College Football / Richard Hoffer : Success at Wyoming Is Out in the Open

One of the country’s five undefeated teams operates in a virtual vacuum. It’s not that there’s nobody in Laramie, home of the University of Wyoming. It’s that there’s nobody in Wyoming . The ninth-largest state in geographical size is No. 49 in population.

On game days, when a good crowd might be 25,000, War Memorial Stadium becomes the third-largest “city” in the state. The rest of Laramie drops to No. 4.

Even a crowd like this represents considerable sacrifice on the part of fans, who have nothing else to root for in the entire state. These games are hard to get to. Consider this sobering road sign outside Laramie on Interstate 80: Cheyenne 25, Omaha 525. There’s nothing and nobody in between. And in the other direction, now that’s really sparse.

Still, Laramie is the focus of some attention this weekend as No. 10 Wyoming plays Texas El Paso for the Western Athletic Conference title. The Cowboys, who are undefeated in conference play in the last 2 seasons, have even attracted CBS-TV for this game (although Los Angeles viewers will see LSU-Alabama instead).

It is not rare for geographical outposts to reach college football significance. Penn State remains a place you can’t get to from here. But it has been awhile since Wyoming has made a run for it.

Back in 1967, when Jim Kiick was a co-captain, the Cowboys went to the Sugar Bowl. Nobody heard from them after that, until Paul Roach got them to the Holiday Bowl last season.

The Cowboys are an attraction in their own right, win or lose. They average almost 540 yards on offense and score close to 35 points a game. This is typical stuff for the WAC, in which Air Force can score 56 points and win by just a touchdown. But Wyoming, alone among the conference teams, plays some defense.

Still, it’s the offense you’re going to notice. Little Randy Welniak, with his passing and running, is fourth in the nation in total offense.

If Wyoming is this week’s college football story, what is Welniak? He tore his rotator cuff last year, his senior season, rehabilitated himself, entered graduate school and is leading his team to a storybook season.

“And he dates Miss Wyoming,” said Kevin McKinney, sports information director. “It’s like ‘American Graffiti’ around here.”

Sky high in Wyoming: The nearest big city is Denver, a mile high. To get to Laramie from Denver, you go north and uphill for about 2 hours.

This elevation, if not the distance, is not inconsequential, at least as far as visiting teams are concerned. And how could they not notice? The elevation--7,200 feet--is helpfully painted on the stadium wall.

Whether it’s the thin air or just the thought of it, some teams have definitely been psyched. And not just in football. There is the story of Jerry Tarkanian bringing his Nevada Las Vegas basketball team here and then stopping practice when he noticed his players huffing and puffing up and down the court.

“What’s the matter with you guys?” he yelled.

“Can’t breathe, coach. Air too thin.”

Tarkanian slapped his formidable forehead. “You idiots,” he screamed. “We’re indoors! This is inside air!”

The players took a breath of oxygen-rich inside air and went back to work.

Last week, it was mentioned that Oklahoma let one Heisman candidate get away when Coach Barry Switzer allowed Troy Aikman to transfer to UCLA. We forgot to tell you about the other one.

Oklahoma State running back Barry Sanders, who is nearing scoring and rushing records in his campaign, originally wanted to go to Oklahoma but couldn’t attract a scholarship offer.

Sanders goes up against the Sooners this week, and his performance will be critical to his Heisman Trophy chances. Sanders, who averages 210 yards rushing and leads the country, could make the voters forget about UCLA’s Aikman and USC’s Rodney Peete if he were instrumental in an upset.

On the other hand, don’t count on an upset. Oklahoma has lost only 3 games to Oklahoma State in the last 43 years.

Slightly more likely is that Sanders could average 216 yards in his next 4 games and surpass Marcus Allen’s 2,342 yards in a season, or score 6 touchdowns for a college-record 30.

The state of Wyoming, in the bust cycle of its boom-or-bust economy, is not the only state getting a nice boost from a football team. West Virginia, tagged a “state of despair” in a recent Wall Street Journal piece, is riding high with West Virginia, 8-0 and ranked No. 4, and Marshall, 8-0 and ranked No. 1 in Division I-AA.

Predictions: This is the way things will break. Notre Dame will play West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl. The Pac-10 runner-up, UCLA or USC, will play LSU in the Sugar Bowl. Arkansas will play Florida State in the Cotton. The Orange Bowl will have Miami and Oklahoma. The Rose Bowl will have the Pac-10 champion and Michigan. These will be updated as required.