As Utah State's football buses wound down the Logan side of Sardine Canyon Saturday night, ending the team's victorious journey home from Las Cruces, N.M., the Aggies discovered they had one more duty to perform before heading out for a week of deserved R&R.
Police vehicles with flashing lights met the team at the canyon mouth and escorted the buses past a packed parking lot and into a well-lit Romney Stadium, where Cache Valley had quickly prepared a rally for its improbable heroes.Hours earlier, Utah State made the huge unexpected leap from Las Cruces, N.M., to Las Vegas, Nev., when it beat New Mexico State 20-17. That combined with last-place Arkansas State's upset of defending Big West champion Nevada to make 5-1, 6-5 Utah State the Big West representative in Las Vegas Bowl II Dec. 17. The opponent is Mid-America Conference champion Ball State, 8-2-1.
Southwestern Louisiana (4-1, 7-3) can still tie USU for the Big West co-championship with a win next Saturday but can't be the bowl rep because it lost to USU in the season opener.
At the Romney rally Saturday, the pep band and crowd gathered around the team at midfield and heard from coach Charlie Weatherbie, athletic director Chuck Bell and others.
Finally, players were cut loose for a week off. In the locker room following the game and Weatherbie's accepting the bowl bid from Las Vegas and Big West officials, Weatherbie cautioned players about the vacations. "Don't do anything that would endanger this football team, and be back on the 29th," he said. Practices start Nov. 30.
Weatherbie wants to have about eight practices before the game, the first of the season's bowls. It is televised live by ESPN. There's no limit to the number of practices, but Weatherbie wants to have three or four next week and three or four the following week before heading to Vegas.
He says weight training, work on timing and schemes and film study are more important than full-contact practices at this point.
One problem is that his assistant coaches left on recruiting trips Sunday and are gone until Wednesday, and some had personal trips planned, too. Also, the bowl game comes during final-exams week, and the day the team leaves for Vegas, Dec. 12, concludes a big on-campus recruit-trip weekend for prospective Aggies. The good part is the recruits will know the Aggies are bowl-bound.
Utah State was the Big West preseason favorite, but it lost five straight and wallowed at 1-5 with a loss to Nevada. Bowl team? Hard to believe. The Ags have since won five straight.
Weatherbie said the turning point for the Aggies came when they broke the losing streak by coming from behind to win at UNLV Oct. 23. The next week, they beat BYU, then Pacific and Louisiana Tech. Wins over UNLV, BYU, Pacific and New Mexico State were by seven or fewer points, and three of USU's losses were by four or less. "Most teams have about three close games; we've had seven. That's very unusual," Weatherbie said.