Whittingham Talks Experience as Opposing Player, Coach in Laramie

LARAMIE -- "I'd rather lose and live in Provo than win and live in Laramie."

That infamous statement from BYU head coach LaVell Edwards was made just minutes after his then 13th-ranked Cougars fell victim to Phil Davis and a late October blizzard that blanketed War Memorial Stadium.

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Wyoming's quarterback found the end zone with his legs three times that day. He added an 81-yard touchdown strike to James Williams. Running back Doug Moore also got in on the action with a 25-yard jaunt of his own.

The visiting Cougars and their flamboyant signal caller Jim McMahon jumped out to an early 14-0 lead in that one.

It wouldn't last.

Kyle Whittingham Monday recalled that 33-20 loss in Laramie, BYU's second and final setback of the 1981 campaign. The Cougars won four straight -- all in blowout fashion -- before topping Washington State in the Holiday Bowl and landing 11th in the final polls.

"That was a miserable experience," the former linebacker and WAC Defensive Player of the Year told the gathered media. "It was freezing cold and we lost that game, which, you know, we didn't lose a lot of games."

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Whittingham, now 65, has been the head coach at the University of Utah since 2005. He will be tasked with taking his 20th-ranked Utes to that very same venue this Saturday for the 85th meeting between these two long-time rivals.

While there likely won't be a snowflake in sight, Whittingham is well aware of the atmosphere he is walking into.

"It's always a hostile crowd," he said. "You know, my memory as a player and of coaching there is, they'll get after you pretty good. The crowd will. So, it's an environment you got to be able to handle."

Whittingham said the elevation shouldn't be a factor. Rice-Eccles Stadium sits at 4,637 feet above sea level. Wyoming, 7,200, the highest in all of FBS.

Justin Stevenson is familiar with "The War." He was a wide receiver in Laramie from 2023-24 before transferring to Utah in the offseason.

Quarterback Devon Dampier is no stranger to this place, either. In '23 he nearly led New Mexico back from a 22-9 deficit. He threw a couple of touchdown passes and gashed the Cowboys for 71 yards on the ground on just six attempts.

Ryan Davis snagged four passes for 59 yards that afternoon. He's now Dampier's top downfield target in Salt Lake City.

Dampier and Co. are fresh off a 63-9 rout of visiting Cal Poly. That came on the heels of a 33-point victory over UCLA inside the Rose Bowl. Whittingham was asked if there is a heightened awareness amongst his roster that Wyoming is playing this Saturday with house money.

Win? They are supposed to. Lose? The highlights of this upset will play nationally, on loop.

"We've got to understand that, as a team -- and we thought we did a good job preparing last week -- knowing that Cal Poly, essentially, had everything to gain and nothing to lose against us," he said. "You know, anytime you take anyone for granted or don't understand the dynamics of the game, then, you know, bad things can happen."

Remember the 2006 meeting?

Karsten Sween and the Cowboys jumped out to a 24-0 lead, aided by a defense that made life miserable for Utah quarterback Brett Ratliff, sacking the senior six times and picking him off twice, including a 42-yard touchdown return by cornerback Julius Stinson that made the score 31-0 in this third.

Ratliff, entering that meeting, had yet to be sacked in six outings.

"They came out to play," Ratliff told The Deseret News. "That's all you can say. They put pressure on me all day. I don't even know how many times I got sacked, but they brought it, and we didn't."

That Utes team won eight games and knocked off Tulsa in the Armed Forces Bowl. The Cowboys reached postseason eligibility with six wins, but were left out in the cold.

Whittingham failed to mention that meeting Monday when he was strolling down memory lane with the local media. As a coach, he added with a smile, one recollection that sticks out to him is the day his father, Fred Whittingham, stood too close to a space heater on the visiting sideline.

"His pants started on fire," Whittingham laughed. "We had to douse him with water to get the pants out. So, that was a fairly light, humorous moment there."

The Cowboys and Utes are slated to kickoff at 6 p.m. Mountain Time and the game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.

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