Baking in July, BYU looks to a really ‘cool’ November

November is coming.

It only takes one burning hot week in July to long for a really cool week in November. That’s when Utah’s triple-digit temperatures will be cut in half, when daylight is reduced by four hours and when fandom across Cougar Nation will ping at an unprecedented decibel.

Over a five-day stretch between Nov. 5-9, when the afternoon highs might hit 50 degrees, BYU football and BYU basketball will revel in a singular week of anticipation that makes enduring a 100-degree weekend a price worth paying to get there.

New head basketball coach Kevin Young will roll out his first BYU roster on Tuesday, Nov. 5, against Central Arkansas at the Marriott Center. Four days later, Kalani Sitake will take his football team into Salt Lake City to reunite with the rival Utes.

Both “cool” events will make different sorts of history, and neither will require sunscreen, enhanced hydration or relentless air conditioning.

Kevin Young’s debut

What BYU has done with its basketball program in a few short months has never been done before. First, the Cougars hired away the NBA’s highest-paid assistant (Young) to lead the program. Second, Young hired a program-record five assistant coaches, a chief of staff, a director of player development and director of operations.

While assembling the staff, Young retained Dawson Baker, Richie Saunders, Dallin Hall, Fousseyni Traore, Trevin Knell, Trey Stewart, Jared McGregor and Townsen Tripple from the former roster. Then, in unprecedented fashion for BYU, he started landing big fish swimming in ponds far from Provo.

A pair of freshmen, Egor Demin (Moscow, Russia) and Kanon Catchings (Brownsburg, Indiana), who are both touted as first-round draft picks in next year’s NBA draft, made eye-catching headlines. Demin is tagged as a potential lottery pick.

Young also signed two more ESPN Top 100 freshmen ( Elijah Crawford and Brody Kozlowski ) and a trio of post-player transfers from Utah ( Keba Keita ), Rutgers ( Mawot Mag ) and Snow College (Max Triplett). Last week, he reportedly added 6-9 Khadim Mboup (NBA Academy Africa) with his final scholarship.

To thirsty fans in July, the roster (on paper) appears as a tall glass of cold water. But for Young and his staff, the calendar is far from refreshing. They have work to do. The results of the next three months of campaigning on the court will determine who wins the starting spots on Nov. 5 — which is both election night across America and opening night for Young at the Marriott Center.

Football reunion

Four days after Young’s highly anticipated debut, Sitake will try to cap the wild week with his first win at Utah since becoming head coach and BYU’s first victory at Rice-Eccles Stadium since John Beck and Jonny Harline combined to beat the Utes in 2006.

Broadcast details will determine the kickoff time, but this has been a game in the making since their last clash as conference members in 2010. Now as joint residents of the Big 12, there will be more than just pride on the line.

Utah quarterback Cam Rising , who missed last season with a knee injury, has never played in the rivalry game, but he gets it.

“I just want to go down there, whoop their (expletive) pretty much,” Rising told Big 12 media members last week in Las Vegas. “That’s all I’m focused on.”

BYU center Connor Pay shot right back.

“I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Pay said. “We feel the same way. We are looking forward to that game. We are glad they are in our conference now.”

During BYU’s 12-year run as an independent, the Cougars went 0-3 at Utah — losing by an average of four points. Sitake is 0-2 at Rice-Eccles against his long-time friend and former boss Kyle Whittingham .

The gutsy first-year head coach ordered a two-point conversion attempt in the final minute of the 2016 game. Quarterback Taysom Hill was tackled at the 1-yard line and the Utes escaped with a 20-19 victory.

Two years later, in 2018, behind true freshman quarterback Zach Wilson, BYU built a 27-7 lead late in the third quarter. The No. 18 Utes rallied to win 35-27 in the largest comeback in series history.

BYU and Utah haven’t played since 2021, when the Utes came to Provo seeking their 10th-straight win in the rivalry. Sitake had his Cougars ready and, one day after BYU accepted an invitation to join the Big 12, he grabbed his first win in the historic showdown, 26-17.

Now that both teams are in the Big 12, the Nov. 9 clash takes on additional meaning. The Cougars and Utes will collide in the same conference for the first time since they both bolted the Mountain West in 2010. The game remains big on its own merits, but the restoration of potential conference championship and playoff implications will make it feel like old times and cap a really cool week.

Something to think about as we bake in July.

Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com .