Football Season is Here!

by Knute Lombardi
August 29, 2006
Exlusive to TrueAggies.com/UStateAgs.com

 

Summer is coming to a close now that we are staring the last big holiday weekend right in the teeth.

That's right! The first holiday of fall is here! The opening weekend of the college football season!! Followed next week by that other grand old holiday, the opening of the NFL season!!!

Someone said something about Labor Day or something but that's not important because COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON IS HERE AND THE NFL ISN'T FAR BEHIND!!

Footballphiles the nation over have been preparing for the week-long holiday by checking out high school games on the tube and reading the season preview publications that every form of printed media seems to offer nowadays. And this Friday night they will be tucking their sons in and reciting the traditional football poem: "'Twas the First Day of Football".

'Twas the First Day of Football, and all through the land
Tailgate goodies were simmering and expectations were grand;

The paint was applied to signs and faces with care
In hopes that ESPN cameras would be there;

The men loaded coolers in their pickup beds,
While visions of Bowl Game wins danced in their heads;

And mamma in her alumni shirt, and I in my team cap,
Had just hollered at the opponents that their team was crap;

When down on the field there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my seat to see what was the matter.

Out of the locker room they flew like a flash,
Tore down the banner with a 40 yard dash.

The lights on the helmets of the players below,
Reflected back on the crowd as the noise began to grow.

When, what to my watering eyes should appear,
But our crusty old coach whom we all gave a cheer,

With his creative offense, so tricky and quick,
I knew in a moment we'd elect to take the kick.

More rapid than eagles his players they came,
And he whistled, and cussed, and called them by name;

"Hit hard! Do your jobs! They won't know what hit 'em,
On, first and second and third downs we'll blitz 'em!

They don't respect you! It's time to serve notice!
We'll whup 'em so bad into the top 20 they'll vote us!"

As dry leaves that before the mountain wind fly,
A rumbling went up from the crowd into the night sky,

Through the PA a low voice boomed,
And loud music played, the opponents were doomed!

And then, in a twinkling, I heard over the crowd grumble,
"LET'S GET READY TO RUUUUUMMMBBBBLLLEEE!"

The flag was saluted the jets had flown by,
And all around me grown men were about to cry.

After months of waiting, that grand day was finally here,
The beginning of the best four and a half months of the year.

A time when players and fans can all dream,
That finally, this year, theirs will be the best team.

The smell of brats and the sound of the fight song in the air
Makes it bearable to spend 3 hours in a hard plastic chair.

As one the home crowd rose to their feet
And clapped and stomped out a martial beat

The home team takes over after a great kick return
By an all-conference player with speed to burn.

Then the faithful erupt as I look around me,
They hop and they yell and holler with glee.

On comes the QB, a returning starter,
Not even Elway could throw the ball harder.

A stomp of his leg and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He broke the huddle and went straight to his work,
And faked a handoff; then turned with a jerk,

And looking down field he threw it deep,
And the crowd went silent, not even a peep;

Except for the opposing alumni who gave a loud groan,
As our top receiver made the catch in their end zone.

The crowd erupted in a deafening cheer,
And fans everywhere thought "Maybe it's our year."

So what about this year's state of state vis-a-vis and regarding football? Let's break out The Ol' Crystal Ball and take a look at the local gridiron heroes and their chances this coming week.

Utah @ UCLA

I'm a little bit leery about what the little birds have been telling me about what's going on up on the hill. Having said that, Utah is just too solid defensively and up front offensively to worry about them too much. BUUUUUT, and that's a John Candy sized but, they are talking about running back by committee on the hill and the little birds tell me they are VERY concerned about their backfield. If Brett Ratliffe can keep that lid on that bottle of lightning then the passing game will be potent but it's the run that makes the Utes go. There's your storyline for the season: The Utes will go as far as their backfield carries them.
This week at UCLA? A week ago I was sure that UCLA was going to win this one. Now, I'm not as sure. The Crystal Ball is murky. UCLA is breaking in a new QB, but he has a big O-line that was stingy with giving up sacks last year. If they can keep Ben Olson's jersey clean, Utah will be in for a long day because their defense is all about getting pressure. I think UCLA's beef up front and Utah's unsettled backfield mean a W for the Bruins.

UCLA 24, Utah 20

BYU @ Arizona

Bishop Bronco has some offense. I (and everyone else for that matter) have been really hard on John Beck. Mostly because he cried in a post game interview 2 years ago but, as they'd say in in Provo, "This fetchin' kid is pretty flippin' good. Fudge!"

With another year to learn the nuances of the Robert Anae system, I think BYU's offense is going to put up a LOT of points this year. They'll miss Todd Walker's ability to go get the deep ball but he was a one-trick pony and this offense isn't built around that particular trick.

