LaVell Edwards Stadium
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| LaVell Edwards Stadium | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Location | Stadium Ave Provo, UT 84602 |
| Opened | 1964 |
| Owner | Brigham Young University |
| Operator | Brigham Young University |
| Surface | Grass |
| Former names | |
| Cougar Stadium (1964-2000) | |
| Tenants | |
| Brigham Young Cougars (NCAA) (1964-Present) | |
| Capacity | |
| 64,045 | |
LaVell Edwards Stadium is a stadium on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. It is primarily used for American football, and is the home field of the BYU Cougars.
Contents |
[edit] History and seating
The stadium opened in 1964 as Cougar Stadium, replacing a smaller, 5,000-seat stadium of the same name. The capacity of the facility was just under 30,000 with stands on both sides of the playing field. Seating was soon added to make room for 35,000 fans. Temporary bleachers that where placed at the back of the end zones raised the capacity to 45,000. In 1982, the stadium was expanded to accommodate 65,524. Permanent concrete stands, separated by entryways from the east and west grandstands, were put in place of the temporary bleachers. Also the playing field was lowered eight feet and the track was removed. At the end of the 2000 football season the name of the stadium was changed to LaVell Edwards Stadium, in honor of the legendary head coach, who retired at the end of the season.
In 2003, in order to raise revenue, the stadium was redesigned to provide more luxury seating. The change resulted in seating capacity being reduced by over 1,000 to 64,045. The luxury seating was a noticeable addition because the arrangement of blue and white seats in this section spell out BYU in block letters.
[edit] Scenery
Television broadcasts of games at the stadium often make reference to its scenic views of the Wasatch Range running to the east of the campus. The most notable was on a Thursday Night ESPN game when analyst Kirk Herbstreit said to his commentators, "You guys will agree that (LaVell Edwards) Stadium is one of the prettiest settings in college football. This stadium is just unbelievable."
The large white block "Y" made of stones placed on the side of the mountains overlooking campus also regularly receives attention. Collegefootballnews.com named Y Mountain the sixth most celebrated inanimate object in college football (Oct. 15, 2003).
[edit] Fan's noise-making
Air Force head football coach Fisher DeBerry has said of Edwards Stadium, "Probably the loudest and best stadium is whenever things are going good for BYU and their fans start beating on the metal bleachers. That can be a very tough place to play."
[edit] Jurassic fossils under the stadium
The largest collection of Jurassic-era fossils are also stored under the stadium.[1][2]
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ >"100 tons of Jurassic Period plaster-covered bones are stored underneath BYU's football stadium. (English) (HTML). byu.edu (2006-10-26). Retrieved on 2006-12-28.
- ^ >BYU is home to North America's largest collection of Jurassic era fossils. (English) (HTML). BYU Magazine, August 1993, 7-8 (1993-8). Retrieved on 2006-12-28.
[edit] External links
- LaVell Edwards Stadium at BYUCougars.com
- Ballparks.com entry
- CollegeGridirons.com entry
- Stadium Seating and Eating Changes
| Current Football Stadiums in the Mountain West Conference |
|---|
| Amon G. Carter Stadium (TCU) • Falcon Stadium (Air Force) • Hughes Stadium (Colorado State) • LaVell Edwards Stadium (BYU) • Qualcomm Stadium (San Diego State) • Rice-Eccles Stadium (Utah) • Sam Boyd Stadium (UNLV) • University Stadium (New Mexico) • War Memorial Stadium (Wyoming) |
