LARAMIE, Wyo. >> Some will come from Cody, the town named after the legendary frontiersman Buffalo Bill … 350 miles away, up near the Montana state line, not far from Yellowstone National Park.
Maybe a few more from Pinedale … it’s a little closer, a tad over 300 miles, an easy little 41⁄2-hour drive.
Casper is right around the block, 150 miles north. And in relative terms, the state capital, Cheyenne, is almost walking distance (or maybe horseback), just 50 miles to War Memorial Stadium here on the University of Wyoming campus. A large portion of the Cowboys fans who show up for Saturday’s game hosting Hawaii will likely come from those towns, but many will also make some very long treks.
“There are people who come from all over the state. Wyoming loves this team,” said sophomore Kaitlin McGovern, who works at the information desk at the student center. “We’ll start seeing them (today), setting up their tailgates.”
It takes dedication to be a college football fan — especially when you have to travel hundreds of miles to see your team play … at home.
A few will be scared off by the 8:15 p.m. kickoff and a forecast that includes dipping temperatures and a 90 percent chance of rain or even snow. But there will still be a hardy gathering of fans from around the Cowboy State for Saturday’s third home game of the season.
Like UH, the University of Wyoming is the only football-playing college in its state. And Laramie is near the southeast corner of a state that covers 97,818 square miles. To put that in perspective, the land mass of the entire state of Hawaii could fit in Wyoming 15 times, with room to spare for another Oahu or two.
Conversely, Hawaii’s population is about 21⁄2 times that of Wyoming, which was counted at 585,501 — or six people per square mile — in 2016. Greta Garbo, who famously said “I want to be left alone,” would have loved it here.
The Cowboys started the season with plenty of hope, based largely on their star quarterback, Josh Allen. But Allen has had difficulty living up to massive preseason hype. His supporting cast is young, and a banged-up and youthful offensive line, along with the departure of running back Brian Hill and his school-record 4,287 career rushing yards for the NFL Draft, has put more pressure on Allen.
Wyoming is 1-2, including a 49-13 pasting at the hands of Oregon here last Saturday. The crowd for tomorrow will likely be much smaller than the 29,139 who were on hand for the Ducks game. A handful of very devoted UH supporters will be here, but this was a much easier trip for Oregon’s fan base.
Don’t forget, though, this is a land of rugged individualists who think nothing of a long drive if it means they’ll get to see some by their Cowboys that finish in the Hawaii end zone. Wyoming is favored by about a touchdown against a Rainbow Warriors squad that had its defense torched by UCLA two weeks ago.
Also, the students will show up in force, rain or shine.
“That’s part of the experience,” said Quinn Marquardt, a junior from Cheyenne. “Yes, even though it will probably rain and maybe snow, I’ll be there.”
“I’m willing to bet it will snow,” said McGovern, adding that won’t dampen the fun. “We get in for free. They just scan our phones.”
All four students we spoke with Thursday went to last year’s triple-overtime season-opening 40-34 win over Northern Illinois. And all of them made it to the end of the game that started at 10:20 p.m. because of thunderstorms and didn’t end until 2:34 a.m. when Allen scored on a 7-yard touchdown run.
“That was crazy,” said Emily Hinze, a then-freshman born-and-raised in the above-mentioned Cody, who was at her first game as a Wyoming student. “My friend’s birthday was Sunday, so we started celebrating at midnight at the game, and then we had a win to celebrate, too.”
Hinze won’t be at Saturday’s game, though. That’s because she is at UH for a semester as an exchange student.
If you look at it a certain way, she can’t lose.
“Yeah, I think I’ll still be rooting for Wyoming, but I’ll be happy if Hawaii does well, too,” she said. “One of my neighbors is (UH lineman) Joey Nuuanu-Kuhiiki.”
John Brady is a Cowboys senior who works at the Pita Pit at the campus center. He will be a winner either way this Saturday, too.
“I gotta go with Wyoming, but I’ll be reppin’ both teams,” said Brady, a Hanalani School graduate from Kapolei.
Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529- 4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.
