Norma GonzalezLaVell Edwards will continue to be empty when the Cougars face UTSA Saturday.
BYU Athletics announced on Tuesday that the decision was based on the current moderate (orange) risk COVID-19 designation for Provo, which will seemingly not be changed this week.
Following this week’s game, the Cougars will travel to Texas to take on Houston Oct. 16.
However, “the university hopes to have fans in the stadium on Oct. 24 versus Texas State,” as continued efforts to lower case counts and current trends in the community improve.
On Monday, coach Kalani Sitake said he wasn’t sure when fans would be able to return to LaVell Edwards, but would like to get people in the stands because it would be fun to have players families and fans cheering them on.
At the same time, though, the players have gotten used to playing in empty stadiums.
“We’ve had three games now with no fans, and we’ve got the passion and excitement going,” Sitake said.
Either way, the Cougars won’t be worried about fans — or lack thereof — on Saturday. They have bigger things to worry about.
“We’re not going to be worried about anything other than focus on UTSA and trying to do everything we can to get a competitive advantage during the week of preparation practice, and then hopefully things go our way when we match up against UTSA on Saturday,” Sitake said.
Norma Gonzalez, a Texas native, joined The Tribune by way of Arizona. A 2014 graduate of the University of Texas-Pan American, Norma has reported on sports since high school. Some of her former live include being a cake decorator, an educator and Olive Garden server. The unlimited soup, salad and breadsticks still occasionally haunt her dreams.