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Topic: Hello from Northern Utah

Topic: Hello from Northern Utah

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Geo-Aggie
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Member Since: 12/4/2011
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Post Count: 2

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Hello from Northern Utah

Posted: 12/4/2011 5:24:31 AM

Hello from Utah, Bobcats. It looks like we're going to be playing each other a little later this month. I'm quite excited about this. I have to admit, I really don't know anything about your program or what city Ohio University is even in, but I thought I'd come here and say hello since I imagine most of you probably feel the same way about Utah State.

So I'm sure most of you are pretty hardcore football fans, but in case you aren't - we're not the Utes. Don't confuse us as the Utes unless you want me confusing you as the Buckeyes. We're also not the Mormons. That's BYU. If you confuse us as BYU I'll be sure to confuse you as Mole people. Sure a lot of students at Utah State are Mormon, but the school itself has zero affiliation with any religion and is state funded. Both of the Salt Lake schools are our rivals, but both schools also hate each other more than us as we don't reside in the same media market. Logan is about 80 miles outside of Salt Lake and has some giant mountains in between them. Population wise USU is the smallest major university in the state, but it doesn't make it any less prestigious.

Our basketball program is usually the sport that gets us national attention. They're having a heavy rebuilding season this year, but currently have a 14 season streak of 23+ wins and most non-haters in out west will agree that Logan (where the Utah State University main campus is) is the toughest place to play in the region. Utah State fans are notorious for being rather dedicated.

So.. Football, that's really all we care about each other's respective universities at this point, right?

Utah State football for many years has been rather painful to watch. We had a 1 win season 5 years ago, followed by 2 wins, 3 wins, 4, 4 and 7 (hopefully 8) this year. The last time we played in a bowl was in 1997 and the last time we had a winning season was in 1993.

This year Utah State started the season out with heartbreaking loss after heartbreaking loss (maybe you saw the Auburn game?) and was 2-5 before the starting true freshman quarterback went down in a game against Hawaii. We were down 28-7 at the time. His backup, a junior, replaced him and went on a tear. We won that game 35-31 and I've never been so happy about an Aggie football game before in my life.

After that every game was similarly intense and I probably lost about 3 years off of my life due to Aggie-football related stress this year. We won out and next we get to face you (or at least, so I've read... I suppose it's technically not official yet.)

Anyway, I look forward to the game in Boise. I hope it's a close game and I hope Utah State wins, but I also hope we can gain respect for each others programs and universities in the process, regardless of who wins. That's what college sports are about, right? Mostly, I'm just happy we made it to a bowl game. This has been a very exciting season for Utah State fans.

I would also like to learn about your school and football team! Feel free to write a summary of how your season went down and maybe what the attitude of Bobcat fans are about facing us in the Potato Bowl. Will many of you be traveling to Boise? Is Ohio a good university? When I go to grad school do I want to apply there? (Kidding.. I don't think I could ever live in the midwest, no offense.)

Anyway, if somehow another MAC team ends up in Boise, I'll have to come back and copy/paste this essay to some other board, and my apologies at the assumption, but otherwise I look forward to watching the Aggies play you.

The Optimist
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Member Since: 3/16/2007
Location: CLE
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RE: Hello from Northern Utah

Posted: 12/4/2011 6:21:17 AM

I was going to post a longer reply, but my blood pressure started going up thinking about OUr last game. So I'll talk about everything but football.

We've got a beautiful campus, located in Athens which is 75 miles SE of Columbus. Athens is Ohio University and Ohio University is Athens. I think we'd all agree that part of what makes Ohio University such a special place is the lack of a commuter student campus. We're far away from the big cities in Ohio, so all of our students (around 20,000) live on-campus. Basically, it's the textbook "college town." Court Street is our Main Street, and it connects Ohio University with Athens. Court is a brick road (Athens is a brick town) and runs along College Green on one end. As you head away from the school it is filled with bookstores, food places, and bars (and bars) with student apartments above.

