Aggie football and other things :)

I love Utah State.  I love football.  So naturally, I love me some Utah State football!  And what a great year it was to be an Aggie fan!!!

Photo Credit - USU website

Yep, I am really blogging about this.  Because I love it!  And it really was a joyous year!  Being an Aggie fan has not always been easy, but it has been so much fun to see how the team has grown and improved over the past few years.

This is Bretton, Dustin, Casey and I at our first game of the year.  We were playing Utah, and I was SO stoked, and super nervous.  I love in-state rivalries, and I'm not a huge Utah fan.  Deep down in my soul, I knew we would win... but recent history was unfortunately not in our favor.  But, my Aggies earned the W in a thrilling double overtime victory!!!  To say we were excited is a little bit of an understatement.  It was one of those most special moments of my ENTIRE life!  Just kidding... but almost!  Little did I know that my Aggies were about to have their best season ever.  And throughout the many months, I loved every second of every game :)

 We were able to go to two more games during the season, this one at home.  Brig is not really much of an Aggie fan.  You can see how excited he was to be there :)  The crazy.

  Me and my sweet Libby at the homecoming game.  The game was a white-out and it was so much fun!  Thanks Casey and Katie for getting us tickets at the last minute!

 Plus, I'll take any chance I can to see this little cutie :)

 Unfortunately our next game was at BYU.  I was not nearly as confident this game, although I talked trash like I was.  Sadly, we lost this game by 3pts.  Boooo :(  It was a great defensive battle, but some key mistakes for my Aggies led to the loss.  It was totally depressing.  Bleh.  BYU wasn't as good this year as they've been in years past, but I do really believe that USU was the better team, and should have won.  Oh well.  We sat by some really nice BYU fans though, and it was a MUCH better atmosphere than when we went to the BYU/Utah game a couple years ago.  

 When all was said and done, USU was 7 pts away from a perfect season (5 to tied games).  3 pts at BYU, and 2 pts at Wisconsin.  It should also be noted that we had two missed field goals in both of those games.  I just can't let it go, haha.

 For anyone unaware, my dear sweet husband grew up a BYU fan.  The dork.  Just kidding.  I don't hate BYU, I enjoy watching their games, and I will cheer for them unless they're playing my Aggies.  The USU/BYU game was the only BYU game that we made it to this year, sadly.  We enjoy going down to Provo for the games, and hopefully we will be able to attend some next season.  I was too nervous this game, and I forgot to take a picture of us together.

Now back to my Aggies ;)

Photo Credit - Deseret News

All the hard work paid off and my Aggies earned the WAC Championship title!
USU finished the season 11-2, their best record in school history.
 After that, it was on to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, where the Aggies CRUSHED Toledo 41-15!
We had some other obligations and weren't able to make it up to Boise for the game, but we were able to go down to my sisters house to watch the game with a few of my siblings.  It was so fun to be with everyone and to cheer our team on together!  

Photo Credit - Idaho Statesman

This picture cracked me up!

Photo Credit - Salt Lake Tribune

I just love Chuckie :)

A few neat stats about USU football 2012:

Won first outright conference championship since 1936.

Earned second bowl win in school history.

Finished the 2012 season winning its final seven games, which is tied for the fourth-longest active winning streak in the nation.

Set school records for wins (11) and home wins (6).

Defense ranked tied for first in the nation in red zone efficiency.

Defense out-scored its opponents 138-9 in the first quarter and had a 254-60 scoring advantage in the first-half. 

Ended the 2012 season as the only team in the nation who did not allow a first quarter touchdown.

One of just 17 teams to finish the 2012 season with 11 or more wins.

Was one of just four teams across the country who did not lose a league game - Others include, Ohio State (8-0), Kent State (8-0) and Northern Illinois (8-0).

Ended the 2012 season appearing in the AP poll four-straight weeks for the first time in school history.

First time ending a season nationally ranked since 1972.

First year ever appearing in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) standings.

First ever ranking in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' poll, which began in 1991.

Ended the 2012 season nationally ranked for just the third time ever - 16th in the final Associated Press (AP) poll and 17th in the final ESPN/USA Today Coaches' poll. 

Finished the year ranked 22nd in the final BCS standings.

(Stats collected from official site of USU football)

Woohoo!

I sure love my Aggies and I am so proud of them and how far they've come.  I am also so sad that the season is over!  Coach Anderson did an amazing job with the program while he was here, and although I am still kind of mad at him for leaving us, I am looking forward to what the new year and new coaching staff will bring.  I have a feeling 2013 is going to be GREAT!

 

BYU Women's Soccer:

BYU had a great season this year, as it went to the elite eight of the NCAA tournament.  Brig knows I love soccer, and he loves BYU, so we decided we would head down to what turned out to be their final game!  I also have a good friend who's sister-in-law plays for BYU, and went to the same high school I did.  In my opinion, she was by far their smartest player.  Must be because of the amazing example of the Logan High alumni ;)  Unfortunately, the Cougars lost in double overtime to North Carolina, who went on to win the tournament.  NC was pretty dang good, not going to lie.  And super fast.

We still had a great time despite the outcome.  We got there too late to get a seat, but fortunately for us, there was the sweetest old lady who had some of her family leave at halftime, and offered us their seats.  She must have seen that I had a super tall guy (who had a seat and chose not to sit in it, but wouldn't let anyone else sit in it - jerk) that stoop up right in front of me the whole time and didn't even care.  Yep, still upset, haha.  I was so grateful for the lady's kindness!

It was a fun year for fall sports!  Brig and I always split a Little Caesars Pizza on game day, and as gross as that sounds, it's one of our favorite things to do :)  It's a good thing that sports are one other thing (because there are few) that we can agree on... Except he likes baseball, and that is just crazy.  And lame ;)

Love spending time with this guy!