Hello Dawgfans,
Tomorrow, at the completely reasonable hour of 12:30 p.m., the Dawgs return to Husky Stadium to take on the Utah State Aggies.
Last week we took care of the Cougs 24–10, which means Washington is 1–0 and Wazzu is already 0–1. The Cougs converted exactly zero third downs, while we started four first-year players on defense. Somewhere in Pullman, someone is probably explaining that moral victories are actually more important than the scoreboard.
Early in conference play, we're sitting 13th in rushing yards per game and 11th in passing yards per game. Small sample size, obviously, and hopefully we can get things moving tomorrow. Demond is also just 46 yards away from 1,000 career rushing yards. Only two Dawgs have ever reached 1,000: Jake Locker and Marques Tuiasosopo. No pressure, Demond.
Now, about our friends from Logan…Utah State was founded on March 8, 1888, as the Agricultural College of Utah under the Morrill Land-Grant Act. Today, USU has roughly 32,000 students across its campuses and is based in Logan, Utah. The agricultural origins are particularly fitting because their mascot is an Aggie—which, for those unfamiliar with the term, is basically an agricultural student. So tomorrow we're playing a bunch of farmers.
Logan sits in Cache Valley, which sounds less like a city in Utah and more like something you clear from your browser when a website won't load.
And then there's the mascot: Big Blue, a giant bull. Not a particularly clever animal. Not something unique to Utah. Just…a giant blue bull.
But perhaps the strangest tradition in Logan is becoming a “True Aggie.” The rite of passage involves kissing someone…I’m going go ahead and stop you right there Utah State….In 2011, Utah State even set the Guinness World Record for the most couples kissing in the same place at the same time. I don't know what the record was before that, but I assume BYU was furious.
The Aggies do have some legitimate football history. Most notably, Merlin Olsen—a two-time All-American, Outland Trophy winner, No. 3 overall NFL Draft pick, 14-time Pro Bowler, and member of both the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame. Olsen also played Jonathan Garvey on Little House on the Prairie, giving Logan both a Hall of Fame defensive tackle and a guy who hung out with the Ingalls family. Then there's Jordan Love, the Packers quarterback, meaning Logan has somehow contributed more to Green Bay football than we would have preferred. So, to recap: a Hall of Famer, a Packers quarterback, a Little House on the Prairie star—and a 12-point loss to Idaho State last week. Life comes at you fast!
We last played the Aggies in 2015. Despite meeting only four times, the series averages out to one game every 11,132 days, and the Dawgs have won every matchup, outscoring Utah State 129–29. So far, we're undefeated in this rivalry that apparently happens once every 30 years.
The first meeting was in 1904, when Theodore Roosevelt was elected to his second term as president. That's right: the last time Washington played Utah State, Roosevelt was in the White House, cars were still basically a novelty, and there was no record of the size of the check “The Trust Buster” issued every American for voting in the midterms.
Since our last meeting, Logan has also renamed the Willow Park Zoo… Zootah. Respect.
And finally, I went back and looked at what I wrote the last time we played Utah State in 2015: “We will have the tailgate set up and rocking at 9:00AM.”
Let's make that 8:00AM for chicken and waffles!
Go Dawgs!
