COLUMN: Ready for some football?
I’m not the biggest football fan in America, but come September, I am definitely craving some gridiron action — college football, not that circus that is the NFL. There is something about the marching bands and the top-40 hits blaring out of the speakers that gets me every year.
Week one is done. The final buzzers have sounded but the 2011 season is far from over.
At the risk of sounding redundant, it is now time to look at Utah State’s loss at Auburn with a little bit of objectivity. Now that the dust has cleared and the tears have dried, it’s important to take a step back and look at week one relative to the rest of the season.
A 42-38 win is far from the blowout everyone was expecting, especially when you consider the Ags were leading with three-and-a-half minutes left.
Let’s face the facts, freshman QB Chuckie Keeton played like a seasoned vet in his first outing as an Aggie. It is a shame a defensive breakdown and textbook on-side kick spoiled his debut. He ran for two touchdowns and was accurate too, completing 70 percent of his passes.
Yes, the final score still hurts a little or, rather, a lot, but the victory Utah State achieved despite the final score says it all. It’s going to be one hell of a season.
Utah State’s exceptional play pushed Auburn out of the AP Top 25. The Tigers are just the second defending national champions to drop out of ranking during the first week of play, since polling started in 1950.
But this is all stuff you’ve heard before, so let’s be real.
The Aggies face Weber State at home Saturday, a game that up until a few weeks ago looked to be a shoe-in win for USU. The Wildcats are a powerhouse this year. Our in-state rivals lost to Wyoming last week by a field goal but dominated the stats sheet against the Cowboys in almost every category. Their high-powered offense should provide an annoying itch for the Aggies to scratch.
Utah State homecoming foe Colorado State University barely escaped an embarrassing defeat to the University of New Mexico, pulling out a 14-10. New Head Coach Steve Fairchild and a record-setting play by starter defensive end Nordly Capi had CSU talking big heading into 2011.
Capi set an NCAA single-game record with four forced fumbles in the New Mexico game. The sophomore has also recorded seven tackles so far in 2011.
If the Aggies can keep Capi in check, the game should be an easy W for the Aggies. I say this with a grain of salt. If the Rams pull off a victory my dad will never let me forget it. He’s a CSU alumnus.
The Aggies take the field against the school that must not be named in Provo, Sept. 30. If you have forgotten last year’s match-up, you shouldn’t call yourself a true-blooded Aggie.
The 31-16 upset over BYU is etched into Aggie lore. With Utah State’s newfound talent, watch for a repeat of last year’s game. The Cougars opened the game with a big win over Ole Miss, and they face a tough road challenge at the University of Texas.
BYU then faces the University of Utah and the University of Central Florida just in time for the Aggies to come in and knock them off their game.
I love an upset, especially when the Aggies are on the winning end. With dismal Aggie football seasons hanging in the recent past, the Chuckie era is upon us.
– Meredith Kinney is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism and an avid hockey fan. She hopes one day to be a big-shot sideline report working for ESPN. You can also contact her at meredith.kinney@aggiemail.usu.edu