It's been nearly 18 years since Gregg Brandon has been back.

But the Bowling Green coach still knows the lay of the land.

Laramie has undergone a few changes since he was an offensive assistant for Wyoming - but the elevation isn't one of them.

Brandon has more experience at altitude than most nonconference coaches though, and his strategy for today's return to take on the Cowboys was generally to ignore it.

"You know, if you spend too much time on the altitude it can become a distraction," Brandon said. "So, we'll prepare just like any other week.

"But we'll make sure our kids are taking care of their bodies, replacing their fluids, getting enough rest to play a game at 7,000 feet - which will be different."

It won't be quite as unique for Brandon, who spent four years well above sea level on the sideline under Paul Roach, coaching receivers and helping steer UW to three bowl games.

Relative to most teams that don't visit the Cowboys often, that gives the Falcons something of an expert in an area that generally provides a huge physical edge to the home team in the second half.

"(Brandon) talked a little about the diet and the hydration parts of it, but for the most part he tries to stay away from that," Bowling Green receiver Corey Partridge said. "He's mentioned it once or twice, but it's just one of those mental things.

"If you let it creep into your mind then it might end up being a problem. If you push it away and just take care of it beforehand the week before the game, it won't be a problem."

The greater concern for Brandon is another lengthy flight and a punishing Cowboys defense.

The Falcons had a bye week to recover from a trip to Boise State two weeks ago, but including the trip to UW, three of their first four games will have been on the road against teams that can wear out an offense.

Bowling Green combats that problem with a spread attack that can return the favor to opposing defenses - at any elevation.

"They'll spread it all out and throw it all over the place, but I think they go at it different than Ohio did," UW coach Joe Glenn said. "Now, they'll see the Ohio film and see what they did to us and scratch where it itches on that deal, but that's not them, they have their own personality and own rhythm and their own offense.

"They motion and they motion back into the backfield, they'll take an (athletic) guy and give him a package, let him run a series at quarterback. They do some of that stuff, the quarterback will go out to wide receiver and all of a sudden one of the other guys will be in and he'll run the ball, probably quarterback draw, quarterback zone, quarterback trap, some of the plays that are pretty popular with that offense."

Brandon's version has built on the success of former Bowling Green and Utah, and current Florida, coach Urban Meyer, a spread innovator who influenced him as much as did Roach.

All three of them have enjoyed their share of success in Laramie - and Brandon certainly wouldn't mind an encore.

"I have great memories of Wyoming, it was a great place to coach," he said. "I was pretty young in my career and worked with a great coach in Paul Roach, learned a lot of football from him and we won a lot of football games when I was there.

"We had a lot of success in the old WAC. It was a pretty good run the four years I was there."

It's taken him considerably more to get back.

But Brandon still knows his way around.

Contact sports reporter Austin Ward at (307) 266-0634 or austin.ward@trib.com.