OUR VIEW: Football schedule sensible for USU
There has been too much losing in the USU football program during the past two decades. Saturday night’s disaster against the Utes just adds to the agony.
Therefore, the new scheduling philosophy that USU Director of Athletics Scott Barnes has implemented makes sense – and hopefully winning sense in the years to come.
USU and the University of Utah agreed to take a break from their annual game in 2010 and 2011. With Saturday night’s events freshly in mind, this is a breath of fresh air. The reasons for it are at least two-fold. First, the Aggies need get more balance on their schedule. In other words, to be able to win games. The Idaho State Bengals will take the Utes’ place on USU’s schedule in 2010. Notre Dame will fill the Aggies’ slot on Utah’s schedule.
The obvious benefits of this are beatable teams for USU and a high-profile school for the Utes. Barnes’ philosophy mirrors that of USU head basketball coach Stew Morrill – schedule beatable teams to increase team morale and confidence. Does winning games, even if against a patsy opponent, increase a team’s ability to beat more difficult opponents? Morrill’s record at USU would testify to that this is possible.
Secondly, to sustain a winning program, Barnes believes the Aggies need to have six home games every season. Though attendance at football in recent years has hardly given the Aggies home-field advantage, Barnes is right. The 2008 season is the first in which the Aggies have had six home games since 1998. That is 10 years too long. Furthermore, in 2009 USU only has five home games and plays on the road at Utah, BYU and Texas Tech. Clearly, a schedule like that in the current team’s circumstances is an instant recipe for disaster.
One less game of travel to provides an advantage for any team. At the stage the program is in right now, it needs any advantage it can get. Also, one more home game gives the community more opportunities to see the Aggies play, which can help increase a fan base and stadium revenue.
The program now has state-of-the-art facilities, yet little success. Barnes said this is not a USU-Utah issue. Rather, it is part of a strategy to get the program off the ground and more frequently into the win column. USU is headed in the right direction to get there.