The Brigham Young University football team narrowly missed being chosen as one of the 12 teams in the College Football Playoff, but the Cougars still have an opportunity to end the 2025 season on a high note.
BYU will play Georgia Tech in the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando, Florida, on Dec. 27 at 1:30 p.m. MST on ABC. It will be the Cougars’ 42nd bowl game appearance.
“We’re excited for the opportunity to chase another win with our brothers,” the team posted on social media.
The No. 11-ranked Cougars were 11-1 and on the bubble of an at-large bid to the playoffs before falling to No. 4 Texas Tech for the second time this season in the Big 12 conference championship, 34-7, on Saturday, Dec. 6.
Despite not making the College Football Playoff, the football program excelled in many ways on and off the field during a year in which the university sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints celebrated its 150th anniversary.
On the field
On the field, BYU achieved 11 victories for the second consecutive season and for the fourth time under head coach Kalani Sitake, with 20 players earning All-Big 12 recognition, the Deseret News reported.
Sitake was named Big 12 Coach of the Year, while running back LJ Martin took home Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year honors.
Four BYU players were named to the All-Big 12 First Team: Martin, center Bruce Mitchell, linebacker Jack Kelly and safety Tanner Wall.
Quarterback Bear Bachmeier was tabbed as Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year.
Before the Big 12 championship game, Sitake turned down a lucrative offer to coach Penn State and signed a contract extension to stay at BYU.
Elder Clark G. Gilbert, a General Authority Seventy and the commissioner of Church education, posted on social media: “Builder of men, model of integrity, faith and humility. So excited for Kalani’s continued leadership at BYU.”
Added BYU President C. Shane Reese: “In many ways, Kalani Sitake is the public face of Brigham Young University. He leads our most prominent athletic team, and you couldn’t ask for a better exemplar of the Christ-centered values for which this university stands.”
Off the field
Off the field, BYU fans have given back to the community during the 2025 football season through the Cougs Care initiative. BYU alumni chapters organized projects at each 2025 road game by finding opportunities to meet needs in every location.
Calling these efforts “a party with a purpose,” President Reese said the service projects reflect BYU’s mission to develop Christlike leaders who go forth to serve in their communities around the world.
The most elaborate service effort of the season took place before the Big 12 championship game in Arlington, Texas. BYU organized a food drive and arranged for two Light the World Giving Machine kiosks, the Church donated 36,000 pounds of food to two local food banks, and BYU is sending 4,300 gallons of BYU Creamery milk to two other local food pantries who are currently low on milk supply, the Deseret News reported.
BYU football players have also continued to mentor BYU–Pathway students around the world, a project started in 2024, according to the Deseret News.
“It’s going great,” President Brian K. Ashton of BYU–Pathway Worldwide said in a ”Y’s Guys" podcast interview. “It’s just amazing what this partnership has done in far-flung places all over the world.”
Beyond the service projects, BYU’s band plays the opposing team’s fight song, BYUtv makes videos about charitable efforts undertaken by opponent schools, and the university deploys ice cream diplomacy, distributing a creamy treat to visiting fans between quarters.
It’s an opportunity to share goodness and kindness, Michael Johanson, executive director of the BYU Alumni Association, told the Deseret News.
“We’re not embarrassed to say we’re trying to share the Light of Christ that He wants us to reflect in the lives of other people who cross our paths and who are on our journey with us,” he said.
At one home game, Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles helped to hand out 4,000 half pints of ice cream to opposing fans and tossed leftovers to BYU fans.
Returned missionaries
Of the players on BYU’s roster, 56 served missions in 22 different countries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, speaking 10 different languages, according to BYUCougars.com.
Six of BYU’s coaches, including Sitake, have served missions.
There are also 10 players who previously signed with BYU who are currently serving missions.
Each week during the season, one returned missionary player offers an inspiring message about missionary work that is shared on social media.
Andrew Gentry, BYU’s starting right tackle who spoke Spanish in the Utah Orem Mission, wrote: “Of all the preparation I did to play college football, nothing prepared me better than my mission.”
Safety Raider Damuni, who served in the California Oakland Mission, wrote that serving a mission was “the greatest experience of my life, one I would not trade for anything.”
Read more BYU missionary messages at BYUCougars.com.
