BYU Announces Football Games with San Diego State and McNeese State

PROVO, Utah (Feb. 9, 2017) — BYU director of athletics Tom Holmoe today announced agreements for future football games between the Cougars and former Mountain West Conference foe San Diego State and McNeese State of the Southland Conference.

BYU is scheduled to meet SDSU in San Diego on Nov. 30, 2019, with a return game in Provo on Nov. 14, 2020, while McNeese State will come to LaVell Edwards Stadium for the 2018 season. Meeting for the first time, the Cougars and Cowboys will play on either Sept. 22 or Oct. 13. The exact date will be determined later.

“We’re pleased to announce a new series with San Diego State as well as a first-time matchup with McNeese State,” BYU director of athletics Tom Holmoe said. “We’re excited to renew our strong history with San Diego State in a series that has included many incredible games over the years. We also look forward to hosting McNeese State in Provo.”

BYU and San Diego State renew a series that has been played 36 times since the first matchup in 1947, with the Cougars holding a 28-7-1 advantage. From 1978 to 2010 the two schools faced each other as conference opponents. San Diego State joined the Western Athletic Conference in 1978 before the Aztecs and Cougars became two of eight charter members of the Mountain West Conference in 1999. The two schools have met once since BYU became an FBS independent program in 2011, with the Cougars prevailing 23-6 at the 2012 San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl played at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

SDSU has appeared in a bowl game during each of its six seasons under current head coach Rocky Long, who has also guided the Aztecs to three Mountain West titles (2012, 2015 and 2016). Coming off back-to-back 11-3 seasons in 2015 and 2016, San Diego State has achieved a 54-26 (.675) overall record and 36-11 (.766) conference resume under Long’s direction. The Aztecs culminated their outright conference-title campaigns in 2015 and 2016 with bowl wins over Cincinnati (42-7, Hawaii Bowl) and Houston (34-10, Las Vegas Bowl), respectively. SDSU has won 21 conference titles overall in its history.

Located in Lake Charles, Louisiana, McNeese State is a FCS team from the Southland Conference that boasts an all-time record of 431-252-13 (.629) since it began playing football in 1940. The Cowboys have a strong winning tradition finishing as the FCS national runner-up in 1997 and 2002 and have captured 14 conference championships.

McNeese State made national news in 2013 when they opened their season with a 53-21 triumph at South Florida, the largest margin of victory by a Football Championship Subdivision team over a Football Bowl Subdivision team. Currently coached by Lance Guidry, McNeese State has achieved a winning record each of the past 12 seasons.

BYU was founded in 1875 and began playing varsity football in 1922. The Cougars won a national championship in 1984, have played in 35 bowl games, including each of the last 12 years, and won 23 conference titles before independence. BYU players have achieved 13 Consensus All-America selections, seven Sammy Baugh Trophy winners, four Davey O’Brien Award recipients, two Outland Trophy honorees, one Doak Walker Award, one Maxwell Award and one Heisman Trophy winner.

Kickoff times and broadcast plans will be determined at a later date. For more information on BYU football, visit BYUcougars.com.