LOGAN — It was July 31 and Utah State was hosting its annual football media day prior to the onset of fall camp.
For about 10 minutes, local media surrounded junior quarterback Jordan Love inside the Jim & Carol Laub Athletics-Academics Complex at Maverik Stadium and peppered him with questions about the upcoming season.
There was talk about summer workouts, the return of Gary Andersen to Logan and a Heisman campaign for Love himself.
Peyton Manning came up, as did the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and the LSU Tigers.
So, too, did the BYU Cougars.
BYU was the topic of one of the earliest questions posed to Love: What would it mean to beat the rival Cougars for a third year in a row?
Love fielded the question with a sly grin, noting that it would mean the world to him to defeat BYU again.
After all, a Utah State win would mean three in a row over the Cougars, a first for the Aggies since a four-game winning streak from 1971 to 1974.
The question and Love’s answer should come as little surprise to those close to the Utah State program.
The battle for the Old Wagon Wheel is as important a game as there is all year.
“It is a playoff game for us,” safety Shaq Bond said. “We know they aren’t in our conference, but this is a conference game.”
“Obviously, it’s a big game,” Andersen added. “Our guys are excited; players and coaches on both sides are going to be excited and fans are going to be excited. It’s a good rivalry game.”
What makes the Aggies’ deep-seated interest in the rivalry interesting is many USU players had no history with it prior to arriving in Logan.
Only 35% of the team is from Utah, 38 players in total.
Twenty-seven Aggies are from California, nine from Washington, six from Oregon and five from Florida.
One of the Floridians, running back Gerold Bright, is a professed Florida Gator fan, making his rivals for much of his life teams like Florida State, Georgia and Tennessee.
There are Aggies who call Maryland home, as well as Illinois, Ohio and Tennessee.
And don’t forget Texas, Hawaii and, of course, Germany.
Despite their far-flung hometowns, it has taken little time for newcomers to Utah to understand the importance of USU’s rivalry with BYU.
Just ask defensive end Tipa Galeai.
A native of Euless, Texas, Galeai transferred to Utah State from TCU after playing two seasons for the Horned Frogs.
His first experience with the rivalry came in 2017, the year he sat out, per NCAA transfer rules.
Even on the sidelines, the battle for the Old Wagon Wheel was an experience he won’t soon forget.
“When I came here, I went to the game that they played against BYU, and it was crazy because I didn’t expect (Maverik) stadium to be full like that,” Galeai said. “It was the loudest I’ve heard it. I was like, ‘Man, I guess this is a pretty important game.’”
That is the way it has gone for most Aggies.
A little experience in the rivalry has gone a long way.
“The guys see it and smell it,” said Andersen. “The fans do the same. The coaches do the same. That’s a great part of college football.”
The rivalry has favored Utah State of late, what with back-to-back convincing wins over BYU, including last year’s 45-20 win in Provo.
“It was real fun last year,” Love said. “Being able to go down there (to Provo) and win at their stadium, that was real good.”
Even better would be beating the Cougars again.
“I know the fans look forward to this week,” Galeai said. “We have a special week. This is our blackout game. All that stuff lures fans into the game and gets them excited to watch. With it being an in-state rivalry and having our fans there, we’ll come out firing.”
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Aggies on the air
Utah State (4-3) vs. BYU (3-4)
Maverik Stadium, Logan
Saturday, 8 p.m. MDT
TV: ESPN2
Radio: KZNS 1280 AM