Columnist Steve Guiremand: Wyoming coach issues a call for fan support: Bowl may be at stake

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Nov. 12, 2004 | 10:03 a.m.

Steve Guiremand covers college football for the Sun. He can be reached at steveg@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-2324.

Looking for something to do this weekend?

How about jumping in the old two-seater, driving three or four hours and then sitting out in 20-plus degree weather for another four hours while counting the snowflakes and watching a football game? And when that's done, drive home another three or four hours in the dark and hope you don't hit a patch a black ice or a deer.

Sound like fun? Welcome to Wyoming football.

The Cowboys (6-3, 3-2) play host to undefeated Utah (9-0, 5-0) in their home finale Saturday night at War Memorial Stadium. Wyoming is hoping to land one of the Mountain West Conference's three bowl berths but, depending on how many teams get eligible in the final two weeks, could still find itself on the outside looking in.

The reason is simple: Wyoming, despite going 5-0 at home this season under energetic head coach Joe Glenn, ranks just 109th out 117 Division I-A teams in average attendance at 16,281, which is about half of War Memorial Stadium's listed capacity of 32,580.

BYU (5-4, 4-1), New Mexico (5-4, 3-2) and Air Force (4-5, 2-3) all could finish bowl eligible along with the Utes and Cowboys, which means there's a possibility there could be five teams vying for three Mountain West bowl spots.

BYU is averaging 59,446 fans per game while Air Force is averaging 40,669 and New Mexico is at 37,769. And although the Pokes brought about 1,500 fans to Las Vegas for last weekend's 53-45 triple overtime thriller against UNLV, bowl officials have expressed reservations about inviting Wyoming because of its poor home attendance figures.

In an effort to boost attendance for Saturday night's game, Glenn actually wrote a letter to newspapers across the state in which he urged fans to "do whatever it takes to attend our game against nationally ranked Utah on Saturday.

"Poke fans, I've challenged my team all season long and now I would like to challenge you," Glenn wrote.

The problem for Glenn and the Cowboys is that the game doesn't start until 5 p.m. in Laramie and will be shown on regional television by ABC. The late start makes it extra tough for fans across the state who must drive anywhere from three to six hours to attend the game.

Then toss in the weather forecast, which is calling for a high of about 29 degrees at kickoff with a 30 percent chance of snow flurries. Temperatures could be in the teens by the end of the game.

Let's see -- sit by the warm fire and watch the game on TV or drive to Laramie and freeze your buns off for four hours? Tough choice.

"Our fans are what they are," Glenn said. "There's not that many people in Wyoming. I love the ones that are coming. The fans that have come to our games have really been terrific fans.

"I don't know what it's gonna take. We're 5-0 at home and we've got a big game coming up. I don't want anybody to stay home and watch it on TV. Cowboy up a little bit and grab that Carhartt and bring your vocal cords and let's see if you can help us win a game."

Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson said Wyoming fans have no excuse for not attending the game Saturday night.

"They're playing the highest-rated team that's ever played at War Memorial Stadium, it's a conference game, it's on ABC," Thompson said. "I don't know how it gets much better than that, quite frankly."

Let's see. How about a 6 p.m. start between two pee-wee teams at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu?

Once around the MWC