BYU football: Rested and ready to return to notoriously hostile Laramie

PROVO — The BYU football team has traveled to some exotic destinations so far this season.

Dallas. New Orleans. Las Vegas. San Diego.

Next stop? Laramie.

The No. 25 Cougars (6-2, 3-1), who returned to the Associated Press top 25 rankings despite not playing last weekend, visit the Wyoming Cowboys (4-4, 2-2) on Saturday (noon, The Mtn.).

Laramie is notorious for windy, snowy conditions this time of year. Back on Oct. 24, 1981, BYU lost to Wyoming in a blizzard, prompting the now-(in)famous quote from former Cougar coach LaVell Edwards: "I'd rather lose and live in Provo than win and live in Laramie."

The forecast for this weekend? Mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 40s.

"Anytime you go to Laramie in late October or November, it's always adventurous," said coach Bronco Mendenhall. "You just prepare for the best. You really can't overemphasize it. Otherwise it can interfere with your execution and the mindset of your team. You just go up and play."

"I'm excited to go play (Wyoming)," said quarterback Max Hall. "Hopefully it's not too cold."

Under first-year coach Dave Christensen, the Cowboys have lost two straight games after falling at Utah, 22-10, on Saturday.

Many Wyoming boosters consider BYU to be an arch-rival. Cowboy fans have been known to be verbally abusive to the visiting Cougars, creating a hostile environment at War Memorial Stadium.

BYU linebacker Matt Bauman experienced his first game in Laramie two years ago, when the Cougars beat the Cowboys, 35-10.

"It wasn't too bad, to be honest," Bauman recalled. "It was the year Utah kicked that on-side kick when they were up by 50 or whatever. The animosity kind of turned toward the U., and it wasn't too bad. After we beat them, the fans were all saying, 'Go beat the Utes.' It was different from what I had heard in years' past. It wasn't too bad. It was cold, though."

This past week during the bye, the Cougars practiced inside the warm and dry indoor practice facility. But they may have to go outside this week to prepare for the chilly conditions that await them in Laramie.

BYU players say the bye came at a good time after the Cougars got drilled by TCU, 38-7, on Oct. 24.

"Guys have been sick with the swine flu and guys are beat up a little bit," Hall said. "It's nice to have a week off before we go to Laramie."

Bauman said his team is looking forward to getting back on the field.

"We're really hungry, especially coming off a loss," he said. "Two weeks is a long time to wait to play again. We're chomping at the bit already. We're ready to play and we're fired up. It's been a good week for us to heal up and step back and analyze things."

e-mail: jcall@desnews.com