BYU football: Holmoe: 'Things are playing out'

"I don't think that's a secret of our strategy," he said. "We have a great relationship with ESPN ... It's very difficult for us to get teams to come play us at the Marriott Center and LaVell Edwards Stadium. They don't want to come. They'll come if they're on ESPN. So that's the thing. We have a great relationship with ESPN and it will continue, regardless of how things go."

While answering a question about why BYU doesn't televise certain games on campus for students, Holmoe explained that the MWC broadcast partners won't give permission to BYU to show Cougar games on campus. ESPN, on the other hand, does.

"It sounds funny, but our TV partners in the Mountain West Conference will not allow us (to show) our games (on campus)," he said.

How would independence help BYU?

"In any conference you're in, you have 8 to 9 football games," he said. "If you're not playing a conference schedule, you have many more games (to schedule). You have that opportunity to play more teams and get a wider reach."

During his presentation, Holmoe emphasized that the rivalry with Utah will go on, even though the Utes are set to join the Pac-10 in 2011.

"That rivalry will continue. We'll play them in all sports. We're not afraid of them and they're not afraid of us," he said. "For the athletes and coaches, we have a very good respect for each other. When we get out onto the field, it's tough. But everyone who's played in that (rivalry) respects it. We need to continue that. Some people don't like it, don't think we should (play Utah). Some people want to play 11 games in a row against them. The answer is, we'll continue that. We're in talks and in the near future, you'll hear some type of announcement about the schedule for the games. So all is well with that rivalry."

Holmoe urged BYU fans to be respectful of Utah fans.

"Be good sports," he said. "Support the rivalry. Don't say anything crazy or negative about our opponents. Respect them. On the field, it's one of the best games or matches you'll ever see. Nobody will get more anxious, nervous, excited and have a chance to fall apart or excel than in that game. In the history of our tradition, some of the very best performances in the history of BYU have happened against Utah. Why in the world would we ever throw that away?"

BYU has a game at Texas scheduled for the 2011 season. Holmoe remains optimistic that the Longhorns will play a return game in Provo in the near future.

"We're still working out some details of dates," he said. "That's one of the things we're trying to do — not only going across the country to play in big games, but also I think our fans want to see the big teams here. That's what we're trying to do. Not just go out and play Oklahoma and go to Texas to see it, but if we have to play two (road) games to get one back, there's only about five teams in the country we'd do that against. I think it's in our best interest."

e-mail: jeffc@desnews.com