How Kalani Sitake and his BYU players felt about the environment at Wyoming

LARAMIE, Wyo. — Wyoming fans may dislike BYU, but Cougars quarterback Jake Retzlaff is a newly-minted fan of their town.

Following his three touchdown performance against the Cowboys Saturday night, Retzlaff offered some kind words regarding his first trip to Laramie.

“It was a super fun place to play. I liked the stadium and the environment,” Retzlaff told reporters postgame. “… Laramie grew on me a little bit this weekend.”

BYU had not visited War Memorial Stadium in 15 years prior to Saturday, where Kalani Sitake’s crew handily defeated Wyoming 34-14 to move to 3-0 on the young season.

The reappearance of a longtime rival proved compelling for Cowboy supporters, who came out in droves for the matchup and made their disdain of the Cougars perfectly clear.

At one point in the second half, CBS Sports Network had to mute its stadium crowd microphones due to vulgar chants directed at BYU being heard on-air.

Such hospitality — or lack thereof — is not new for Wyoming when it comes to the Cougars. The rivalry once burned “really, really hot,” with Cowboy fans tearing down goal posts on multiple occasions upon toppling their foe from Provo.

Sitake didn’t seem to be bothered by the locals’ loud opposition. In fact, he commended it.

“It was a lot of fun. I’m glad that our players were able to be here in this environment,” BYU’s head coach said after the game. “We knew it was going to be energetic. When people (refer to Laramie as) ‘hostile,’ there are amazing Wyoming fans that were not hostile at all, they were kind.

“Our interaction with the Wyoming fans was awesome. They just love their team so much,” Sitake continued. “They should be proud of their team … they don’t quit, they’re tough kids and it wasn’t easy by any means for us to get this win.”

Of course, the worst of the jeering didn’t last long on Saturday. The Cougars let their play on the field do the talking, thoroughly besting the winless Cowboys and quickly removing the crowd factor from the equation.

“I loved the atmosphere. They were wild and it was cool,” BYU wide receiver Chase Roberts told BYUtv’s Spencer Linton in a postgame interview.

“I guess when you start scoring points on them they start to quiet down a bit, so it was nice to hear the loud noises quiet down a bit after we made some plays.”