-Don't call us Ohio U. We're Ohio, OU or Ohio University.
-While a lot of the students at Ohio are Midwestern, OU is in Appalachia.
-Founded in 1804, we are officially the oldest school in the Northwest Territory.
-Good academic school. Well known for our Journalism school which has turned out countless big-names (Matt Lauer, Peter King, the list goes on and on and on...)
-#1 Party School in the nation according to the Princeton Review. Known for our Halloween party and Spring "fests."
-Some would say you stole our chant in basketball......

We all love this place.

I've seen crazier things happen.

anorris
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Member Since: 7/6/2010
Location: Bristol, CT
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RE: Hello from Northern Utah

Posted: 12/4/2011 10:36:37 AM

Thanks for the post -- basketball is primarily what I know Utah State for (and while I think you stole our chant, I have to admit you execute it well). I did also note you guys played Auburn quite well earlier in the year. Welcome, and I guess we'll know tonight if we'll be playing for sure!

Mark Lembright '85
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Member Since: 8/22/2010
Location: Highland Heights, OH
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RE: Hello from Northern Utah

Posted: 12/4/2011 10:58:59 AM

As a point of comparison, I noticed that Utah State had a difficult time with New Mexico State last night while Ohio travelled across the country to play at New Mexico State at the beginning of the year and gave NMSU a rather thorough beat down. IF Ohio can emotionally rebound from a heart-crushing loss, it can win this game.

P.S. I may be wrong, but as a vast majority of our alumni are here in the eastern part of the country and the game itself is one week before Christmas, with the prohibitive airline prices for us to get to Boise I do not expect very many of us will actually travel to see the game. The game might look like a home game for Utah State, but I don't know how well Utah State travels.

Last Edited: 12/4/2011 11:05:45 AM by Mark Lembright '85

Geo-Aggie
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Member Since: 12/4/2011
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
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RE: Hello from Northern Utah

Posted: 12/4/2011 7:34:35 PM

Hi everyone and thanks for the replies. OU sounds similar to USU in many aspects. USU is a very community campus as well. Logan is 50,000 people and USU makes up about 15,000 of those people. We also have a big halloween party here every year too. Biggest in the state - though I'll admit, Utah isn't exactly a party state.

Unfortunate that it'll be tough for the students and alum to make it out to Boise. I think it'd be really exciting to see a good turnout for the other team and really experience college bowl atmosphere as it's a pretty new experience for Aggie fans. Utah State will have a lot of fans in Boise, I'm certain. Not only are the fans of USU rather excessively loyal, as stated before, but Boise really just isn't that far from Logan or from Salt Lake (where I and probably most of the alumni live.) It's about a 4-5 hour drive from where I am.

As for the close game with NMSU, yeah - that certainly wasn't an impressive showing by Utah State in that game, but we got the win and that's what mattered at that point. Also if you look at USU's schedule this year - they really didn't blow anyone out (besides Wyoming and an FCS school), but they also didn't lose to anyone by much either. They tend to play the level of their competition which can be exciting and annoying at times.

Anyway, sorry about your loss to NIU, but I'm happy about it as I think you guys will be a better opponent than Toledo would have been.

perimeterpost
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RE: Hello from Northern Utah

Posted: 12/4/2011 7:51:36 PM

welcome Geo, thanks for the note.

your guys look fired up and ready to play in a bowl game, looking forward to the match up. We're still trying to get the bad taste out of our mouth from the MACC game but we'll be excited and ready to go as well.

best of luck.

MY STATE. MY TEAM.

Jeff McKinney
Moderator

Member Since: 11/12/2004
Post Count: 6,155

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RE: Hello from Northern Utah

Posted: 12/4/2011 8:15:03 PM

Appreciate the note, Geo. Keep checking in with us. You'll see a good bit of information answering your questions between now and the bowl game.

