LARAMIE, Wyo. — The forecast calls for clear skies and temperatures in the low 80s in Honolulu on Friday, but the scene of Wyoming’s game against Hawaii will be far less tropical.
This year’s matchup between the Mountain West foes will stay on the mainland in Laramie, where ice and single-digit temperatures have been the norm following a weekend snowstorm. Even with Friday’s high expected to be 49 degrees with a low of 32, according to the Weather Channel, they’re temperatures Hawaii doesn’t find itself having to play in often.
Wyoming coach Craig Bohl – is holding out hope for even more wintry conditions when the Cowboys host Hawaii at War Memorial Stadium come Friday night.
“I’d like to think for us it’d be zero degrees with the wind blowing sideways at kickoff, but I don’t know if that’s going to be the case,” Bohl said.
Hawaii has spent the week trying to get used to the elements. Instead of flying back to Honolulu after its opening win at Fresno State, the Warriors hopped on a plane early Sunday morning to Denver, where they’re staying leading up to Friday’s game.
Hawaii coach Todd Graham said he’s been more concerned with trying to find venues to accommodate his team’s makeshift practice routine, which has been an adventure. A field the Warriors rented early in the week was covered with snow, so the team had to rent an indoor space in order to prepare.
There’s also the 7,220 feet of elevation that comes with playing in southern Wyoming as well as a four-hour time difference, but Graham insisted all of the elements are just noise for his team.
“There’s nothing I can do about it,” Graham said. “I can’t do anything about the altitude. Can’t do anything about the weather. I signed up for football because it’s hard and it’s for tough people. If you’re not tough, then you should get out of it. There’s nobody around here talking about being cold.”
Bohl said he isn’t sure the weather will be all that advantageous for the Cowboys given Hawaii has had the week to get acclimated to its new surroundings, but Wyoming will take any advantage it can get as the Cowboys go for their first win of the season in their home opener, which will be played in front of a limited capacity of 7,000 fans because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Wyoming is turning its offense over to redshirt freshman quarterback Levi Williams, who’s taking over for the injured Sean Chambers as the Cowboys’ starter. It will be the second career start for Williams, who ran for a pair of touchdowns and threw another in the second half against Nevada to help UW force overtime.
But the Cowboys needed all of it to rally from a 22-point deficit, so Williams will try to help Wyoming get off to a faster start against a Hawaii defense that yielded nearly 34 points a game a season ago. The Warriors were opportunistic in holding Fresno State to just 19 points last week, forcing four turnovers in their 15-point win.
“I just need to play better,” said Williams, who finished 16 of 31 passing for 227 yards with an interception. “There’s a lot of easy stuff that I didn’t take (against Nevada), and that needs to happen.”
Wyoming will also look to get running back Xazavian Valladay going more on the ground after the Mountain West’s reigning rushing camp needed 22 carries to get to 87 yards last week, though Hawaii’s defense isn’t the only one that figures to get tested on the ground.
As part of an effort to inject its run-and-shoot offense with more physicality under Graham, Hawaii ran the ball 53 times against Fresno State, averaging 6.1 yards per carry. Running back Calvin Turner had a pair of rushing scores, and so did quarterback Chevan Cordeiro, who adds a dimension to the Warriors’ offense with his mobility that UW will also have to account for. Cordeiro was efficient through the air (20 of 31, 229 yards) but also finished as Hawaii’s leading rusher with 116 yards on just 13 carries.
“I hope he doesn’t run as fast in the cold,” Wyoming first-year defensive coordinator Jay Sawvel said.
The last time these teams met at War Memorial Stadium was 2017, so many of the players on Hawaii’s roster have yet to experience a trip to Laramie during football season. But both teams expect the outcome to be determined by more than the elements.
“This is going to be a physical, knock-down dragout,” Graham said.
Potter writes for the Casper Star Tribune, Wyo.