Weber State football: McBride has 'Cats ready for Laramie

OGDEN — The question drew some laughter from Weber State coach Ron McBride.

Did he ever think he would step foot in Laramie, Wyo., again?

"I don't know, man," McBride said. "Never say never. You know what I mean?"

Ready or not, McBride and his Wildcats will make the long bus ride to Laramie to play Wyoming in their season-opener on Saturday afternoon. For McBride, it'll be his first trip to Laramie since coaching the Utah Utes to a 23-18 win over the Cowboys in his next-to-last game as Utah's head coach in 2002. For the Wildcats, it'll be just their third football meeting with Wyoming in school history.

As with any other WAC/MWC opponent McBride faced while at Utah, he experienced some highs and lows in coaching against Wyoming. In 1991, he led the Utes to their first win in Laramie in 19 years in a wild 57-42 win over the Cowboys. He compiled a 4-2 record in Laramie and was 7-4 overall against Wyoming.

"That was one of the things (winning in Laramie) we had to get done when I took that job," McBride said. "We went to Price for two-a-days because Price was just like Laramie. So when they (the Utes) went there, they'd feel like they were at home."

The Wildcats didn't do anything quite as drastic to prepare for their season-opener against Wyoming. After all, beating Big Sky opponents is way more important to Weber State than defeating Mountain West teams Wyoming on Saturday and Colorado State next week. Weber State will ride the bus to both games against McBride's former conference rivals.

"You just hope for the best," McBride said. "You go over and play and hopefully you can give them a good game. It (making the trip to Laramie) wasn't my favorite thing to do, but what it is, is what it is."

Very few of the Wildcats have spent any time in Laramie, but they're at least getting to hear some of McBride's war stories. Receiver Tim Toone said he may have driven through the city a time or two but doesn't remember anything about it. Safety Beau Hadley has never been to Laramie, but he's learned what kind of greeting visiting teams usually receive.

"I hear their fans are pretty hostile in a good way," Hadley said. "I hear they're good fans, and they support their team no matter what. I'm sure they're going to get after us, but that's what makes college football fun."

McBride can certainly relay fun stories about being in Laramie.