It’s been nearly 13 years since Dennis Pitta donned pads and his blue-and-white BYU football uniform to play a game at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Saturday night, as the former Cougar tight end stood on the field looking around at the 60,092 fans in attendance, he could help but remember those days.

“You remember them for sure,” Pitta said. “It just takes you back to those moments running out here in LaVell Edwards Stadium with the amazing fans. It’s one of the best fan bases in college football.

“You want to get out there and play. If I could still run like I used to, I think I would love to be out there but it’s so fun coming back and being welcome back with open arms. (BYU head coach Kalani Sitake) has done such an amazing job of welcoming us alumni back to the program and that’s just special for us, feeling like we’re still a part of things.”

Pitta was honored at halftime of the 38-24 Cougar win over Wyoming and also at the formal induction ceremony on Friday as part of the 2022 BYU Athletic Hall of Fame class, joining four other former Cougar All-Americans: Miles Batty (track and cross country), Lidnsi Lisonbee Cutshall (women’s soccer), Rachel Newren Harmon (women’s golf) and Ivan Perez (volleyball).

“It’s special, honestly,” Pitta said. “I’ve said it a million times but from where I started my career to be able to stand out there and receive that kind of an honor, it’s just surreal. It’s something I’ll always be grateful for. I’m very blessed to have been able to have accomplished what I accomplished.”

Pitta continued a long tradition of exceptional tight ends who excelled at BYU, including guys like Clay Brown, Gordon Hudson, Chad Lewis, Itula Mili and Jonny Harline.

“There have been so many great tight ends here, so many guys that I’ve looked up to and so many guys that I have friendships with,” Pitta said. “It’s neat to be able to be a part of that fraternity.

“I’m rooting for the guys on the field now, guys like Isaac Rex. Those guys are trying to be the next great tight end. They have all the potential and it’s fun to watch them.”

Although Pitta’s college and professional playing days are over, he still puts a lot of value on those experiences. That’s why always encourages current athletes to be grateful for what they have.

“The message is always just appreciate the opportunity that you have because not a lot of people get this opportunity to play in front of this crowd and played for this institution,” Pitta said. “It’s a privilege. It’s not a right. I tell them to not take any moments for granted and just appreciate it because when it’s gone, you look back on it and you want to be back doing it. I come back to these games and I would love to be back out there. You miss the camaraderie and you miss the friendships you had in that locker room, being around those guys all the time. You wish you could go back to that.”

He also wanted to praise BYU fans for their amazing support of both his career and of Cougar football in general.

“The fans are incredible,” Pitta said. “They’ve been so good to me and I love coming back here. BYU fans are everywhere. It’s just amazing to see that no matter how long ago you played, the reception is still amazing when you come back here. This is a special place to play football.”

Miles time

BYU freshman running back Miles Davis got his first real opportunity to shine and made the most of it, finishing with 131 yards on 13 carries. True to form, however, he was quick to point out after the game that his success depended on the rest of the team.

“It was awesome to have a game like that,” Davis said. “With our offensive line blocking how they were blocking and our coaches trusting us, it just made it awesome.”

Sitake said that BYU’s run game needed a spark and Davis got the opportunity. He said the plan is for the team to go with whichever back has the hot hand.

Poll steadiness

The win over the Cowboys resulted in the BYU football team getting a slight upward movement in the USA Today Coaches Poll as the Cougars went from No. 23 to No.20 heading into Week 5.

The victory (and lack of upsets) resulted in BYU remaining at No. 19 in the Associate Press Poll.

Winning trends

Since Sitake became the head coach, the Cougars have established some clear trends of things they do to consistently win, including:

• 23-1 at home when leading at the half
• 11-0 at home and 24-2 overall when turnover-free
• 19-0 at home when scoring 30+ points
• 14-0 at home when scoring in every quarter
• 15-0 at home with pass efficiency rating of 150+

Extra points

For the fourth straight game, BYU lost the opening coin toss and the opponent (Wyoming, in this case) deferred to get the ball to start the second half. Both teams punted on their first possessions as a result of the toss … Cougar alumni flags were carried by on Simmons (OL 1987, 1990-93), Tyler Anderson (WR 1988, 1991-93) and Brandon Heaney (CB 2000-04). while the American flag was carried by offensive lineman Lisala Tai and the state flag was carried by offensive lineman Sonny Makasini … the announced attendance for the game was 60,092, while the game-time temperature was 67 degrees.

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