After going 0-4 historically in bowl games, Utah State University finally won one in the postseason, but the Aggies really didn't know what to do once they'd won.
Unlike their win over BYU that helped put the Aggies on a six-consecutive-win streak that culminated Friday night in the Sam Boyd Silver Bowl with their 42-33 victory over Ball State in Las Vegas Bowl II, there was little jumping up and down and no tearing down of goalposts."It's not our goalposts," said sixth-year senior center Warren Bowers. "It's not nice to tear down other people's things."
But part of it was that the Aggies just didn't know what to feel.
"I've never been here before," said flamboyant senior linebacker Jermaine Younger about being in the postseason winner's circle. "I never won a bowl game. It's . . . I'm just sucking it up right now."
"It will set in in a while. It's just such a relief," said Bowers.
"I'm not in shock," said senior quarterback Anthony Calvillo, who was named the game's Most Valuable Player for a 25-for-39 passing performance that netted 286 yards and three touchdowns, "but I don't know what to say. I'm just happy for the seniors," he said, noting that he's only been at Utah State for two years but some have played there for five years and endured long and hard seasons and bitter defeats.
Calvillo accepted the MVP trophy "on behalf of my teammates, coaches and the fans of Logan. It's a team effort. I congratulate them," Calvillo said.
And he said the seniors and this team are leaving Utah State with a legacy. "We're starting something new for Utah State. We have some big changes, thanks to this man right here," Calvillo said, pointing at coach Charlie Weatherbie, who won a league championship and bowl game in just the second season of his tenure there.
"I'm glad I'm going to go down in history," said Calvillo, who has been keenly aware for weeks that the Aggies had never come close to winning a bowl.
It was perhaps that gnawing feeling of being bowl losers - the last bowl for Utah State was 22 years ago, but these Aggies still took it personally - that put the Aggies in the mood to wrench the start of this game away from Ball State.
"They were so hyped up," said Weatherbie. "I don't know if I have ever seen them so focused or intense."
On offense, stadium walls couldn't have contained the Aggies at the beginning. On defense, Ball State's huge running backs were flattened. Ball State finished the first half with two first downs to Utah State's 18.
"We were just so excited and ready to play," said senior offensive lineman Jed DeVries.
Calvillo said Ball State was laying back to prevent the Aggies' big-play capability, so Utah State took the underneath plays and held the ball for long drives instead, just as it had planned to do after watching weeks of film.
"Utah State disrupted our offensive rhythms," said Ball State coach Paul Schudel, noting that the Cardinals couldn't tell from the films they'd seen just how physical and how fast the Aggies would be.
"We didn't give the great effort we needed to in the first half," said Ball State quarterback Mike Neu, who said Ball State came out better mentally prepared for the second half, when the Cardinals scored a quick 10 points and out-pointed Utah State 33-21.
Because of the Cardinals' comeback - and Utah State's trademark trait that lets teams come back and make it close against them - nobody from Utah could breath easily until Donald Toomer made his second interception of the night with :07 left. Toomer turned his first interception into a touchdown runback.
"We weren't worried," said Calvillo, "but we were concerned."
Another key factor was when Ball State tried for a second straight two-point conversion on its final touchdown and failed, Toomer defending the play. That kept USU nine points ahead when, had the conversion counted, the teams would have been just a touchdown apart with five minutes left. "It was a great play on the corner by Toomer," Weatherbie said.
Aggie sophomore Profail Grier carried the ball 33 times for 142 yards and two touchdowns as the Aggies were able to eat enough time off the clock to keep Ball State's comeback a slow if steady process. Toney Jenkins led receivers with 94 yards on five catches.
Touchdowns were scored on Calvillo passes to Aubrey Thompson, Cotie McMahon and Mike Lee.
The Aggies had to beat Ball State and themselves to finally get "the monkey off our back," as Bowers termed it.
Utah State racked up 150 yards in penalties, 92 in the first half.
Ball State, the team that doesn't beat itself, did little to hurt itself in the first half. But it did little to help itself, either.
When you don't have the ball, you can't turn it over, and Ball State rarely had the ball. The Aggies outgained them 329 total yards to 31, 18 first downs to two.
The Aggies scored two quick first-quarter touchdowns, then hindered themselves enough with penalties and two interceptions to go scoreless for about 17 minutes until Thompson went 2 yards with a Calvillo pass with :24 left in the half to make it 21-0 and a lot more comfortable for the Aggies.
"Getting up 21-0 really helped us," said Weatherbie.
The Cardinals, however, opened the second half with a smart TD drive that took only five plays, and got the ball back immediately on the Aggie 18 when Damon Smith fumbled the kickoff return and kicked a field goal to cut the lead to 21-10.
The Aggies came back with a 12-play drive of their own for a 28-10 lead, Grier scoring from 15 yards out on the ground. The Aggies looked like they had put the game away on the next drive when Michael Coe hit Neu and caused him to fumble the ball away to Aggie freshman lineman Pratt Lyons, whose return put the ball on the Cardinal 25. USU's Mike Lee went untouched into the end zone with a 16-yard Calvillo pass and a 35-10 lead.
The Cardinals went to a flea flicker, tailback Mike Blair tossing to Neu for an easy score. The Cardinals followed that up with a safety for a 35-19 score.
When Toomer intercepted and ran the ball back 32 yards for a 42-19 lead, the Aggies seemed safe again, but the Cardinals would add two more touchdowns.