COLUMN: Don’t blame Turbin for Aggie loss
I love Robert Turbin.
After the junior running back and future NFL prospect failed to make it into the end zone against Colorado State Saturday, in what could have been a program-defining victory, the leader of the Aggie football team — and quite frankly the leader Aggie Nation — went public and tweeted an apology to fans, personally, for not winning the game.
“Sorry to all #aggiefans for losing the game,” he tweeted. “My game, one play, and I lost it. I promise to improve, and I won’t let it happen again.”
Turbin rushed for 155 yards and four touchdowns against the Rams and in retrospect going for the two-point conversion was probably the wrong decision.
That’s beside the point, however.
The sight and sound of nearly 23,000 Aggie fans on their feet and screaming and pulling for an Aggie victory Saturday night gave me chills down my spine. Before the Aggies dropped the game, I was certain head coach Gary Andersen had finally accomplished what he had set out to do in changing the mindset of not only the football team, but Aggie fans as well.
After they failed to convert the two-point conversion, I wondered if I would ever see Romney Stadium as full as I had seen it that night.
I cautiously ventured out into the social media world to see what the response Aggie fans would give about the loss and I stumbled onto Turbin’s apology. As I stumbled onto his apology I began to find responses from other media members and that made me wondered if fans responded to him personally.
I was pleasantly surprised to find many messages of encouragement for Turbin to not give up because fans had his back and didn’t plan on giving up hope yet. One tweet even said that Turbin made nearly 23,000 people believe in Aggie football again.
It was at that point that I realized that Turbin is not only the leader of the Aggie football team, he is the leader of Aggie Nation. He showed his desire to win and his willingness to do whatever it took to win. He also showed is willingness to be accountable to everybody, including fans.
This great athlete and great human being has won over the support of many fence sitters, and I think it would be a shame to let him or any member of the Aggie football team down due to lack of support.
With that being said, I think there needs to be an Aggie invasion at Lavell Edwards Stadium. Let me rephrase that, I know there needs to be an Aggie invasion at Lavell Edwards Stadium. If you can’t make it to the stadium, you should still cheer loud and make it known in every way possible that you are an Aggie.
Utah State football is on the brink of being great and breaking through a fog of failure and doubt. Even the smallest push can create big waves, and that small push just might be the unrelenting support from fans.
If you can’t find any other reason to get excited, at least get excited to cheer against BYU.
– Tyler Huskinson is a senior majoring in broadcast journalism. He is also a sports writer for The Herald Journal. Follow his Twitter feed @TDHuskiSports or send any comments to ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu.