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Show Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011 Page 7 WednesdaySII0FtS Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.utahstatesman.com USU seeks rivalry down South BY CURTIS LUNDSTROM staff writer It's an underrated and timeless tradition, often forgotten. The battle for the coveted Old Wagon Wheel. The Utah State football team heads south to Provo, Sept. 30, looking to repeat last year's dominant win over the Cougars of Brigham Young University. Dating back a century, the Aggies and Cougars have played 80 times, and BYU holds the edge in the overall series, with a record of 43-34-3. Truth be told, in the last 20 years the Aggies are 2-13 against the Cougars, giving BYU a nine-game lead in the series. It's also created an interesting thought process in the minds of students at both universities. Students currently enrolled at each university are unlikely able to recall the rivalry before the 1980s, and as such form and base their opinions on the more recent history between teams. This raises the question, Is there actually a rivalry between USU and BYU? That might depend on who answers. Derek Davidson, a USU sophomore majoring in business said he thinks so. "Of course," Davidson said. "They've been a rival for 100 years. That's why it's a rivalry. We always hate each other when we play. I consider that a bitter rivalry. Jeremy Bejarano, a junior mathematics major at BYU disagrees. "Here at BYU, from what you can tell, it's never really been a big deal," Bejarano said. "I think just about everyone here agrees, Utah is our rival, not Utah State." The Old Wagon Wheel Battle between USU and BYU often takes a back seat to The Holy War between BYU and Utah, and Davidson said he feels that's because of the lopsided recent history. "Probably because (BYU) has beaten us so much, they think that it's an easy win for them," Davidson said. "Since we beat them last time they might actually think its a rivalry now, because we can actually play with them." Bejarano shared some of Davidson's thinking. "This year and last year is looking a little different, because its no secret that BYU has kind of been struggling these last two years," he said. "This game should be more exciting. I feel like there might be a little more tink of rivalry this year. It just seems like its been too lopsided lately to mean much on campus." So what makes a rivalry a rivalry? Here are just a few ideas. The familiarity of teams: The better acquainted a team is with an opponent, the more passion and motivation will be present during games. Teams often find rivalries with opponents every year, if not multiple times a year. BYU and Utah State have played each other all but nine years during the last 100 years. Geographic proximity: Teams located close to each other on the map seem to have a more bitter competition than most others. Fans in close proximity to one another have encounters that are blood boiling and aggravating, creating tension between teams. The Aggies and Cougars are located just over 100 miles apart, roughly two hours by car. This makes for easy travel between universities and results in lots of encounters of fans from each team. Tight battles over the years: Closely contested games year after year makes for exciting football and gets adrenaline flowing in the heart of every fan. These thrilling events leave fans craving more and create great hype. When a series becomes too one sided, the fire and flare for the contest can become stagnant. Recently, the scoreboard has been one sided, because BYU won the previous 10 games before Utah State's win last year. However, Utah State actually led the overall series, 32-31, before the Cougars won every game from 1993-2010. A general look at statistics for the series indicates an even and competitive rivalry. Tokens of victory: When teams clash, the goal is to come away with more than just bragging rights. Having a trophy, or symbol of some kind, that changes hands as teams beat each other through the years is a motivator for most players heading into those games. Utah State and BYU fight for ownership of the Old Wagon Wheel each time they play. A good chunk of what defines a rivalry is the amount of emotion and thought put into it. The other half the formula seems to be the quality of competition. With these things in mind, how does the Utah State-BYU rivalry stack up? "I think that this game is more important than usual for the rivalry," said BYU senior Billy Hancock. Spencer Williams, a junior biological engineering major at Utah State, said he thinks the rivalry is very much alive, since )See WAGON, Page 9 In theKnow • The Old Wagon Wheel is a traveling trophy awarded to the winner of the USU vs. BYU football game each season. Cougar fans should In case you've been living under a rock, Utah State plays Brigham Young University in football, Friday. Now, I don't condone violence, but I will not refrain from laughing my butt off if I see someone wearing a BYU shirt get domed by an empty Gatorade bottle as they walk across campus this week. For example, there is a guy in a history class of mine who wears a BYU hat every day. This sort of stupidity screams for a true-blooded Aggie to snatch it off of his head and flush it down a toilet. By the way, my class is meets Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the Education Building from 1:30-2:30 p.m. and anyone who actually performed such a heroic act would earn all sorts of props. There are too many people in Logan who think they need to support Cougar athletics to be a worthy member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is o to BYU, not Utah State Show me a Scotsman false doctrine. I hate looking in store windows and seeing a blanket with the right blue but the wrong logo for sale. There should not even be a market for merchandise with "Y" logos in Logan. Speaking of the right blue, who gave BYU the right to steal Utah State's school colors? Last time I checked, theft is against the honor code. Does USU get a cut of the cash from all the Aggie-blue T-shirt sales going on in Provo? BYU would be nothing without the help of USU. Do Cougar fans even realize LaVell Edwards, the man who built the entire BYU football program, is in fact an Aggie? Earlier, I read an article about Logan High School quarterback DJ Nelson's recent committal to play football at Utah State. This news makes me happy, but I can't help but shudder in memory of his older brother who shall not be named in this column. Nelson's brother was thought of as the savior of USU football during the Brent Guy era. I remember EZZLLLIMIZIMIZAIN GET CAUGHT IN I AND GET TRAFFIC FLAGGED I FOR DELAY OF GAME BEAT GAME TIME TRAFFIC (AVOID 4-6 p.m.) RECOMMENDED ROUTE: TAKE EXIT 271 (OREM CENTER STREET) THEN UNIVERSITY AVE SOUTH TO GAME a Facebook.com/il5core 13 Twitter.com/i15core KNOW WHERE KNOWWHY UDOT.UTAH.GOV |