The football game between BYU and Navy was put together in a shockingly short amount of time.
The Cougars and Midshipmen will play Sept. 7 after Navy’s opener against Notre Dame was canceled during the coronavirus pandemic. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
Just how fast was the matchup put together? According to Jay Drew, Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo started thinking of options Wednesday night.
Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo says they were brainstorming last night when they found out Notre Dame was off the schedule; He brought up BYU, and Navy AD Chet Gladchuk did the rest. Game set up that quickly.
— Jay Drew (@drewjay) August 6, 2020
The game was formally announced at noon EST Thursday. That means the entire process took less than 24 hours, and probably took less than 18 hours from the sounds of it.
BYU will open the 2020 season in a nationally featured game on ESPN against the Naval Academy on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 7, at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.
Kickoff is set for 8pm EDT/6pm MDT.#BYUFOOTBALL #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/ms13Dl70nc
— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) August 6, 2020
This is simply awesome, and it goes to show how fast the wheels can spin in the world of football when it comes to getting things done.
Figuring out a college football game is no small task. There are contracts, travel issues to resolve and plenty of things to negotiate.
View this post on Instagram
Yet, Navy and BYU were both decimated by canceled games, and time was running short for decisions to get made.
Once the Midshipmen decided to hit the pavement running, BYU was locked down less than a day later. That’s the kind of speed and efficiency that wins wars!
View this post on Instagram
This is going to be a very fun game Sept. 7. I’m a little upset that the Notre Dame game is off, but I’ll take what I can get.