‘A hostile environment’: Wyoming may be struggling, but BYU expects to get the best of the ‘charged up’ Cowboys

BYU starting free safety Tanner Wall is a college football junkie.

After the Cougars beat SMU 18-15 on Friday , for instance, Wall spent most of Saturday watching other teams throughout the country play their games.

“This is a special game, really, when you get down to it, for our players, for our program, and for the state. They are not on any future schedule. I don’t know if they ever come back to War Memorial Stadium.”

Wyoming coach Jay Sawvel on this week's BYU-Wyoming game

The redshirt junior from Arlington, Virginia, might have grown up on the East Coast, but he is also well-versed in BYU football lore. That’s because he’s been a lifelong fan of the Cougars, and also because his father, Ryan, attended BYU when Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer was in Provo.

Naturally, Ryan Wall has told his son all about a BYU-Wyoming rivalry that once burned hot. Like, really, really hot.

“He has always explained to me kind of the bad blood, and really some of the energy surrounding that rivalry between us and Wyoming,” Tanner Wall said Monday as the Cougars started preparations to meet Wyoming on Saturday (7 p.m. MDT, CBS Sports Network) at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie.

“I wouldn’t say I am an expert on the history there, but I do know and understand that going up there, it is kind of a hostile environment,” Tanner Wall said. “It is going to be a huge game for them, and for us. And their fans in War Memorial Stadium, it is going to be an important game for them.”

It will be BYU’s first trip to Laramie since the 2009 season, when both schools were members of the Mountain West Conference. Max Hall completed 20 of 22 passes for 312 yards and four touchdowns in just over two quarters of action in a 52-0 BYU romp. BYU went independent in 2011, and Wyoming athletic director Tom Burman famously said his school had no interest in ever playing the Cougars again — in anything.

The unrest from the Brown and Gold for a program it couldn’t seem to catch since fortunes turned after the 1969 “Black 14″ incident in Laramie had reached a boiling point.

It had cooled considerably by the time 2016 rolled around and the Cougars and Cowboys found themselves squaring off in the final Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego. BYU’s Kai Nacua — Puka Nacua’s oldest brother — intercepted future NFL star Josh Allen in the final minutes to preserve a 24-21 BYU win.

So when BYU and Wyoming announced a home-and-home scheduling agreement on Aug. 28, 2018, the deal was met with a high degree of surprise . BYU beat Wyoming 38-24 two years ago in Provo, the Cougars’ ninth-straight win in the series that dates back to 1922.

Now, it is BYU’s turn to return to Laramie, and the natives are restless, having not defeated BYU since a 13-10 decision in 2003 at War Memorial.

“This is a special game, really, when you get down to it, for our players, for our program, and for the state,” Wyoming coach Jay Sawvel said in a press briefing on Monday. “They are not on any future schedule. I don’t know if they ever come back to War Memorial Stadium.”

That the game is at night should add to the festive, energized atmosphere; Wyoming upset BYU 24-14 in the first night game ever played at War Memorial in 1988, intercepting Detmer — a freshman at the time — four times in the stunning victory. BYU leads the all-time series 46-30-3, but Wyoming is 17-16-3 against BYU in Laramie.

“This will be a big deal to everyone in the state of Wyoming,” said Sawvel, who replaced longtime Wyoming coach Craig Bohl in the offseason. “Not only are you playing an old rival, you are playing a really quality opponent at home, and that makes it a big deal.”

BYU players who spoke to reporters via Zoom on Monday said they are well aware of the disdain Wyoming has for BYU and are expecting a dogfight from the winless Pokes on Saturday.

“I think all us (BYU) players know that this game goes way back. Besides Utah and Utah State, the history of BYU playing Wyoming, it is the third-most played game in BYU history,” said linebacker Harrison Taggart, a Corner Canyon High product. “And we know that Wyoming is a hostile environment. We know what their fans are about, we know what their team is about. We are ready for them to give us their best shot. Yeah, we are excited to go up there.”

BYU tight end Mata’ava Ta’ase has heard all about the once-bitter rivalry from his father-in-law.

“There is a lot of history between BYU and Wyoming,” said Ta’ase, who has caught two touchdown passes this season after catching just one pass all of last season. “Funny enough, my father-in-law grew up right around there. So I have known a little bit of history behind Wyoming (games). It will be fun and we expect to get the best game from the Cowboys.”

Sawvel said it will be a “charged-up game” and he won’t need to worry about the Cowboys being ready to play, even if they are 0-2 and lost 17-13 Saturday to Idaho of the FCS ranks. The first-year head coach said nobody on the high plains has thrown in the towel.

BYU coaches say their guys will be ready to rock as well, and are taking time this week to make sure the Cougars know what they are getting into at 7,200 feet above sea level.

“Very tough place to play. Their fans are outstanding. They get after it up there. They are good fans for their team,” said BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick, a former BYU receiver.

BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill said he faced Wyoming in Laramie twice as a player when he played for the Utah Utes, and lost both times.

“It is a tough place to play. The fans are crazy. It looked like they had a phenomenal crowd last week. I love the challenge of going into a hostile environment,” Hill said. “… We are going to get Wyoming’s best shot, because they are a little wounded right now. They have not played great in games. But they have got ability and they are going to be searching for everything they can to put it back together.”

Head coach Kalani Sitake has also played and coached in Laramie, when he was a fullback for the Cougars under legendary coach LaVell Edwards, and an assistant coach at Utah.

“I know they have a passionate fan base. It is actually why college football is so good, is the fans make it real, and I know they love their team,” Sitake said. “They have a lot of pride in their team, and they are looking forward to this game, just like we are.”