OUR VIEW: Buy a bowl game ticket … now
If you haven’t bought your tickets and called your Idaho relatives for sleeping arrangements, drop the newspaper after you read this, and do it.
Most of you don’t understand how big a deal it is that the Aggies are going bowling.
You probably don’t remember when Anthony Calvillo scored seven touchdowns and won the 58-56 shoot out in 1993 over BYU’s John Walsh, who passed for a school record of 619 yards.
You probably don’t remember when Calvillo helped the Aggies win the Las Vegas Bowl and was named bowl MVP for beating Ball State 42-33 later that year.
You definitely don’t remember when Lionel Aldridge was an All-America honorable selection at USU before starting his rookie season in the NFL under legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi.
Most students can only remember the past 17-or-so seasons when Utah State went unrecognized for its football program.
The point is, before this season, Utah State football lost its aura of greatness. Now, with the invitation to play Ohio in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, that aura is coming back — our Aggies are winning football games.
High school football players from Salt Lake County high schools are excited for the chance to play collegiate football in Cache Valley and Aggie fever is spreading among the hearts of alumni who are ponying up the dough to buy new practice areas, facilities, turf fields and training rooms. Most importantly, they are buying season tickets again.
Getting bodies in the seats is crucial for the emotional high the football team needs in Boise, Idaho. You are of the many who need to be there to watch your Aggies make history.
We don’t really care if you fly, drive, bike, walk, buy a ticket, get a press pass or whatever to see the Aggies play on that ugly blue Smurf turf.
Years from now, you’re going to be able to say you were a student when Utah State football became a staple in the Logan collegiate experience.
You’ll be able to tell your friends and family how you watched the USU defense, led by Bobby Wagner, Kyle Gallagher and local hero Levi Koskan, sack Ohio quarterback Tyler Tettleton for a Football Bowl Subdivision record 16 times.
You’ll be able to tell them how you watched as the offensive line pushed around a lazy Mid-American Conference defense and set a school record for rushing yards in a game.
You will also be able to say you were in Bronco Stadium chanting “one more year” with the rest of the Hurd, students and alumni, when Robert Turbin sets the school record for career rushing touchdowns in Utah State’s 2011 bowl win.