War Memorial Stadium has something special going on.

If you've been there for any or all of Wyoming's four home football games to date, you know what I'm talking about.

If you haven't been there yet, you owe it to yourself.  You still have two more opportunities. One of those opportunities is coming Saturday when the Pokes host Nevada in a huge Mountain West game.

The Cowboys have won all four in the War thus far in 2019 (and six straight going back to last season), and the crowds and atmosphere have been electric.

That energy has certainly been a major part of the Cowboys' success.  Ask any player or coach and they'll tell you, fan energy, and the atmosphere really help.  Part of that is the way the stadium is built.  Sound is captured just by the architecture of the place, it gets loud!

A bigger part of what's going on, however, has been the students and their lower east sections.  Student energy permeates the entire stadium.  That's nothing new, if the student section in any building is fired up, the remainder of the crowd always follows suit.

Wyoming's students are having a blast.  Case in point, last week's "beer-cup snake" which extended from the east side's front row all the way to just under the upper deck.  The entire stadium had a blast watching it grow. Only students would think of something like that.  It was probably a modern marvel that they got it out of the stadium intact. But they did.

This type of stadium fun has continued to grow through the Craig Bohl era.  Since the middle of the 2015 campaign—Craig's second at Wyoming—the Cowboys are 20-7 at home with exciting victories over programs like Boise State, CSU, Air Force, San Diego State and Missouri.  

There is winning football going on in the War, and folks are responding.

The success of the product obviously is the overwhelming reason for what's happening in War Memorial, nobody would argue that. But there are other factors coming into play here.

A big one, in my opinion, is that the athletics department has worked hard to improve the fan experience.  For example, there are fewer lines at the gates, even the Student Gate and Gate 6, a pair of gates that have been problematic historically.   That was due primarily to the fact that everyone coming from Tailgate Park did so at the last moments before kickoff totally crushing Gate 6.  Scanning problems and the fact students typically arrive late as well were huge problems at that gate.  

I give a great deal of credit for those gate improvements to the ticketing, marketing and facilities staffs.  They have spent hours looking at different ways to correct those gate issues and they've done so.

I'm equally impressed with all of our external crew.  From ticketing, marketing, media relations, creative video, fan experience, spirit squad, and graphics to facilities, revenue generation, technology, digital media, Cowboy Joe, business, Wyoming Sports Properties and concessions, all have had a hand in the success of game day.

That sounds like a huge group, but in comparison to most collegiate athletics departments it's a relatively small one. But I'd put these professionals up against any.  Together they do amazing things to make Saturdays in the War so special. 

 Wyoming fans have certainly answered the bell.  With two games remaining at home, this could be a record-breaking attendance year.  The all-time record for a six-game home season is 142,516 which came during 1988 with Paul Roach at the helm. 

Heading into Saturday's game with Nevada, 100,764 fans have watched the Cowboys play four games. That's an average of 25,191.  Not bad for a state that has a population of less than 600,000!  Along with Saturday's Nevada game, don't forget the Border War (Nov. 22) is still to come on the home schedule. So there's a very good possibility that this could be a record attendance season.

 By the way, the average attendance for that 1988 season was 23,753.  Wyoming's record for the largest season attendance average came in 1977 (24,831), but that was for a five-game schedule.

Athletics Director Tom Burman is as pleased and impressed as anyone with how the season has unfolded.  "You certainly start with a good team.  But we have been fortunate to draw some excellent game times," he says.  "We consider anything before 5 p.m. to be an acceptable game time for our fans.  

"But it's also been a combination of exciting games, excellent student engagement and outstanding game management.  All of that has helped us create one of the best fan experiences in the Mountain West.  I saw somewhere that our student body was voted one of the top two in our league.

"I'd also like to thank Keaton Yeend and all of our student workers and graduate assistants," Burman continues.  "Keeton (a student assistant from Marketing) does a terrific job with our stadium music. He has a great feel for what fans want to hear and when, and that's a key component to having great stadium atmosphere."

While afternoon kickoffs are optimal, game times are dictated by the league's television contract.  Although a new contract will be announced sometime this winter, that fact will not change.  The game times we've enjoyed this season won't always happen.  While the Mountain West athletics departments strategize and work with television, at the end of the day the TV partners are spending lots of money for the ability to move games times to suit their schedules.

That is reality on the collegiate football landscape for the foreseeable future.

But for now let's have a great time in War Memorial Saturday enjoying nice weather, a noon kickoff and a very big football game. See you there.