A year ago, Colorado was forced to pay a $50,000 fine after religious slurs targeting Mormons echoed through Folsom Field during BYU’s win over the Buffaloes. Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark condemned the chants then. A year later, the same ugly story appears to be repeating itself against BYU and Kalani Sitake during their game against Colorado State.
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The controversy unfolded largely before kickoff, with chants coming from the student section and drawing a strong response from Colorado State. The school said that “mocking anyone’s faith has no place at CSU.”
BYU is a flagship university that is widely known for its Mormon church, and the abuses that were hurled at them were centered around this.
“It runs counter to our community’s values and to who we are. BYU’s players, coaches, and fans deserved better,” Colorado State said in a statement issued late in the fourth quarter as the 11th-ranked Cougars beat the Rams 41-23. “We are addressing this with our students.”
The “f— Mormons” chant should never have happened in the first place. However, BYU head coach Kalani Sitake turned the ugly moment into an opportunity, believing the chants provided extra fuel for his players as they took the field following a weather delay.
“I think the chants, mostly a minority of people and fans. There’s some amazing fans here in Fort Collins, so not too worried about that,” Sitake said. “The guys are motivated to play football, no matter what. We’re not going to judge an entire fan base on a few — a few of the ones that made their chants.”
When running back LJ Martin was asked about the abuse, he made it clear that his focus remained on the game and that he never let the noise from the crowd get to him. He added that whatever was raining down from the stands did not provide any extra motivation.
“We’re self-motivated,” said Martin, who rushed for 176 yards and three touchdowns. “Of course, you just hear them talking. It makes it a lot funner when you do go out there and perform the way you do. It makes it a lot funner just to see them go from real loud just to real quiet.”
BYU has been no stranger to such incidents in recent years. The latest episode is hardly an isolated one. Back in February, Oklahoma State fans directed the same chant at the Cougars during a men’s basketball game, prompting the Big 12 to hand the school a $50,000 fine. Since BYU joined the conference in 2023, similar incidents have surfaced at Arizona, Cincinnati, and Colorado, while Colorado State competes in the Pac-12.
Even beyond the conference, a 2021 game at the Coliseum saw a large section of the USC student section break into religious slurs against the Cougars. A similar incident happened in September 2022 in a game between Oregon and BYU. Every incident is followed by public apologies, such as the one issued by Colorado State. However, they had done little to stop the behavior. Maybe the conference should consider bigger fines for future incidents.
Despite the controversy, the Cougars are moving forward, but a glaring issue within the team could now demand their attention.
Kalani Sitake looks ahead after the controversy
While the victory was nearly flawless, one glaring issue remained: BYU’s discipline. The Cougars were flagged eight times for 74 yards, with a few penalties proving particularly costly. One erased a touchdown from the scoreboard, while another extended a Colorado State drive and gave the Rams extra life.
“I did like the fight in all of them. I mean, the literal effort that they’re putting on the field,” Sitake said. “I think if [the backups] just play more assignment sound, [we] would be in a better position. Just a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes that shouldn’t happen from our guys.”
The head coach further emphasized that, despite the penalties being a bit too much, they will serve as a learning experience for the team.
“This is a good moment for us to learn from and to win comfortably and still be able to have those things happen. So yeah, it got a little sloppy, but we’ll be fine. This is stuff that we can easily fix.”
The Cougars have won all three of their clashes and now sit atop the Big 12 standings. Despite the abuse hurled at them, BYU has continued to maintain its dominance in the conference.