BYU’s trip to Colorado State comes with more than a little built-in familiarity, even if the Cougars haven’t been to Fort Collins in a while.
For Kalani Sitake, the memories go back to his playing days. At Monday’s weekly press conference, the BYU head coach said the old road trips to face the Rams still stand out, especially because of the atmosphere.
“Those games were always competitive, but I just remember I remember the the environment,” Sitake, who played fullback for the Cougars from 1997-2000. “I remember the the fans.
I was really impressed with with the fans, and I kind of miss that. For me, it’s like when we went back to Wyoming and got to see the fans there, that was kind of a cool memory again.
And so I’m looking forward to being in Fort Collins in that area.”
Back when BYU and Colorado State were conference opponents in the Mountain West, and even earlier in the Western Athletic Conference, the Cougars made that trek every other season. The latest trip to Fort Collins, though, came all the way back in 2010 - and BYU made sure it counted, rolling to a 49-10 win.
This week’s game also has a personal angle for BYU right tackle Andrew Gentry, who grew up in the Denver area before playing at Michigan and then transferring to BYU before last season. He said returning to Colorado, this time in BYU colors, will be especially meaningful.
“It’s going to be fun to go back there playing in front of a home crowd,” Gentry said. “Last year playing up (against Colorado) was a lot of fun playing in Boulder.
So, it’s a really cool experience to go back two years in a row to play in Colorado and have that hometown feel. We used to go up to team camp in high school up at CSU, so it’s going to be fun playing in a familiar place and playing in front of family and friends.
So, I’m just excited and grateful I get to play in front of my family.”
Gentry said his childhood loyalties never leaned toward Colorado State. Growing up in Littleton, Colorado, he was already locked in on BYU.
“I was a BYU fan growing up. So, I was locked in on BYU, so it was hard to cheer for CSU back in the Mountain West days when I was growing up,” he said.
“You know, if anything, I would cheer for CU, right, just being that was the school that I would cheer for in Colorado. But I was always a BYU fan before anything else growing up.”
There’s also a coaching connection on the other sideline that BYU knows well. Colorado State passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Matt Mitchell spent time with the Cougars as a quarterbacks analyst from 2022-2025, giving him a close look at BYU’s personnel and offensive approach. Sitake said Mitchell’s familiarity runs deep.
“He knows he knows our offense, and he worked closely with Bear, worked closely with our personnel, so he knows our team,” Sitake affirmed. “He he even knows what we have on our defensive side, so he’s been around us (and) he’s been around with us for many years. He knows what we’re doing and he knows what we’re doing.”
Still, Sitake doesn’t believe the biggest edge comes from a coach’s notebook. In his view, the game will be decided by what the players can execute in a single week of preparation.
“It’s not really what the coaches know, it’s what the players know,” Sitake said. ” … I don’t think they’ve been sitting there memorizing our playbook the entire year, you know So, whatever they can get done in a week, good for them, and whatever we can do in our week is going to be beneficial, and what what we feel like we can take advantage of even (with) them knowing us.”
Colorado State also has former BYU linebacker Matt Ah You on staff. Ah You played three seasons for the Cougars before moving into coaching and now serves as the Rams’ nickelbacks coach.
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