The crowd at Romney Stadium was delirious. Sold out and rocking from well before opening kickoff, and for good reason, the stadium charged quickly to the field as home-team Utah State held on for a 27-20 overtime win against Utah.
Fans reveled in the players’ joy, but many also sought out Gary Andersen — the fourth-year head coach who has instigated this whole revival of a program. And while there was a lot of happiness, maybe even the bluest of the blue Aggie fans had to feel a little worried.
Just how long can USU keep Andersen? Taking over what appeared to be a hopeless situation, he’s now defeated “big brothers” Utah and BYU in the past three seasons. Those two programs have distinct recruiting advantages, yet Andersen’s talents have negated most of them. The Aggies pounded BYU in 2010 and even should have won last year in Provo, except for a late-game meltdown.
Andersen coached Utah State to its first wins over BYU (2010) and Utah (2012) in the last 15 years.
Kerwynn Williams’ one-yard run in overtime gave Utah State the lead and senior cornerback Will Davis’ pass break-up in the end zone sealed the monumental win in front of 25,000 fans and a national TV audience on ESPN2. The win marked USU’s first over Utah since 1997, as well as improving to 2-0 for the first time since that same year.
“We talked four years ago about trying to make these games be rivalries,” Andersen said. “We were a long ways away, and it was important to the kids. For me personally, a win is a win. You can say whatever you want, but it’s very gratifying to make it a rivalry again. To step up and be able to wake up in the morning and say that BYU and Utah State and Utah are rivalries, we’re excited to be able to continue down that path. It’s a big day.”
Andersen is just 17-22 coaching in Logan, Utah. But that has to be examined a little differently considering the situation he took over. USU went 4-8 his first two years, which were still considered big improvements. USU went 7-6 last year and, if not for a few breaks here or there, could potentially have had a 10-win season including what should have been a season-opening victory at Auburn.
It was a big day for USU. Andersen’s favorite phrase after a win is “It’s a good day to be an Aggie.”
Figure, considering the nature of the sport, a contract extension or raise is forthcoming. And he’ll get offers from elsewhere. Even the most optimistic USU fans are concerned about that.