So what is the story behind the '49 game?

[COS Cowboy]

Did the Bears coach guarantee victory? Did everyone on the Bears line get injured? Did Bowden Wyatt’s daughter run off with the Bears QB? What happened?

 

[zappinpoke]

Just a better team playing a much weaker team. I did read some where that during halftime Wyatt told the team if anyone scored in the second half that they would have to walk back to Laramie. lol

 

[LawPoke]

Looking at the UNC record books, it looks as though the halftime score was 61-0. Wow.

 

[whyoh]

i assume we haven't played them in 64 years because of that game...am i wrong?

 

[COS Cowboy]

Found this in this week's media release.

Last Meeting -- Wyoming 103, Northern Colorado 0 on Nov. 5, 1949: Head
coach Bowden Wyatt and the Cowboys set a mark in 1949 that may never be reached again. The
Cowboys, armed with a 7-0 record, went to Greeley, Colo., to take on winless Colorado State
Teachers College (now Northern Colorado) on Nov. 5.
After scoring twice in the first quarter, the Cowboys turned it on in the second quarter when
UW Hall of Famer Eddie “Boom Boom” Talboom scored on an 89-yard punt return TD and tossed
59- and 60-yard scoring passes.
UW was up 42-0 at the half with a victory well in hand, and Wyatt told his players that if
anyone scored in the second half “they would have to walk home.”
That warning was not heeded, as the third- and fourth-stringers scored six touchdowns in
the third quarter and four more in the fourth. When the dust settled, UW had won the game by
a staggering 103-0 margin, a modern-day NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision record for most points
in one game. The Cowboys scored 15 touchdowns and kicked 13 extra points, both NCAA records.
UW rolled up 812 yards of total offense, including 460 on the ground and 352 through the air.

http://static.psbin.com/l/o/bwwmsd1jm0zs6c/Wyoming_Notes.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[NowherePoke]

i assume we haven't played them in 64 years because of that game...am i wrong?

That might have been the case right after that game, but in general the main reason is that UNC has mostly been a D2/Small College program while Wyoming has played at the FBS/D1-A/Major College level the whole time. Up until a few years ago, UNC was 2 levels below Wyoming. While FBS vs.FCS (D1-A vs. D1-AA) games are pretty common it is pretty rare to play a team two divisions down, which UNC was from the 70's until 2007 or so.

 

[The Virginian]

Here's a Bob Hammond column on the UNC game which talks about the '49 game.

Click Here