USU football ready for chance at SBC title
It is easy to look at the Utah State football team this season and tell that there is something different.
There is a little extra fire in the players’ eyes and a sense of urgency among the team.
Utah State finally has something to play for.
After three years since their last conference game, the Aggies will step foot onto the field Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe in a game that could help lead to a postseason experience for USU.
The Aggies will be playing in a Sun Belt Conference game.
After the announcement was made last October that Utah State football would no longer be an independent program, there has been a certain buzz in the air.
Utah State Head Coach Mick Dennehy said he felt that for the first time since he has been in Logan that the community started anticipating the football season the second basketball ended.
“It’s a big game,” Dennehy said. “People just couldn’t wait to get the season started.”
And the game against the Indians in particular will likely be the most important game so far for the Aggies.
Offensive Guard Greg Vandermade said he thinks the game is critical because of its conference status and the outcome of last season’s contest in Louisiana.
The Indians knocked off Utah State 51-48 in double overtime.
“I still have the fire inside of me from being angry that we lost that game because we should have won,” Vandermade said. “We should have executed better and we should have won. This is our chance to do what we should have done last year – get the game back and start off conference play with a win.
“We want to get off on the right foot and get to New Orleans,” he said.
The 2003 football season will culminate on Dec. 16 as the Sun Belt Conference champions take on the Conference USA Selection in the Louisiana Superdome. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
Despite Utah State’s 0-3 record so far, Dennehy said he thinks the true competition for the conference title begins when league play starts.
“If winning games wasn’t important, there wouldn’t be a score,” Dennehy said. “I think the team that does [move on from pre-conference losses] the best in our league will be the team that ends up in New Orleans.”
The obvious team to beat this season will be last year’s SBC champions North Texas. The Mean Green won the New Orleans Bowl 24-19 over Cincinnati.
Dennehy said the Aggies schedule nationally ranked teams for pre-league games for various reasons.
“We do it for money, to expose our kids to that kind of atmosphere and to give the kids the opportunity to go play in the best facilities against the best people,” Dennehy said. “I think our kids enjoy that and look forward to that. I think they understand that if we are going to beat [a nationally-ranked team], we can’t beat
ourselves.”
The biggest key for Utah State is to not look back on the losses to Utah, Nebraska and Arizona State, but to look forward to playing for a conference title.
“It means a whole lot to play a conference game because I haven’t been in a conference game since I’ve been here,” said Aggie defensive back Mark Estelle. “I finally have something to play for. I’ve been looking forward to it. We played three hard games before to get us prepared and I feel that we are more than ready for this game.”
-juag@cc.usu.edu