© Rob Gray/Imagn
On Saturday night, the BYU Cougars will take on the Cincinnati Bearcats in a critical college football game that could determine not only the eventual Big 12 Conference champion but also a spot in the College Football Playoff.
The Cougars currently sit just outside the top 10 of the CFP standings, and if they win out, they’d be guaranteed a playoff spot as the champion of the Big 12. But even if they don’t win the conference, BYU could still find its way into the playoffs if it wins its remaining regular-season games and loses in the Big 12 championship game.
So there are plenty of reasons for BYU fans to show some animosity toward both the Bearcats and their fans entering Saturday’s showdown. But above all else, BYU is a representation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and they reminded the world of that before the football game in admirable fashion.
Ahead of BYU’s game with Cincinnati on Saturday, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent a 27,000 pound food donation for Cincinnati’s on-campus Bearcats Pantry to support students facing food insecurity.
It’s the largest single donation in the Pantry’s history. pic.twitter.com/pH0fOmhHL4
— Jackson Payne (@jackson5payne) November 21, 2025
BYU beat writer Jackson Payne reported on Friday night that the church sent a 27,000-pound food donation to Cincinnati’s on-campus Bearcats Pantry, which supports students facing food insecurity. The gesture was the largest single donation in the history of the Bearcats Pantry.
A sizable group of local BYU fans, Church members and sister missionaries came to help unload the truck and stock the Pantry’s shelves pic.twitter.com/pkbYiJSb3w
— Jackson Payne (@jackson5payne) November 21, 2025
Not only that, but a number of local BYU fans in the Cincinnati area, as well as church members and missionaries, helped unload the truck and stock the Pantry’s shelves.
In a world where we often get way t0o caught up in the world of sports, especially college sports, and lose all perspective, it’s a fantastic reminder that there is plenty of good still in the world. And that college athletics can still be a vessel for good above all else.