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BYU improved its ranking to No.8 last week after beating Boise State 51-17, but perhaps more impressive than maintaining their perfect record this season was the unity and dedication of the two teams following Friday’s game. evening.
The Cougars beat the Broncos on the road for the first time in six games and scored 50 or more points against a nationally ranked team for the first time in school history. But it was a group prayer that almost every player on both sides participated in and which has caught the eye.
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“I’m thankful for the coaches at BYU,” Boise State chaplain Pastor Mark Thornton told Deseret News. “We play against some teams that don’t have a chaplain. We play against other teams who didn’t let their players stay and pray, even though the players from the other team wanted to join us in prayer.
Thornton said the team meet in the midfield after every game, win or lose, to pray together. He normally contacts chaplains on other teams before games to ask ahead of time if they want to join, but wasn’t aware BYU had one.
After the Cougars’ victory, the newspaper reported that they returned to the locker room when Thornton stopped head coach Kalani Sitake to ask them if they wanted to join.
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“We’re not going to refuse that, when a team invites our team to kneel down and praise God for the opportunity we have had to play,” said Sitake, who normally holds his team prayer in cloakrooms.
“What a great invitation from them. I was really impressed with them throughout the game, just a great program with wonderful sportsmanship and you know, I hope we can have that kind of impact on other programs when we play them as well.
The shared moment of faith held particular significance for players typically focused on rivalry.
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“Football is a competitive game, so you compete, you talk about trash, you fight people on the pitch, but at the end of the day it’s, you know, it’s just a sport.” says the Deseret News. “There may be a grudge on the pitch, but once you get off the pitch, they’re your brothers. You must like them a little.
“The fact that it’s such a great rivalry and that we can be really physical with each other, compete really hard with each other and then let go of our pride, let go of our egos, let go of what just happened.” for two to three hours and give thanks to God, that says a lot about both schools, ”added Avery Williams, Boise State security.
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The Broncos lead the all-time series against BYU 7-4 and were previously undefeated at home against the Cougars until Friday’s game.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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