How to watch: BYU football’s 2026 season opener vs. Utah Tech

How to watch, stream and listen: BYU’s 2026 season opener vs. Utah Tech

Aug 31, 2026, 10:03 PM | Updated:10:04 pm

PROVO — Lance Anderson is entering just his third season as head coach at Utah Tech, but his relationship with BYU football’s Kalani Sitake goes back much farther to Anderson’s first defensive  coordinator job and Sitake’s first full-time NCAA Division I coaching gig.

The year was 2003, and Anderson had recently been named defensive line coach and co-defensive coordinator at Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, California. On the schedule for the Gaels, who discontinued the football program in 2004, was Southern Utah and a former BYU fullback breaking into the business coaching running backs, full backs and tight ends.

This was six years before Sitake found his calling on defense, when he rose to become Kyle Whittingham’s defensive coordinator at Utah to springboard a an 84-45 career in 10 seasons at his alma mater.

But Sitake hung on Anderson for advice, both as a defensive mind and as one of a handful of college football coaches who were active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the time.

“You know me: if I can have any time with you, I’m going to try to hang out and learn from you,” Sitake said Monday before the No. 14-ranked Cougars’ season opener against the Trailblazers.

“He has an amazing reputation as a mentor, and what he’s done for so many young men in the game,” he continued of Anderson. “He’s a great, faithful member of the church and we have that in common, too. The way he mentors people, he’s a loving coach and seeing the defenses he’s put together — how they punish people but play with great class and great sportsmanship. I wish nothing but the best for Lance Anderson, every time except for the few hours we play each other.”

Saturday will be Game 2 for Anderson’s Trailblazers, but Monday marked the first game week of BYU football’s highly anticipated 2026 season. Here’s how to catch it on TV, radio, and online:

How to watch BYU vs. Utah Tech

• Date: Saturday, Sept. 5
• Kickoff: 6 p.m. MDT
• Venue: LaVell Edwards Stadium
• TV/Streaming: ESPN+
• Broadcast team: Pete Sousa (pxp), Leger Douzable (analyst), Austyn Iven (sideline)

we know you’ve been waiting for this 👇

GAME ONE UNI COMBO. pic.twitter.com/4gOFbgXazI

— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) August 31, 2026

How to listen to BYU vs. Utah Tech

• Radio: KSL 1160 AM, 102.7 FM
• Satellite: BYUradio SiriusXM 166
• Broadcast team: Greg Wrubell (pxp), Hans Olsen (analyst), Mitchell Juergens (sideline)

What to know about Utah Tech

The Trailblazers are in the third season under head coach Lance Anderson, an Idaho State graduate and longtime Stanford assistant coach who earned a strong reputation for recruiting Utah high school football players and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the Cardinal under head coaches Jim Harbaugh and David Shaw.

From Simi Fehoko to Levani Damuni to Dallas Lloyd and Tanner McKee, Anderson helped build a strong Latter-day Saint culture on “the Farm” near Palo Alto, California.

Utah Tech (0-1) kicked off its Big Sky tenure with a 54-0 loss Saturday night to No. 1 Montana State, the defending FCS national champion. The Trailblazers are led by former Dixie High quarterback Bronson Barben and Boise State transfer CJ Tiller under center, and senior safety Quincy Lejay and linebacker Will Alovao on defense.

BYU football in season openers

The Cougars are 9-1 in season openers during Kalani Sitake’s previous 10 seasons as head coach, including last year’s 69-0 win over FCS Portland State at LaVell Edwards Stadium that launched a second-straight double-digit win campaign.

BYU’s lone loss season-opening loss under Sitake came to start the 2019 season, when rival Utah upended the Cougars 30-12 en route to a 7-6 campaign. Only once since then have the Cougars not won at least 10 games, a 5-7 mark in the program’s first season in the Big 12 in 2023.

BYU vs. Utah Tech series history

The Cougars and Trailblazers are meeting for the second time in both program’s histories. Utah Tech debuted in Provo in 2022, when Jaren Hall threw for a career-high 456 yards and five touchdowns and Keanu Hill had six receptions for 137 yards and three scores as current Green Bay Packers running back Chris Brooks ran for 102 yards.

The game was the first under the “Utah Tech” banner for the Trailblazers after the university rebranded from Dixie State prior to the 2022 campaign. Formerly the Dixie State Rebels (1952-2009) and Red Storm (2009-16), the Trailblazers jumped to Division I on July 1, 2020 when it joined the Western Athletic Conference and played football as a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) independent.

— Utah Tech Football (@UtahTech_Fball) August 30, 2026