SAN ANTONIO, Tex. (ABC4 Sports) – The Cougars have arrived in San Antonio for what they hope will be an Alamo Bowl to remember.
“Super excited to be down here,” said defensive end Tyler Batty. “We’ve heard great things about San Antonio and just the experience, so we’re just really excited to be here.”
BYU head coach Kalani Sitake is excited about the game and for all the food for which the city is famous.
“I plan on gaining some weight this week, and making it hard to keep my New Year’s resolution,” Sitake said.
Of all the non-playoff bowl games, this should be one of the best featuring two ranked Big 12 teams in #17 BYU and #23 Colorado.
This game has a great reputation, one of the prestigious bowls and that are out there,” Sitake said. “It so happens that we’ve got two ranked teams that are matched up against each other. We have a lot of respect for Colorado.”
What does BYU have to play for? Well, for one thing, they want to become just the second BYU team in the last 15 years to win 11 games in a season.
“It’s about getting that 11th win,” said quarterback Jake Retzlaff. “That’s a big deal. 11 wins is a huge accomplishment, and we know we’re playing a really good football team. So we’re excited for the opportunity to go out there on Saturday.”
“This team proved a lot this season,” said Batty. “Guys worked really hard and sacrificed really hard. I think for us to be able to add an 11th win to that win category would be huge, not only for this season, but for the team going for the next season.”
After missing a bowl game entirely last season, the Cougars are going to relish every moment this week in San Antonio.
“Missing last year was really hard for us, especially not having the extra practices,” Sitake said. “But we didn’t just want to get back to it and be in a position where we can just play in a bowl game. We want to make sure that we performed well in all our games, and having the extra time I think it’s important for us to try to end it the right way.”
“Last year was definitely an off year,” Batty said. “It was it was frustrating and a little weird to be sitting around in December not preparing for a bowl game. So it’s great to be back.”
BYU (10-2) and Colorado (9-3) will kick off the Alamo Bowl Saturday, December 28th at 5:30 p.m. on ABC4.
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