OPINION: Stand strong and stand together
If you’re anything like me, the Utah State Aggies’ beat down of Southern Utah last Thursday left you nothing short of giddy.
It was the kind of game football fans show up to the stadium to see. The Aggies had power on defense, leaving the opposing running game essentially obsolete and quieted what was planning on being a promising passing game.
On offense, it wasn’t enough that the running game showed the potential to leave the numbers that the duo of Robert Turbin and Michael Smith left behind in the dust – there is also a passing game. And oh, what a passing game.
Have you ever played “NCAA Football 12” on Xbox and scored a series of touchdowns throwing to the B receiver on the “Four Verts” play? Quarterback Chuckie Keeton made two throws in the first quarter, one to Chuck Jacobs and the other a frozen rope to Matt Austin, that brought those virtual throws into life.
For a fan base coming off a summer full of huge expectations for a team well on the rise, this was a trip to paradise. Truly a great day to be an Aggie fan.
Of course, many cases in USU athletics have proven that, at times, being an Aggie fan in and of itself can be a part of the success. This year athletics and the HURD have been hard at work in trying to take an already well-respected fan base to the next level. And believe me, they have. Whether they know it or not, their new installments to an already stacked repertoire are just what this team needs.
If you sat in the back of the bleachers, you may not have noticed Aggie fans convening together just after the third quarter, linking arms and jumping up and down for a new cheer. Many onlookers did not expect such a moment and thus the overall performance was not as intoxicating as planned, but the words of the cheer alone proved to me that this will change soon.
The words in itself are overall basic and unified, but center around the phrase “Stand strong, stand together.”
Without knowing it, Aggies fans were exclaiming a message – a decree, even – to players, opposing fans and all in earshot that no matter what you call them, they are one. It themed perfectly the exact value that states why our boys are on to success and won’t be changing direction anytime soon.
Talent is one thing, momentum is another, but this team, plagued last year with woes in the exact quarter the fans were leading their players into, were who they were because they stand strong and stand together.
They stood together in moments when they made successful plays that were only strategies in years passed, when teammates stood along the sideline talking and laughing because a football team should be more like a family than anything else, when Keeton hops in front of quarterback Adam Kennedy, who is walking off the field after hurting his shoulder, doing anything to let his ailing teammate know that he has his back.
That being said, Friday’s battle with Utah will be no easy case. The Utes boast a threatening defense and a presence that has labeled them a sleeper in a highly competitive Pac-12 conference.
It has been a long time since these teams were so evenly matched, which is why it matters so much that the Aggies find success. This is the prime time for USU to gain the fodder to attain national attention at every level and begin the documented descent to a marauding force to be reckoned with.
The best part is, they can do it – if they do their jobs collectively, find lasting momentum early, and as a horde of finger-pointing, giant-flag-waving, noise-spreading, cow-milking, sheep-herding, blue-clad fans have already v
oiced, if they stand strong and stand together.
– Steve Schwartzman is a senior studying communication studies. He has had just about every job in sports writing, including blogs, analysis, statistics and fantasy football tips, but he especially loves making bold picks. Got any comments? Let him know: steve.schwartzman@aggiemail.usu.edu.