Bobcat Grad 86
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Member Since: 12/20/2004
Post Count: 1,397

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RE: Hello from Northern Utah

Posted: 12/4/2011 8:23:12 PM

Geo, welcome to OUr board and thanks for the background information on your school and football program.

Was the blue print in honor of your school colors or the field in Boise?

One other question for you, will your school provide shuttle service from the hotel to the stadium?

oucs 1986
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Member Since: 12/20/2004
Location: Mason, OH
Post Count: 251

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RE: Hello from Northern Utah

Posted: 12/4/2011 9:53:46 PM

Bobcat Grad 86 wrote:

One other question for you, will your school provide shuttle service from the hotel to the stadium?

P.o.t.Y!

Go Bobcats!

KC Bobcat
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Member Since: 11/22/2006
Location: Norfolk, VA
Post Count: 260

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RE: Hello from Northern Utah

Posted: 12/4/2011 10:04:54 PM

Geo-Aggie wrote:

They tend to play the level of their competition which can be exciting and annoying at times.

This game could set a record for number of overtimes as we also seem to often play to the level of OUr competition.

LKGates
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Member Since: 12/5/2011
Post Count: 5

Status: Offline

RE: Hello from Northern Utah

Posted: 12/5/2011 2:16:22 AM

Another Aggie visitor here. First, congratulations on a great season. I know you had a tough loss in your championship game. I hope your team can get past it and have a great bowl experience. We have great respect for the MAC. We're excited to be playing a quality team with recent bowl experience. Second, I love Athens; the quintessential college town! My first year at Duke medical school, I used to drive up on long weekends and breaks to visit my girlfriend (now wife!) who was a senior at BGSU. I would drive up through WV and cut across Ohio on the diagonal. I thought Athens was gorgeous.
I have to admit, I am nervous about this game. We have a very potent running offense, but OU obviously has a very high quality team. Your pass offense has me very nervous. Our biggest weakness is probably our secondary. On the other hand, I would be careful about using NMSU as a reference point. Unlike math, college football does not have a transitive property. For example, we lost to Colorado State 35-34 in double overtime. We humiliated Wyoming 63-19 in our biggest beat-down of the season. So, CSU should easily beat Wyoming, right? Wrong; Wyoming beats CSU 22-19 to take third place in the Mountain West. We are definitely not taking you lightly. I'm just saying that every game is a unique entity. This is our first bowl game in 14 years. Our guys are totally charged up. I think it will be a good game.
On another note, I agree with the insanity of the bowl match-ups. The reality is, most bowls would rather take the #9 team in a BCS conference than even the first place team in a non-BCS conference. So, even good non-BCS teams get relegated to second and third tier bowls in less desireable venues. I really didn't want to be in the FIPB either. I was hoping for the KFH bowl as well. Having said that, I know that the FIPB presents some unique advantages for us. It is almost a home game. I would not be surprised to see USU put 15,000 fans in the stands. The Boise community is pretty supportive of the bowl. If they put another 10,000 in the stands, you're looking at 25,000+ in a 35,000 seat stadium. If they keep the cameras away from the bald spots, it won't look too bad.
Go AGGIES!

Last Edited: 12/5/2011 2:31:33 AM by LKGates

AggieFirefighter
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Member Since: 12/5/2011
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RE: Hello from Northern Utah

Posted: 12/5/2011 2:23:53 AM

I'm looking forward to playing you guys! I served an LDS mission ( Yes- I was one of those guys in white shirts a ties knocking door to door ) in the greater Cincinnati area and I love it out there- You just CAN'T beat the Green.. I came home with an OU shirt that I bought at Dave and Barry's in the mall. I find myself pulling for your program and I consider our programs to be about equal, However I won't be pulling for you guys come the 17th.. I'm not sure about a shuttle to and from Hotels and the stadium, There will be plenty of tailgate parties and we welcome any Bobcats to come and join us, Talk about the game and enjoy some pre-game banter while making friends from another side of the country ( Both states being about equal distance from our countries 2 oceans). USU will travel very well to this game, As GEOAG mentioned, We haven't been to a Bowl since 1997 and this is our first winning season in a long time, Its been painful to be an Aggie but we are all super excited about this game! USU is on the uprise and will bring its home field advantage to Boise. I look forward to seeing as many of you out there as can come... Feel free to drop by our forums, We welcome your input- All we ask is that you keep it classy. GO AGGIES!
www.usufans.com

