UTAH COUNTY — BYU football hosted its annual Media Golf Scramble on Monday at Cedar Hills Golf Club.
The players were having fun on the links, but not before putting the work in, which has the Cougars feeling confident headed into year two in the Big 12.
"We're still going hardcore with the workouts," said BYU wide receiver Chase Roberts. "Our strength staff has been on us and making us work, which has been awesome, but really when we're not in the weight room, we're playing golf. And today we only got through 13 holes; we came a little late from workouts."
Teammate and wide receiver Kody Epps added: "To me, this is what makes a great season: the team gelling together and doing stuff like this. That's what makes a great football team. At the end of the day, our coaches can dial up a bunch of things and that's what we have to do as football players, but spending time together is what makes a team be able to push past being average or push past what they did last season."
In BYU's first season in the Big 12 in 2023, the Cougars went 5 and 7 overall with a 2-7 record in the conference, losing their last five games of the season, a time they admit they've learned from the hard way.
"We got a taste of it last year; we got to learn our lessons the hard way. I'm excited for us to get out there and show them: Now we know what's expected, we're going to meet the standard and we're going to excel," said BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff. "People don't believe it, and that's what makes it even sweeter to me, being able to lay low right now where nobody sees us doing anything good. I can't wait to go out there and do our thing — it's going to be fun."
There are 68 days until BYU kicks off its football season against Southern Illinois at LaVell Edwards Stadium on August 31.
