The BYU Cougars took down Cincinnati in the Bearcats’ home stadium on Saturday night, improving their season record to 10-1 with a 26-14 final score.
During the primetime matchup at Nippert Stadium, Cincinnati fans broke out in an “[expletive] the Mormons!” chant. The chant was captured on video and went viral on social media.
On Monday, Cincinnati athletic director John Cunningham issued a public apology to BYU and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“The use of offensive or religiously derogatory language by a group of fans during Saturday’s game was unacceptable and does not reflect our values,” Cunningham wrote in a statement. “We remain committed to creating an environment at Nippert Stadium where every visiting team and its supporters are treated with dignity and respect.”
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This chant from Cincinnati fans came just hours after the church donated 27,000 pounds of food to the University of Cincinnati’s on-campus food pantry, which supports students facing food insecurity.
Though the Big 12 has yet to announce any punishment for the Cincinnati program, a significant fine is likely on the way.
Earlier this year, the conference fined the Colorado Buffaloes $50,000 after fans delivered the exact same chant when playing against BYU at Folsom Field.
This punishment came despite a public apology from head coach Deion Sanders and the Colorado program.
“Hateful and discriminatory language has no home in the Big 12 Conference,” commissioner Brett Yormark said in a statement at the time. “While we appreciate Colorado apologizing for the chants that occurred in the stands during Saturday’s game, the Big 12 maintains zero tolerance for such behavior.”
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BYU is in contention to make the 12-team College Football Playoff field, suffering its only loss of the year in a matchup against Texas Tech on Nov. 8. The No. 11 Cougars will close out their regular-season schedule with a matchup against the UCF Knights this coming Saturday.
Cincinnati is on a three-game losing skid after starting the year with an impressive 7-1 record.