CINCINNATI — There’s something about night games and the BYU football team.

The 11th-ranked Cougars (9-1, 6-1 Big 12) have enjoyed a tremendous run of success that includes a 20-3 record over the past two seasons under head coach Kalani Sitake.

But go back even further, and a trend has been developing: BYU is 34-4 in games that kick off at 7 p.m. MST or later since 2019 (additional wins this season over Arizona and Utah fell just outside the 7 p.m. kick window to count).

“Give us an 8:15 p.m. game at home, and it’s going to be hard to come in here and beat us,” senior safety Tanner Wall said after the Cougars’ most recent 44-13 late-night win over TCU. “That gives us a lot of confidence.”

Confidence is one thing. But the run of form in late-night kicks is beginning to transcend superstition.

Accustomed to the late time slots of a decade of independence buoyed by an exclusive television contract with ESPN, the Cougars — and their fans — have shown out when the sun goes down more often than not, earning a cheeky nickname “Vampire Cougs” by those close to the program.

“It’s just the schedule that we have,” BYU linebacker Isaiah Glasker said. “We’re just kind of used to it by now. The hard part is just waiting until you get to the game.

“You’re in the hotel all day, watching other college football games, and it makes you kind of antsy to play. I feel like that’s a big factor, too.”

Last week, the Cougars arrived at LaVell Edwards Stadium under cover of darkness — the product of daylight saving time and those noted late kicks.

That was a little different, Glasker admitted. But from the pregame to the postgame, there was plenty of reason to party as BYU jumped out early on TCU and never looked back.

“It was dark,” Glasker said. “But you get to the stadium, and the atmosphere is great. So I guess you’re just used to it at this point.”

But can the Cougars take it on the road?

Saturday’s regular-season road finale at Cincinnati will kick off at 8 p.m. EST, or 6 p.m. for those who believe in “body clocks” and the like. Either way, the sun will have set on the Bearcats’ Nippert Stadium by the time BYU has a chance to potentially clinch a Big 12 title game berth (with some help) on FOX.

Will the familiar kick time make the visitors feel at home?

“It feels almost the same,” Glasker said. “I feel like most of our games this season have been that 8:15 kick, getting home around 3 or 4 a.m. So at this point in the season, I feel like we’re already used to it.

“Cougs play better at night,” he added.

With respect to the Horned Frogs, Cincinnati is a different kind of beast.

The Bearcats (7-3, 5-2 Big 12) were in the thick of Big 12 championship contention until its most recent two-game slide to No. 13 Utah and Arizona. Now they’ll need some help to make the conference championship game — though they are one of six teams still alive for a spot Dec. 6 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

BYU can eliminate Cincinnati (with help) from title contention with a win Saturday, and losses by Arizona State and Houston or a loss by Arizona State and a win by Utah will clinch a likely rematch with Texas Tech.

Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby throws a pass during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Iowa State, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, in Cincinnati.Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby throws a pass during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Iowa State, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, in Cincinnati. (Photo: Carolyn Kaster, Associated Press)

Both teams still have something to play for, including a Bearcats squad that will hope to send off 22 seniors with one last win at historic Nippert Stadium.

That includes renowned defensive lineman Dontay Corleone, the 6-foot-1, 335-pound Cincinnati native with 11 tackles since returning from a health scare over the past seven games.

“They have good players, a good scheme, well-coached. They’re good,” offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said of the Bearcats. “The other challenge is we’re on the road, and we didn’t handle our last road game (at Texas Tech) very well. We didn’t handle the crowd noise very well; we’ve got to get better with that.

“It’s also a long trip,” he added of the Cougars’ first trip to the eastern time zone since Sept. 20 against East Carolina. “We’ve done it before and we’ve won games on the road in the past. But it’s a huge challenge, for sure. And this is a team that is very good.”

The Cougars will be without linebacker Max Alford and offensive guard Weylin Lapuaho for Saturday’s fourth game all-time against the Bearcats after both left last week’s game against TCU with an injury.

Safety Tommy Prassas and running back Sione Moa also continue to be out, and freshman defensive tackle Ulavai Fetuli was also added to the “out” section of the Cougars’ conference-mandated availability report Thursday evening.

Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby, who has struggled with injuries the last few weeks, was listed as probable by Bearcats coach Scott Satterfield.

“You can see why they’ve had so much success early in the year,” said BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill, who compared Sorsby to TCU’s Josh Hoover though with more mobility. “They’re a talented crew, and well-coached, too.”

How to watch, stream and listenNo. 11 BYU (9-1, 6-1 Big 12) vs. Cincinnati (7-3, 5-2 Big 12)

Saturday, Nov. 22

  • Venue: Nippert Stadium; Cincinnati, Ohio
  • Kickoff: 6 p.m. MST
  • TV: FOX (Jason Benetti, Robert Griffin III, Alexa Landestoy)
  • Streaming: FOX One
  • Radio: BYU Radio SiriusXM 143, KSL 1160 AM/102.7 FM (Greg Wrubell, Hans Olsen, Mitchell Juergens)
  • Series: BYU leads, 3-0

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.