So at least there's no need to debate whether a Utah State win over Utah would be an "upset."
Maybe next year.
Or next decade.
One of the longest and oldest football rivalries in the country continued on schedule, Saturday night, with Utah erasing the Aggies 31-7.
That makes it eight straight and 16 of the last 18 for the Utes. In the 113-year, 105-game history of the football series, the Aggies have won just 28.
Feel free to count the four ties as moral victories for the Aggies. At this point, they aren't being choosy.
This act has been playing longer than the Rolling Stones. The first game ever played by either school was in 1892, against one another.
That was an Aggie win. But things started going downhill for USU after that, as Utah won three in a row.
So it's a long rivalry. Or an annual blood sacrifice, depending on your view.
"They've won 18 (against all opponents) in a row. That's what I told the guys: You played a good team for a quarter and a half, but you can't give them that much stuff that we gave them — the turnovers, the penalties, the bad field position — you'll get beat 31-7 every time," Aggie coach Brent Guy said. "That's exactly what happened."
And exactly what's been happening for a quarter century.
Utah State entered Saturday's game with predictably high hopes. After having its first game, against Nicholls State, canceled because of Hurricane Katrina, the Utes became USU's season-opener.
Though Utah had no clue what first-year Aggie coach Brent Guy might to do, it didn't seem to make much difference. Another Aggie loss to its in-state opponent was soon in the books.
Haven't these teams heard? Variety is the spice of life.
Whether first-year coach Guy becomes The Guy in Logan remains to be seen. This much is clear: He has strong opinions on what constitutes an upset: nothing. This week, as he was talking to reporters, the conversation veered to Oklahoma's shocking loss to the Horned Frogs last Saturday. Said Guy: "There was not an upset in Norman."
That must have been news to Bob Stoops.
Continued Guy: "The best football team won that day. You guys (the media) call them upsets, but TCU was the best football team that day. They might not be as talented, but they were the best football team."
Where did he attend college, the Beltway School of Spin Doctoring?
Guy's chances of an upse. . ., um, of being the better team, weren't good to begin with. For a long time this series has been as suspenseful as a Cuban election. But to Utah's credit, it didn't bail out on the series once things got lopsided. The teams already are scheduled to play through 2009.
For awhile, the game actually did look like a rivalry. Maybe even — dare we say it? — an upset in the making. In 2004, the Utes led 20-0 after the first quarter and 41-0 at the half. This year the Aggies scored first and trailed only 14-7 at the half.
That was at least partially the Utes' doing. They had a touchdown called back on a penalty, fumbled after advancing to the USU 18, shanked a 10-yard punt and missed a field goal.
For a good part of the game, the big victim may not have been the Aggies. It was Utah running back Quinton Ganther, who had runs of 86 and 47 yards called back on penalties. He didn't do himself any favors, either. He fumbled on the USU 12 in the third quarter, stopping a drive that would have put the game away earlier.
Still, Utah finally pulled it together, extending the lead with a 10-point final period.
Same ending, different year.
"That's a good football team," Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said of the Aggies. "They're going to win some games."
Could be.
But will any of them ever be against the Utes?
E-mail: rock@desnews.com