LOGAN -- The crowd came primed and ready, wearing Aggie-blue shirts, some with a slogan on the back that said, "If you're not wearing blue, you might as well be naked!"
When it comes to Utah State basketball 1998, it's hard to overstate the case. Once the introductions arrived, darned if it didn't sound like a Jazz game. But instead of Stockton and Malone, it was . . . Pharoah Davis and Tyrone Allick?The place went nuts just the same.
"The crowd was fabulous -- again," said coach Stew Morrill. "They did everything they could to help us try to find a way to win."
These days in Logan, crazy is good. Why not? Even after losing to Colorado State, 64-61, Saturday night, the Aggies were 5-1. They bareley missed going 6-0 for the first time since the Beatles were together and digital clocks were the cool new thing. A long, wild shot by Allick in the closing seconds missed badly and a 29-game home win streak was over.
"We've just got to start another one," said Morrill.
That idea, of course, is fine with the USU crowd, which seems to have decided it's going to will the Aggies into winning. Until Saturday's loss, it would have been hard to prove otherwise. Still, Morrill wasn't all that dis- heartened. Five-and-one isn't a bad situation in which to be. In his first year in Logan, he finds himself in the middle of a town that flat loves its team. The crowd boos every call against the home team. Fans bring signs that say, "Not in our house!" and "Welcome to Hell!" They even sing all the words to "YMCA."
The sort of atmosphere any self-respecting coach would give up his pension to have.
Although Morrill's start has been great, he is quick to acknowledge winning isn't unusual in Logan. Ladell Andersen coached the Aggies to six 20-win seasons. Rod Tueller had seasons of 20-9 and 21-10. Eustachy, who had three 20-win years, could have stayed to his heart's content, had he not been so successful that he got hired at Iowa State.
For his part, Morrill has kept low key. He isn't about to declare himself the second coming of Dean Smith. He thought taking over a new program would be a painstaking process. The schedule wasn't the type any first-year coach would relish. There were the usual weaklings like Simon Frasier, Whitworth and Colorado-Colorado Springs. But there were also the three games against WAC opponents (Utah, San Diego State and Colorado State). Still ahead: BYU and Fresno State.
It's hard to tell how the Aggies will do in the Big West, but we know they're a terror in the WAC.
On Saturday it was more than just another WAC opponent. It was a special WAC opponent. Morrill coached seven years at CSU, building a 121-86 mark. It was a job he probably have kept indefinitely. But he quietly resigned himself to the fact that no matter how many games he won, there wouldn't be huge fan support. He surprised CSU last spring when he took the job vacated by Eustachy. Why go from the WAC to the Big West? For that matter, why go from Ft. Collins to Logan? At best, it's a wash, right?
Not if your mother lives in Utah. And not if the fans make life miserable for the opposing coach even on nights when the wind is howling out of Logan Canyon like a banshee. When he brought his CSU team to Logan two years ago, fans taunted Morrill and assistant coach Randy Rahe, calling them "Yogi and Boo Boo."
It didn't embarrass or irritate Morrill, it impressed him. At CSU his teams never averaged 7,000 fans in a season. Ft. Collins is a football town. Colorado is a football state.
So Morrill came home to Utah, much to the delight of Aggie fans. The rest is recent history. USU got rolling quickly with a Nov. 18, 62-54 win over then No. 9-ranked Utah. Naturally, it brought down the house. Fans stormed the court and danced into the night.
Morrill tried to downplay the victory, but Aggie fans would hear nothing of it.
Saturday was the second-most interesting part of the young season. It marked Morrill's reunion with his old team. He knew all the Rams like they were his kids. He even called them that. "It was weird seeing those kids introduced," said Morrill, "but I'm used to being on this (USU) bench."
As it turned out, the Rams played just the way Morrill would have liked. They made big plays and hit clutch shots. They failed to buckle under the Aggies' late-game pressure. They played like, well, Morrill's Aggies have been playing.
"If I had to say win this one or a league game, I'd take the league game -- and that's saying something for me," said Morrill.
The way it looks so far, he'll be able to do that with plenty of room to spare.