BYU's Opening Day Opponent is...

by Jeremy Mauss on Jan 14, 2008 8:56 PM PST

If you guessed Northern Iowa from the Gateway Conference then you are correct!! Thanks from Total Blue Sports. This team is from the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA), and this is a tough game to swallow if you are a BYU season ticket holder because for 3 of the past 4 years BYU has had a FCS team for a certain win. I know Bronco Mendenhall wants a balanced schedule but with what Nevada did to BYU this is not a shocker that a FCS team was scheduled. Most reasonable fans of BYU would have like to see at least a top team from the C-USA, MAC, or schedule a mid to low team from the Big XII, Big 10, or Pac-10 so that the game would not be a FCS team but rather a solid team that the Cougars know they would win. This is also puzzling because Nevada was to help find an opponent for BYU but looks like they did not try hard enough. The game is set along with the rest of BYU's non conference schedule with games against @Utah State, UCLA, @ Washington, and now Northern Iowa.

The Panthers were one of the better FCS teams by achieving the number one ranking nationally, going undefeated in regular season before losing in the playoffs to Delaware. They have also won 4 straight Gateway Conference championships. With BYU's finish and the year starting out with Northern Iowa, a mediocre Washington and UCLA team, and then Utah State the Cougs could be looking at a top 15 ranking at least heading into conference play.

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I am an avid BYU fan and want to see them do well, but I think that Bronco is not doing his team any service by scheduling down. A victory over any division I football team will do much more for the confidence of the team especially when they still struggle against other Mountain West teams. I am disappointed, but hopefully Bronco knows something that I do not know since he is a head coach and I am not.

By the way, great blog.

by Mike Smith on Jan 15, 2008 8:40 AM PST reply actions

I hardly think that UNI is scheduling down. I’m a BYU grad living in Iowa, and again I say, Northern Iowa is no cream puff. Last year, UNI dominated the I-AA division (can anyone remember Appalachian State-Michigan?), only to lose to a good Delaware team. UNI dominated every other team they played, including Iowa State (a BCS conference team). UNI is a good team and will make for a very entertaining game this fall, so come on, give Northern Iowa some love.

by Jon Cardwell on Jun 18, 2008 8:12 AM PDT reply actions