BYU Football Possible Opponent For Coastal Carolina Should Liberty Drop Out

PROVO, Utah – BYU football might have a game this weekend against Coastal Carolina. But like anything else in 2020, we will have to wait.

The 9-1 Liberty Flames are scheduled to play against the Chanticleers this weekend, but the Flames currently have what their athletic department is calling “COVID concerns.”

Liberty is waiting on results from their Wednesday testing protocols. The Flames star quarterback Malik Willis has tested positive for COVID-19, according to reports.

Coastal Carolina playing BYU is “a possibility” if the Liberty game is cancelled, a source told @YahooSports. Coastal Carolina doesn’t want to lose the ESPN GameDay spotlight. But Liberty has yet to cancel the game for Saturday. So everything is on hold for that.

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 2, 2020

If Liberty is unable to play this Saturday on the teal field, Coastal Carolina is expected to still want a game this Saturday because of the unique opportunity to have ESPN’s College GameDay on location at the Conway, South Carolina campus.

BYU/Coastal Carolina with College Gameday?

Around 3:12 p.m. (MT), BYU football players and coaches started tweeting eyeball emojis on Twitter. For those who don’t follow, eyeballs have now become an unofficial move for scheduling news it seems in 2020. Sources tell KSL Sports that the eyeball emojis occurred after a team meeting where players were informed that BYU and Coastal Carolina this Saturday was a possibility. A few things needed to be sorted out.

👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

— Khyiris Tonga 🇹🇴 (@khyiristonga) December 2, 2020

That includes Liberty getting its COVID-19 test results back. If Liberty’s test results come back with positive results, impacting their player availability, BYU becomes a possibility to play CCU. Coastal Carolina would then need to cross t’s and dot i’s on an agreement to play 13th ranked BYU.

After the meeting concluded, BYU football coaches began studying film Wednesday evening on Coastal Carolina in the event the game against the No. 18 Chanticleers takes place.  BYU’s regularly scheduled practice was pushed back to a 6 p.m. (MT) start time.

Coastal then released a statement at 4:49 p.m. (MT): “Our focus and intention remain on preparing and playing Liberty University on Saturday and showcasing our University and campus to the college football world via ESPN College GameDay. There are no changes or adjustments to that schedule and both schools are still completing weekly COVID-19 testing protocols that would impact any game decision.”

Statement from Us!#TEALNATION pic.twitter.com/2icydLsyPM

— Coastal Carolina Athletics (@GoCCUsports) December 2, 2020

Athletic Director Tom Holmoe has stated that BYU football in 2020 was going to be mobile and flexible. This would be the ultimate sign of that mantra by taking on a game that is 2,208 miles from BYU’s campus. But like everything in 2020, we have to wait and take it one minute at a time.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m., KSL Newsradio). Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper and the KSL Sports app.