SALT LAKE CITY – You know college football is around the corner when ESPN drops its annual anthem.

On Thursday, ESPN released the 2025 edition of what they call their “College Football Anthem.” This year’s song is an unreleased track by Machine Gun Kelly (MGK) called “don’t wait run fast.”

Along with announcing the anthem selection, ESPN dropped a hype video.

In the video for the 2025 season from ESPN, appearances were made by the BYU and Utah football teams.



A highlight of BYU’s Parker Kingston returning a punt for a touchdown last year against Kansas State appeared in the video. Along with Kingston, a dejected BYU fan with a stretch Y logo hanging around their neck showed up.

Kingston is heading into his junior season and is expected to be a key return specialist again for the Cougars.

Utah defensive end Logan Fano made an appearance near the end of the hype video with a clip of him “flashing the U” with his hands after the Utes’ win over Oklahoma State last season in Stillwater.

Fano is preparing for his redshirt junior season with the Utes and is one of the top defensive ends in the program after recording six sacks the past two seasons.

Then the video panned to another shot of BYU players and fans after the Kansas State win last September, with a graphic over the video that said, “The wild world of college football” and ESPN’s new College Football logo for the 2025 campaign.

BYU opens the 2025 college football season against Portland State on August 30 on ESPN+ and KSL NewsRadio.

Meanwhile, Utah travels to the Rose Bowl to take on former Pac-12 rival UCLA on August 30.

History of ESPN College Football Anthems

  • “Centuries” by Fall Out Boy (2014)
  • “History” by Lauren Alaina (2015)
  • “Collider” by X Ambassadors & Tom Morello (2016)
  • “Walk On Water” by Thirty Seconds to Mars (2017)
  • “Natural” by Imagine Dragons (2018)
  • “Let Go.” by Judah & The Lion (2019)
  • “Come & Go” by Juice WRLD & Marshmello (2020)
  • “Run It” by DJ Snake, Rick Ross & Rich Brian (2021)
  • “The Emperor by YUNGBLUD (2022)
  • “Something Real” by Post Malone (2023)
  • Get By by Jelly Roll (2024)

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU athletics in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.

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