BUUUUUTTTT…here comes Mr. Candy's posterior again…will the BYU defense ever be able to get off the field? Maybe the D is better than it looks. After all, going against that offense every day in practice would make a lot of defenses look bad but I think Bishop Bronco is still praying for some help for his D. Luckily for them no one will actually ever see the Cougars on any TV station anywhere with the sweet new TV deal so maybe Bishop Bronco can keep the problems under the radar. With a TV package like that, it's almost like having closed practices! Oh wait, they're on TBS this week because they are playing a conference team that has a TV deal that includes the option of being able to, you know, watch the game. My bad.

Meanwhile Arizona has been down for so long that I think folks south of Sandy are just chalking this one up as a win. To that I say, "Not so fast DeLoy!" This is Mike Stoops third year in Tucson and he inherited just a little bit more than Brent Guy did at USU (ouch). I think Arizona is a sleeper this year and the game IS NOT at Cougar stadium. The Coogs haven't won a road opener since 1994 when they squeaked by Hawai'I 13-12. The last time they lost an opener was to Florida State in 2000 but that was the last time they played an opener on the road. Nice to have that kind of scheduling power isn't it?

Arizona 31, BYU 30

USU @ Wyoming

I was at Lagoon recently with my kids to say farewell to summer vacation and I started thinking about a column that would compare the state's football programs to different rides at Lagoon. BYU was like the Scrambler where they whip you around in circles and get you going 80 different directions but they pretty much stay on the same level. Utah's used to be like the Spaceshot where they shoot up to the top and everyone loves the rush but they don't stay long before they are all wetting themselves due to the sudden freefall back down. But now Utah is more like the Lagoon Ferris Wheel; it's taken awhile but now they are on top and they'll probably stay up there for awhile, have a descent but not for long as they'll fire right back up. BYU used to be the Ferris Wheel but about 1999 they hopped off and went and tried the scrambler.

Then I wondered what USU would be. Dracula's Castle? Not scary enough. The Tidal Wave? Not enough ups with the downs. The Wac-a-Mole game? Getting warmer. I thought the Colossus might be good. Fans have been treated to twists, turns, loop-de-loops and precipitous drops for years now and if you stop by that both that sells photos of people taken as the Colossus whips through the loops, the facial expressions match those of Aggie faithful attending football games for most of the last 2 decades. But I decided a better analogy, sadly, might be the Puff the Magic Dragon Kids Coaster. No big hills are climbed, and the thing just goes round and round jerking people around and giving them a sore neck. But, hey, the kids like it.

So this is the year that many USU fans are boarding Puff and hoping that it jumps the tracks and turns into the Colossus and starts climbing that big hill. They may be right...about the big hill part. The same little birds that were chirping about how woeful USU was going to be last year are chirping a brighter tune this year and these are little birds that are in the know…i.e. close to the team. However, the schedule leaves something to be desired and I fear that strides made on the field won't show up in the final record.

The question surrounding USU athletics is beyond X's and O's and it involves the alumni and the community. The facilities improvement is a big deal for USU and should help, but USU needs to start having game days at Romney look and feel like a D1 game is going on. And not just when Utah is in town. Less games in November would help, but if so-called USU "fans" want to have D1 football in Logan then they need to invest some time and money and get up to Romney a few times this season. Aggie fans have suffered through a horrendous decade and patience is thin (if not gone) but hope is not. USU competed last year but were just out-manned. This year may be more of the same but USU can't take that step forward alone and if the faithful stay faithful one more year and bring a friend with them when they come to the games, I have a feeling things will start moving in the right direction in a hurry. Wins will bring the bandwagoners back and there will be plenty of room for them when they come back, but loyalty will keep the program afloat. If the fanbase does their part and the school fails to act, then all will know where the blame will lie. This is it Aggies. Do you want D1 football in Logan or not?


Sorry for the soapbox. I'm not a shill for USU but I would hate to see a proud program go away and have Aggie fans have to decide who to root for, Utah or BYU.

As for the game, USU is the only Utah school with a W after Saturday. I think the folks at The mtn (Mightbeon TV Network) are afraid of this and switched to the CSU/Weber game. After all, when your TV package isn't fully D1 why should the match-up you show be? I really think USU is going to make some folks sweat this year even if they don't get the wins but it starts with a W in Laramie. Don't ask me why, I just relay what The Ol' Crystal Ball is tellin' me.

USU 31, Wyoming 28

That's it sports fans! Happy football to all and to all a goodnight

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As always, you can email feedback, or comments and suggestions to Knute at knute@aggies.com

Knute