BYU Alumni planning 'CougarTown Tailgate,' selling Y'all shirts for Tennessee game

BYU is bringing more than its football team — and a lot of blue — to Knoxville on Sept. 7. 

The BYU Alumni Association is planning a "CougarTown Tailgate" from 1-5 p.m. on the Festival Lawn of World's Fair Park leading up to BYU's game against Tennessee. Kickoff for the game at Neyland Stadium is 7 p.m.

The tailgate will feature music from the folk band The National Parks of Provo, Utah.

Seth Killingbeck, who serves on the Board of Directors of the BYU Alumni Association, said the tailgate has three main goals: to throw a good party, to make a positive impact on the community, and all the money raised will go to benefit local BYU students. 

The BYU Alumni Association is also partnering with Knox Area Rescue Ministries for the "Cougar Coats and Cans Drive" where fans can bring coats and canned goods to donate at the tailgate. 

The alumni association offered 3,500 tickets that allowed access to the tailgate along with a game ticket. Tickets were sold out by the first week of August. In addition, Killingbeck said that BYU has sold out its ticket allotment of 2,000.

The Nashville branch of the alumni association has also been selling blue T-shirts for the Tennessee game featuring "Y'all" across the chest with the “Tri-star Y” for BYU. The cost is $15.99.

Killingbeck said more than 1,000 shirts have been sold and that they've constantly had to request new shipments. 

The shirts are a mixture of southern pride and honor as an alumnus of BYU, Killingbeck said. He added there are more than 20,000 BYU alumni in the Southeast and a couple thousand in Tennessee. 

"We're proud of our southern heritage," Killingbeck said. "We wanted a BYU shirt to reflect that."