 55 over the Des Plaines River, in Channahon, will begin, weather permitting, Tuesday, Sept. 3.

To complete the work, motorists should expect overnight and weekend lanes closures in both directions of I-55 approaching the bridge. The closures are scheduled to take place, weather permitting, from approximately 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays, from 9 p.m. Fridays to 9 a.m. Saturdays and from 9 p.m. Saturdays to 11 a.m. Sundays. At least one lane in each direction will remain open.

Digital message boards will be installed in advance of the work zone to display real time traffic information. To bypass excessive backups and congestion Illinois 47 and Interstate 80 are recommended alternative routes.

The $4 million project, which consists of replacing expansion joints and installing a new deck overlay, is anticipated to be completed in December.

The public can expect delays and should allow extra time for trips through this area. Alternative routes are encouraged. Drivers are urged to pay close attention to flaggers and signs in the work zones, obey the posted speed limits and be on the alert for workers and equipment.

No. 25 Iowa will unveil what it hopes will be an improved offense under first-year coordinator Tim Lester when it opens the season against Illinois State in Iowa City on Saturday.

Based on his experience from knocking around the Big Ten as a defensive assistant in the 1990s and 2000s, Redbirds coach Brock Spack predicted even if the Hawkeyes’ offense is improved, there won’t necessarily be anything new about it.

Spack quoted the tough-guy title character in the 1971 movie “Billy Jack” to make his point.

“Billy Jack says, ‘You know what, I’m going to put my right foot on the side of your face, and there’s nothing you can do about it,’” Spack said. “That’s Iowa football. They’re going to try to run that outside sprint and inside zone and they’re going to say, ‘There’s nothing you can do about it.’”

The Hawkeyes won 10 games and made it to the Big Ten championship game last year in spite of an offense that ranked at the bottom of the Bowl Subdivision. Brian Ferentz, coach Kirk Ferentz’s son, finished the season as coordinator after athletic director Beth Goetz announced in October he would not be back in 2024.

Lester, hired in January, spent last season as a senior analyst for the Green Bay Packers. The offense may feature more motion and perhaps some run-pass options for quarterback Cade McNamara, but nothing too flashy.

“I think good effort obviously, playing fundamentally sound and not doing things that are going to beat us, would be a good starting point,” he said. “Then if we can get a little momentum going and hit a couple plays, that’s always a good thing, too. That’s usually what it takes for offensive production.”

Wallace is in charge

Head coach Kirk Ferentz will serve a self-imposed one-game suspension along with wide receivers coach Jon Budmayr for committing a recruiting violation

Assistant head coach Seth Wallace, the linebackers coach and assistant defensive coordinator, will take over Ferentz’s game-day duties.

“I would say we want to (win) for him, but at the end of the day, we’re also doing it for our teammates,” defensive back Sebastian Castro said.

Ferentz said there’s no need for the team to rally around his absence.

“We’ve got a good group of guys, and the staff will do a great job,” he said. “To me it’s almost a non-factor. It could be the same thing if I got hit by a truck or something like that.”

Cade says he’s OK

McNamara, who tore the ACL in his left knee in the fifth game last year, made it to game week with no health problems.

“I’ve gotten over it,” he said. “My leg’s not injured. There’s no injury, there’s nothing. This is the best my body has felt, I’m fully confident of that.”

Surprise RB starter

Kamari Moulton is listed as the No. 1 running back on the Iowa depth chart ahead of veterans Leshon Williams and Kaleb Johnson. Ferentz said Williams has been battling a nagging injury and Moulton merits the job for being consistently sharp at practice. Moulton appeared in four games last season to preserve his redshirt and ran for 50 yards and two touchdowns.

Redbirds’ starting QB?

The identity of Illinois State’s starting quarterback remained a mystery as of midweek. Spack said before preseason practice he’ll likely have a two-quarterback system with 2023 backup Tommy Rittenhouse and Kansas State transfer Jake Rubley.

Thanks for the memories

The Redbirds have played eight games against a Bowl Subdivision team since Spack took over in 2009. Five of those have been against Big Ten opponents, with the Redbirds beating Northwestern 9-7 in 2016. They’ve also knocked off Colorado State (2018) and Eastern Michigan (2012). Iowa will pay Illinois State a $650,000 guarantee.

“What I like about them is it’s a bus ride — you don’t spend a lot of money on an airplane — and the kids in the Big Ten (footprint), most of them are from the Midwest, if not Illinois and the Chicago area. They watched these teams and now get to play against them.”

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