Scotty Edwards has been to LaVell Edwards Stadium more times than he can remember.
But on Saturday night, he’ll get to play there for the first time.
A Salt Lake City native, Edwards grew up a BYU fan, and now as a starting safety at Stanford he’ll take the same field he said he stormed in celebration on multiple occasions during his youth.
Special Collector’s Issue: “1984: The Year BYU was Second to None”
Get an inclusive look inside BYU Football’s 1984 National Championship season.
“I’m super excited to go and be able to play in Provo,” Edwards told reporters Tuesday via Zoom. “I grew up going to a lot of (BYU) games, I spent a lot of time in Provo going to games and going to camps, so it’s going to be pretty surreal just being there, being able to play in front of friends and family.”
According to Edwards, his favorite Cougars growing up included running back Harvey Unga and quarterback Taysom Hill. He claims to still be ”pretty tapped in with BYU,” as his younger brother is currently a BYU student, and his mother, Jill, teaches in the school’s Department of Dance.
Given his family ties and personal history with the Cougars, Edwards is well aware of the raucous stadium atmosphere awaiting the Cardinal for Saturday’s late contest (8:15 p.m. MST on ESPN), which will be BYU’s second sellout of the young season.
Within the sold-out crowd, however, will be more than 100 of Edwards’ friends and family members there to support him — whether they be decked out in Cardinal red or royal blue.
“It’s going to be loud, so that’s going to be an exciting environment to play in. I can’t wait,” Edwards said.
“… I’m grateful because I’m hoping to have a lot of friends and family out there. A lot of friends and family are already BYU fans and would be going to the game already as season-ticket holders or in the student section, so I have a lot of friends already there, but I think a lot of people will be there in my name sitting in the Stanford section, which will be fun.”
Edwards prepped at Olympus High, where he was a two-way standout and earned 2019 5A All-State Honorable Mention honors from the Deseret News. During his varsity career with the Titans, he racked up 1,752 total yards of offense and 27 touchdowns, adding four interceptions, two sacks and a return score on defense as well.
The three-star recruit whittled his offers down to BYU and Stanford, with Edwards ultimately choosing the Cardinal in February 2020, citing the school’s academics and Pac-12 Conference affiliation at the time as major reasons for his decision. He then served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in both Atlanta and South Africa before joining Stanford’s program prior to the 2022 campaign.
In three years at Stanford thus far, Edwards has made 21 starts and posted 130 total tackles with a sack and two interceptions. He’ll make his senior season debut against BYU, having missed the Cardinal’s Week 0 loss at Hawaii.
While he didn’t end up following in Unga’s or Hill’s footsteps with the Cougars, Edwards still views his BYU recruitment as a positive experience and holds plenty of respect for Kalani Sitake’s operation.
“The coaches were great to me, and it was truly a blessing to be recruited by them, being from Utah,” Edwards said. “It was a difficult decision for me between Stanford and BYU, but I was able to develop great relationships with the (BYU) coaches.
“… (BYU is) always physical, they’re always fast. They always play with a lot of great effort. So just being able to follow BYU throughout my entire life, that’s something that’s always been fun to watch, just fast and physical and a team that plays with great effort.”
When Sitake came to Edwards’ home for a recruiting visit during high school, their meeting ran a bit long and overlapped with the church young men’s activity that Edwards’ father, Dave, was hosting. Rather than quickly leave after the visit, Sitake stayed to introduce himself to the boys, many being BYU fans, and took as many photos as he was asked for and even shared an impromptu devotional and testimony. To this day, it’s a night that the young men in attendance and Edwards family still hold dear.
“The coaches are great coaches football-wise, but they’re great men as well, and that’s something that I really admire about the BYU coaches and the football program,” Edwards said “They’re building men, not only football players. So that’s something that I really admire, and it’s something that definitely drew me to them.”
Edwards is familiar with a number of players on BYU’s roster, having played against some of them during his high school days. He was also teammates with Cougars receiver Tiger Bachmeier for two years at Stanford, crossing paths with Tiger’s brother and new starting quarterback Bear during spring ball with the Cardinal earlier this year as well.
Though the Bachmeiers did leave Stanford for BYU just a few months ago, Edwards feels that it won’t add any extra fire or flavor to Saturday’s matchup.
“It’s a pretty unique opportunity to go to play them, two guys that obviously we know quite well,” Edwards said of the Bachmeier brothers. “I think they’re both great players and am excited for them and their opportunities, but I think our team is going to be ready to go. We’re treating this just like any other week, nameless and faceless, and so we’re going to be ready to go with our calls and with our communication.”
Playing in Provo will be a dream come true for Edwards, but he understands the high stakes Saturday night presents for the Cardinal. An upset victory over BYU would make a loud, national statement for Stanford and get its season back on track, which will be Edwards’ complete focus as he returns to the stadium of his youth.
“As a program, this would be big, you know, going into a hostile environment like this, playing a good team like this and coming out with a win would be awesome,” Edwards said. “It’d be awesome to come back to Stanford Stadium with a win. I think it’d be great for our fan base. I think it would confirm to us that we’re on the right track as a team, and I really do believe that we are.
“As a player as well, personally, this would be obviously a fun game to win for personal reasons, just being there, being a BYU fan growing up, that would be pretty fun being able to do it in front of friends and family. But ultimately, we’re trying to win this game as a team, and we’re going to do everything that we can to do that.”
Source link