Last Edited: 12/5/2011 2:28:45 AM by AggieFirefighter

Robert Fox
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Location: Knoxville, TN
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RE: Hello from Northern Utah

Posted: 12/5/2011 9:26:07 AM

Bobcat Grad 86 wrote:

One other question for you, will your school provide shuttle service from the hotel to the stadium?

Good Lord, let it go.

UpSan Bobcat
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Location: Upper Sandusky, OH
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RE: Hello from Northern Utah

Posted: 12/5/2011 11:25:26 AM

What is driving like in this area? In my experiences out west in the mountain regions, I've seen signs indicating that when the lights are flashing the highways are closed. I imagine the weather doesn't get that bad too often and probably not until a little later in the winter most of the time? Is making the trip from Salt Lake City to Boise, for example, usually a fairly simple trip in mid-December? What about commuting around Boise?

LKGates
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RE: Hello from Northern Utah

Posted: 12/5/2011 3:49:22 PM

Getting to Boise from Salt Lake is pretty easy. It is well maintained interstate all the way. They only part that can get a bit dicy because of weather is right around the Idaho state line. The western interstate that will occasionally get closed is I-80 in Wyoming. This is quite different. Driving around Boise is fairly easy. The highs are comparable to Salt Lake, but the lows are typically higher, because the altitude in Boise is lower. I hope that made sense. Boise is less snowy than Salt Lake. It is in the rain shadow of the Cascade mountains, and has no lake effect, like Salt Lake has.
Go AGGIES!

Jeff McKinney
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RE: Hello from Northern Utah

Posted: 12/5/2011 3:54:38 PM

LK Gates: I totally agree with you about the inadvisability of using comparative scores to judge the relative strengths of two programs. I'm not looking at all at your score vs. NMSU.

Looking forward to the game. Can't be there but will be tracking it from afar.

The more I think about it the more I think this is a good matchup.

bigtillyoopsupsideurhead
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Location: Cincinnati
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RE: Hello from Northern Utah

Posted: 12/5/2011 4:10:40 PM

All I know about Utah State is that they stole our winning team losing team chant for basketball.

That should be enough motivation for our football team right there.

JSF
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Location: Houston, TX
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RE: Hello from Northern Utah

Posted: 12/5/2011 10:13:40 PM

Geo-Aggie wrote:

Not at all. I have friends at Utah State thanks to Mid-Majority... and, well, you guys are on ESPN like 10 times a year. Not for football, but still. And there was the back-to-back trips to the Dance thing...

Quote:

So.. Football, that's really all we care about each other's respective universities at this point, right?

Well... if you could get us a basketball series, that'd be swell.

Quote:

(Kidding.. I don't think I could ever live in the midwest, no offense.)

You're in luck; Athens isn't really in the midwest.

Oh, and if you're interested in what OU looks like:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.823471738994.24...>

Last Edited: 12/5/2011 10:15:19 PM by JSF

"Loyalty to a hometown or city is fleeting and interchangeable, but college is a stamp of identity."- Kyle Whelliston, One Beautiful Season.

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OhioStunter
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RE: Hello from Northern Utah

Posted: 12/6/2011 10:09:40 AM

JSF wrote:

Quote:

(Kidding.. I don't think I could ever live in the midwest, no offense.)

You're in luck; Athens isn't really in the midwest.

