Cam Stone had just two words of advice for his Hawaii football teammates for their trip to Laramie, Wyo., this week.
“Stay inside,” the former Wyoming cornerback said.
As luck would have it, the Rainbow Warriors seem to have caught a break for their noon Saturday (9 a.m. Hawaii time) matchup with the Cowboys at War Memorial Stadium. The weather forecast calls for a very reasonable game in the mid-50s.
UH will still have to deal with the thin air of 7,220 feet of altitude and a physical opponent that has not lost at home in six games this season.
Coming off the first consecutive victories of the Timmy Chang era, UH (4-7, 2-4 Mountain West) feels like it can run up, or possibly through a mountain. Nevertheless, it is a 13.5-point underdog to Wyoming (6-4, 3-3 MWC), which owns the Paniolo Trophy contested between the teams.
“We got things cut out for us,” said Chang, who noted the Cowboys’ considerable toughness is derived from his grizzled coaching counterpart Craig Bohl.
The ‘Bows’ new mantra, “push the sled,” was brought up after last week’s surprising 27-13 home victory over Air Force. Following a demoralizing loss at New Mexico on Oct. 21, the UH coaches placed a blocking sled near the players’ exit of the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex field. All players, regardless of position, are expected to push the tackling dummies attached to metal sliders on the sled on their way to the locker room.
The bonding exercise didn’t prevent a 35-0 loss to San Jose State and a 2-7 record a week after its introduction, but the team has attributed a steady rise in player-led leadership to its last two weeks of success. The win over Air Force featured four turnovers forced in the fourth quarter and a stout run defense that held the triple-option team 80 yards below its nation-leading average on the ground.
The rhythmic clanging of metal rang out in the background during interviews at the Ching Complex before the team departed for the road Tuesday.
“There’s a toughness about this game, that it presents. It has to be met and matched mentally, physically and spiritually,” Chang said. “That’s where the sled comes in. It’s not just one guy pushing it, it’s the whole team pushing it. It’s kickers, it’s quarterbacks, it’s receivers, it’s defensive backs. It’s the mentality they take away. They embrace that thing.”
Stone said the change in practice has been palpable.
“Just the way that we attack things. Just the confidence we’ve gained,” he said. “You kind of see it … the way guys handle themselves versus how they used to.”
Stone, then a Wyoming defensive back, was the first player to reach the Paniolo Trophy after the Cowboys completed last year’s 27-20 road win at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex.
Stone, who transferred to UH in the offseason and won kick and punt return duties in addition to his regular position, gave a slight smile as he was reminded of that.
He did his best to downplay the matchup with his former teammates, but acknowledged that helping UH take back the Paniolo would “mean everything in the world to me.”
“Of course I’m excited to see the guys I once played with, but I can’t let this be a game of emotions in that way,” he said.
In his estimation, the key to beating the Cowboys is stopping the run and forcing the pass. Wyoming is coming off a 34-14 loss at UNLV in which it was held to 121 yards on the ground. Andrew Peasley, who has 15 touchdowns against five interceptions on the season, was 11-for-22 for 144 yards in that one.
"If we can get the ball in the air, I think we’ll have a fun time," Stone said.
UH’s quarterback, Brayden Schager, enters Saturday brimming with confidence. He’s within 56 passing yards of becoming the 13th Warriors quarterback to eclipse 3,000 in a season; he ranks 11th in FBS football in that statistic.
UH won the last meeting between the teams in Laramie, 38-14 on Nov. 27, 2021, led by former Warrior quarterback Chevan Cordeiro. In the days following that game, Cordeiro transferred out of the program, helping start a domino effect that resulted in the resignation of coach Todd Graham and the eventual hire of Chang.
UH finished 6-7 that year and was awarded a bowl invitation, though UH backed out of the Hawaii Bowl the day before it was to be played.
The Rainbow Warriors would have to win their last two games to reach 6-7 this year and possibly receive a bowl invitation if there are not enough teams with winning or even records.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.