Some players on the BYU football team had never even heard of Shreveport, La., until they found out they were traveling there to play their Independence Bowl game against the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
“To be honest, I have no idea where Shreveport is,” senior defensive lineman Uriah Leiataua said Monday. “I haven’t even looked it up yet.”
But when the Cougars arrived there on Tuesday, they began reveling in the experience of being in a new city.
For some, it’ll be the first time they’ve ever set foot in Louisiana. Coach Kalani Sitake, however, once visited the state for a trip to the Sugar Bowl. And there’s one thing he has on his mind.
“I’m looking forward to that good food out there,” Sitake said this week. “You don’t get this body from not eating. I plan on gaining some weight while I’m out there and then try to lose it all of 2022.”
When Sitake thought back to the Sugar Bowl experience, he said, “The game was fun, but the food was unbelievable.” Many of the Cougars are also looking forward to filling their bellies on the trip.
Freshman defensive lineman Tyler Batty confidently spoke for all the players about how adventurous they are when it comes to trying new food. “Whatever you put in front of us, yeah, we’ll take a bite of,” he said. And even though they eat well at home, it’s when they travel that they get a chance to showcase their culinary curiosity.
“I think everyone’s excited to get down there and try some new stuff,” Batty said. “And for guys that are from the south, [they get to] go home and go back to the south and enjoy some favorites. So I think everyone overall is definitely excited for a little bit [of the] taste of the south.”
Food is not the only part of the bowl experience for the Cougars. Aside from getting a slew of gifts — Independence Bowl participants receive a gift suite, a Fossil watch, a New Era beanie and a commemorative football — they’ll also get to take in some cinema. Leiataua said the team is seeing the new Spider-Man movie on Friday.
“‘Spider-Man’ is going to be dope,” Leiataua said.
BYU will of course have practices and film sessions and media obligations during bowl week. But for the team, it’s another chance to be together and strengthen bonds.
“It’s always fun to go to different places and see different things,” junior wide receiver Gunner Romney said. “We still have practice, it’s still scheduled, but there’s a lot of free time out there. So it’s really just an opportunity to bond with your teammates and create even more of a brotherhood than we already have.”
Quick hits
• BYU flipped three football commitments from the University of Virginia — Joe Brown of Lone Peak and the McKenzie twins of Pine View.
• Clark Barrington is coming back to Provo.
• Gordon Monson wrote about bowl selections across Utah, including how BYU may have gotten a “raw deal.”
• Kalani Sitaki signed an “unprecedented” new contract.
• Women’s volleyball lost in five sets to Purdue in the NCAA Tournament.
Other voices
• Women’s basketball drops in the AP Poll, while the men are no longer ranked, via Deseret News.
• A recruiting analysis of BYU football’s class of 2022, via KSL.
• Decision time looms for BYU football players as bowl approaches, via Daily Herald.
• Five things the Cougars have to play for in Independence Bowl, via Cougs Daily.
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