Lookin’ for a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Aggies could have it with win over Y
Fifteen years.
That’s how long it’s been since USU defeated its rivals to the south. Not since a 58-56 victory in 1993 have the Aggies been able to knock off the Cougars of BYU. Now, after taking a one-year break, the Aggies will have another opportunity to end that drought.
That task will not be an easy one for USU. This season’s version of the Y is currently ranked eighth in the country, the second-highest ranked team ever to visit Romney Stadium (No. 6 Oregon was the Cougars are ranked 11th nationally in total yards, and seventh nationally in passing yards per game.
Don’t tell that to anyone on this Aggie team, however. After throttling Idaho, and having a bye week to prepare for the Cougars, the Ags are looking for an upset.
Redshirt freshman wide receiver Austin Alder, a Provo native, is looking forward to taking on his hometown team for the first time.
“I hope we do (beat them),” Alder said. “It would be awesome to go out and beat a Top-10 team. Any team can win on any given day. I really think we have a shot.”
The Aggies are drawing a lot of motivation from a weekend up upsets in the college football world. Nine of the top 25 ranked teams lost, and six of those nine losses came at the hands of unranked opponents. One of the biggest came when Oregon State upset then number one USC.
USU is hoping to continue the upset trend in week six with Friday night’s game.
“Last week we were off and got to watch all those games and there were so many upsets in the Top-25,” said Aggie head coach Brent Guy. “The question you’ve got to ask yourself is, ‘Why can’t we do that, why can’t we be one of those teams?'”
Guy said taking advantage of every opportunity, and playing a four-quarter game, is something the Aggies are going to have to do to give themselves a chance at an upset.
Recent history, though, hasn’t been too kind to the Aggies.
In the last meeting between these two schools on Sept. 23, 2006, BYU rolled to a 38-0 victory in Provo, recording their first shutout in seven years. One positive for the Aggies is that they lead the all-time series in Logan, 18-14-2.
“As is the nature of this state they (USU players) read about BYU a lot, they hear about BYU a lot, and they see all the coverage that they get on TV,” Guy said. “So there’s that little extra incentive there when you’re constantly being bombarded with it. As a player you sit there and see them talked about a lot and so it gives you that incentive to say, ‘OK, this is my chance to play the guys that I have to listen to all the time.'”
USU senior wide receiver Otis Nelson said the Aggies are looking forward to earning some respect from their rivals.
“I love to play the instate rivalry games,” Nelson said. “I know not many people think it’s a rival and they don’t respect us. We’ve got to earn that respect.”
The Aggies performance against the eighth-ranked Cougars could go a long way towards earning that respect.
“We’ve just got to stay strong and believe that we can beat anybody we play,” Nelson said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s the No. 1 team in the country or the last team in the country, we’ve got to go into it thinking we can beat them.”
Nelson leads the Aggies in receptions this year with 13 catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns.
Friday night when USU takes the field, the Aggies will be looking to renew a rivalry that’s been regulated to basketball season for most of this decade.
Despite facing a team that has outscored it’s opponents 103-0 over the last two games, the Aggies are excited.
–t.olsen@aggiemail.usu.edu