Ferd Lewis: Wyoming Cowboys still talk about the legend of Chevan Cordeiro

With his bald pate reflecting light in a Zoom media conference, University of Wyoming football coach Craig Bohl on Monday shared a tale of what happened to his hair.

“My gosh, I’m just looking at this quarterback (Chevan Cordeiro) that the Rainbows got and…(well) I used to have a full head of hair until I started watching that tape,” the 62-year-old Bohl said.

Hyperbole to be sure, but be assured that Bohl has come to have a genuine appreciation for the talents of the Hawaii quarterback the Cowboys — and the nation — will be seeing from Laramie, Wyo., on national television Friday.

Well before Cordeiro led the Rainbow Warriors to a 34-19 season-opening victory over Fresno State Saturday, mixing and matching the run and passing game in the Rainbow Warriors’ 552-yard offensive performance, he had already formally introduced himself to Bohl and Wyoming in memorable fashion.

Against Fresno, he ran for a game-high 116 yards and two touchdowns and completed 20 of 30 passes for 229 yards without a turnover.

Cordeiro’s legend was shaped in his 2018 college debut and first start as a Warrior when he stepped in for an injured Cole McDonald. McDonald had suffered internal injuries the week before in the 44-41, five-overtime victory over San Jose State.

What few outside the team knew at the time was that McDonald wasn’t going to play against Wyoming and UH went to great lengths to keep it that way. They even put McDonald’s No. 13 jersey on Kolney Cassel, another quarterback, to wear during pregame warm-ups to nurture the element of surprise.

So when Cordeiro trotted out to take UH’s first snap, Wyoming had little warning and no film of him in college action.

Five months out of Saint Louis School, Cordeiro delivered a 17-13 victory, completing 19 of 29 passes for 148 yards. But it was his prime-time performance in the fourth quarter, where he completed five of seven passes, including the game winner, a 38-yard touchdown toss to JoJo Ward with 1 minute, 26 seconds remaining after he had eluded a sack, that stole the show and established his bonafides.

He would later come off the bench to direct a comeback victory over Nevada-Las Vegas that season and, in 2019, start three more games and step off the sidelines to engineer rallies against Arizona and San Diego State.

But after spending three of the last four seasons backing others (Tua Tagovailoa at Saint Louis and McDonald at UH), 2020 has finally given Cordeiro an ample quarterback stage all to himself for up to three years on which to demonstrate his considerable abilities.

Between his 2018 redshirt year and the extended eligibility that the NCAA is allowing for those on 2020 rosters (even athletes who compete this fall will be eligible for an extra year under the rule), Cordeiro should be around for a while to re-write portions of the record book.

History has it that the outlaw Jesse James, a suspect in an 1870 Wyoming stagecoach holdup, spent a night in the Laramie jail but was released before authorities learned his true identity.

Meanwhile, Cordeiro arrives in Laramie with his exploits all too well known to the Cowboys now and, likely, for years to come.

Which, as Bohl suggests, can be a hairy proposition.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.