Home field advantage to Cougars?

There’s something about Sam Boyd Stadium and the Cougars.

A blocked field goal to beat UCLA here a year ago? The win over a cocky Oregon team the previous year? How about a 10-2 record in Las Vegas all time? The Cougars have beat UNLV here seven times and is 7-0 against the Falcons at their own place.

Cal and Air Force are the only two teams to have defeated the Cougars in Las Vegas. Remember the 1996 WAC championship game here in 1996 when Itula Mili’s knee exploded and Steve Sarkisian led the Cougars past the Cowboys for a bid in the Cotton Bowl?

That blocked kick by freshman Eathyn Malumaleuna was a big time play here a year ago. It is plays like that that make history and highlight films. Can the Cougar continue this run of big plays and wins today and give BYU three consecutive bowl wins for the first time in history?

Something about this place that gets the Cougars going. Will that happened today?

Maybe. Don’t turn over the ball.

In talking to BYU’s players, they feel they have an advantage here. Even with the disappointment of not going undefeated and having to return here for the fourth time in a row, they believe in this place.

You can’t explain it. It is not all that tangible except in the numbers but there is something here for the Cougars and it could come into play today.

Max Hall’s uncle, the famous Danny White, is in town to support his nephew. Cougar fans from surrounding states have converged on Las Vegas for the fourth-straight year and it is not lost on the local businesses, the bowl committee and the media that cover sporting events here. They simply do not see sellouts in Sam Boyd Stadium unless BYU is involved and they are not hesitant to give BYU and its fans plenty of credit.

David Hasselhoff will sing the national anthem today. Kickoff is just four hours away.