Where is Athens really in?

sargentfan
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RE: Hello from Northern Utah

Posted: 12/6/2011 10:13:29 AM

OhioStunter wrote:

JSF wrote:

Quote:

(Kidding.. I don't think I could ever live in the midwest, no offense.)

You're in luck; Athens isn't really in the midwest.

Where is Athens really in?

I believe it is considered part of Appalachia.

ProvoAggie
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RE: Hello from Northern Utah

Posted: 12/6/2011 10:19:00 AM

bigtillyoopsupsideurhead wrote:

All I know about Utah State is that they stole our winning team losing team chant for basketball.

That should be enough motivation for our football team right there.

And maybe if we're lucky enough, we can pull it out in Boise as well.

Tyler
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RE: Hello from Northern Utah

Posted: 12/6/2011 10:24:47 AM

sargentfan wrote:

OhioStunter wrote:

JSF wrote:

Quote:

(Kidding.. I don't think I could ever live in the midwest, no offense.)

You're in luck; Athens isn't really in the midwest.

Where is Athens really in?

I believe it is considered part of Appalachia.

I don't think the two are mutually exclusive. The US Census Bureau puts Ohio in the Midwest. The census doesn't use Appalachia as a geographic region. The Appalachian Regional Commission does put Athens County in the legal definition of Appalachia, along with 31 other Ohio counties.

So yes, Athens is both in the Midwest and Appalachia geographically. Culturally is a different story.

TWT
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Location: Alexandria, VA
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RE: Hello from Northern Utah

Posted: 12/6/2011 10:25:30 AM

LKGates wrote:

On another note, I agree with the insanity of the bowl match-ups. The reality is, most bowls would rather take the #9 team in a BCS conference than even the first place team in a non-BCS conference. So, even good non-BCS teams get relegated to second and third tier bowls in less desireable venues. I really didn't want to be in the FIPB either. I was hoping for the KFH bowl as well. Having said that, I know that the FIPB presents some unique advantages for us. It is almost a home game. I would not be surprised to see USU put 15,000 fans in the stands. The Boise community is pretty supportive of the bowl. If they put another 10,000 in the stands, you're looking at 25,000+ in a 35,000 seat stadium. If they keep the cameras away from the bald spots, it won't look too bad.
Go AGGIES!

Frank Solich should be a big draw for the local community as well.

Most Memorable Bobcat Events Attended
2010 97-83 win over Georgetown in NCAA 1st round
2012 45-13 victory over ULM in the Independence Bowl
2015 34-3 drubbing of Miami @ Peden front of 25,086

OhioCatFan
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Location: Athens, OH
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RE: Hello from Northern Utah

Posted: 12/6/2011 10:36:50 AM

Appalachia Trivia:

The three newest Ohio counties to be added to the federal (ARC) definition of Appalachia are in Northeast Ohio -- Trumbull, Mahoning, and Ashtabula. They are now eligible for federal monies from ARC.

The biggest city in Appalachia, according to the feds, is Pittsburgh.

Last Edited: 12/8/2011 8:58:55 PM by OhioCatFan

The only BLSS Certified Hypocrite on BA

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TWT
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Location: Alexandria, VA
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RE: Hello from Northern Utah

Posted: 12/6/2011 10:53:03 AM

OhioCatFan wrote:

Appalachia Trivia:

The three newest Ohio counties to be added to the federal (ARC) definition of Appalachia are in Northwest Ohio -- Trumbull, Mahoning, and Ashtabula. They are now eligible for federal monies from ARC.

The biggest city in Appalachia, according to the feds, is Pittsburgh.

That is Northeast Ohio not Northwest but I think its great to get the Youngstown metropolitan area into the definition. Those three counties are all along the Pennsylvania border stretching to Lake Erie.

Most Memorable Bobcat Events Attended
2010 97-83 win over Georgetown in NCAA 1st round
2012 45-13 victory over ULM in the Independence Bowl
2015 34-3 drubbing of Miami @ Peden front of 25,086

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