COLUMN: Section F
Now, there’s some fuel to pump into the USU football-hype machine. Now, there’s more than just talk to back up what everybody has been saying about Utah State football for the last 18 months. Now, there’s reason to believe.
Sure, the Aggies are 0-1 to start the season, but I dare say it’s one of the best looking 0-1 records I’ve ever seen. Now it is time to build upon that momentum, as odd as it sounds to be building momentum off of a close loss. The fact is though, that when you nearly pull off a once-in-a-generation upset in college football, in a year when USU’s football program is still rebuilding and out to prove its legitimacy, a game like the one we saw Saturday is a very positive step forward.
I’ve always felt that if you want to be legit, the first thing you must do is act legit. If Saturday’s performance against Oklahoma wasn’t legit enough for you as a football fan, than you don’t know what you should be looking for.
While the one true school down south was going down to the wire at home with a Washington team that went 5-7 a year ago, and Utah was going to overtime at home versus a No. 15 ranked Pittsburgh team, your very own Aggies went toe-to-toe with the No. 7 ranked team in the nation on the road. At the very least, USU has to be mentioned alongside of Utah for which team looked the most impressive among in-state college football teams, and despite the loss, a very solid case can be made that Utah State had the best performance of the big three in week one of the season.
Now, everything Gary Andersen has been saying about turning around this program can hold some water. Now, the Aggies return home for three of their next four games. Now, Utah State looks like it could be a strong enough team to be just a few big wins away from playing for a Western Athletic Conference championship on Dec. 4 in Boise.
There’s obviously still a long way to go and a handful of big wins to be had before USU can think about knocking off the Broncos, and even still, the prospect of an upset will be a monumental task. After Saturday, though, such an upset doesn’t seem as illogical to consider as a long-shot possibility.
But like I said, there is still a long way to go, and that road continues Saturday at Romney Stadium. The opening-day buzz will be flying all around the town. The tailgate parties will be stocked full of burgers, bratwursts and beer. Blue-clad Aggie fans, both young and old, will cover USU’s campus in anticipation of finally seeing Utah State football return to glory.
Inside the stadium there will be chants back and forth between different seating sections. There will be a huge, inflated, USU football helmet with smoke pouring out, from which the football team will make it’s dramatic entrance into the stadium. There will probably be around 7,000 students jumping up and down proclaiming their belief that we will win just prior to kickoff.
During the game there will be noise on third down when the Aggies are on defense, and dead silence before the snap while on offense. There will be fans doing crowd push-ups with their friends after touchdowns, and there will even be a Wild Bill sighting (clothing optional).
All of these things mean just one thing: college football. It’s here and this Saturday it’s in our own house. Our team looks like they are indeed legit, and it’s only fair that our stadium environment is up on that same level. Nobody stands to benefit from being a part of a raucous student section more than the USU students who are down there in the crowd, and it is up to nobody else but the USU students to lead the revolution.
Matt Sonnenberg is a senior majoring in print journalism. Matt is an avid fan of Aggie athletics and can be found on the front row of every home football and basketball game. He can also be reached at matt.sonn@aggiemail.usu.edu.