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AUBURN, ALA. -- The Utah State Aggies almost knocked off the defending national champions on Saturday in Auburn. Throughout most of the game, the social media world was fixated on the Logan-based university that was shocking the college football powers that be.
Utah State was definitely the toast of Twitter, drawing praises from analysts and fans alike. Then, in a quick and painful three minutes, the Aggies lost control of the game and immediately became the roast of Twitter universe.
Utah State's performance was so shocking that it actually became the #1 trending topic on Twitter during the time of the game. As people around the nation began to realize that a major upset was in the making, they hit the internet with their thoughts on the Aggies near-demolition of the Auburn Tigers.
ESPN analyst Mark Schlabach (@Mark_Schlabach), after Utah State scored their third touchdown, tweeted "Wow. Utah State TAKING it to Auburn."
The twitter feed for ESPN's "College Football Now" (@ESPNCFB) was all over this game, tweeting early in the game "Utah State! Auburn is struggling big time trying to stop the Aggies' ground game. It's definitely a new season indeed".
Praise for true freshman quarterback Chuckie Keeton was easy to be found online.
"Utah State QB Chuckie Keeton is no joke. True freshman at Auburn in his first game. Has led TD drives of 15, 16, and 14 plays," tweeted Matt Hinton (@DrSaturday).
An obvious Auburn fan, going by the name of 801NiNja Assassin (801NiNja Assassin) said, "You have a very good team this year. And that frosh QB is the truth. Keep your heads up Aggies."
The praise was well founded, with Keeton completing 20 of 34 passes for 213 yards. He seemed poised in the pocket and took good care of the USU offense.
But as quickly as the praise came, the tables turned on the Aggies, and in came the "choke" tweets.
Josh Reynolds (@JRenzzle) tweeted, "The 2004 New York Yankees would like welcome the Utah State Aggies with open arms to the club of chokers."
Another Twitter user, who goes by the name of "brew95" (@brew95), had been tweeting all game long about the SEC adding the wrong Aggies team to their conference (referring to the Texas A&M Aggies and their desire to play in the SEC).
"I was all ready to tell Auburn to get used to losing to the Aggies but then Utah State had to go and choke," the user said.
Evan Drexler (@edrexler) got in on it too. He tweeted, "Dear Utah State, thanks for your interest but we've found another set of Aggies for membership. Good luck in the future. M. Slive" (referring to SEC commissioner Mike Slive).
One fan made a remark that a lot of Aggie fans were probably thinking. Nick Newman (nicknewman801) said, "I'm sick of watching Utah State "give people a scare". Gotta close people out, Aggies."
A lot of people on Twitter seemed to have animosity towards Auburn, possibly for Auburn's national championship victory last season or for the alleged pay-for-play situation involving former quarterback, the Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton.
Joe Lawson (@JoeLaw8100) tweeted, "Way to hang in there Auburn, took real guts to beat powerhouse Utah State Aggies".
For the most part, the tweets were very positive about the Aggies and their performance. Of course, their last minute loss put a damper on the enthusiastic tweets that were being produced online. A lot of people felt that the Aggies should have won the game.
"Auburn needed a 1-in-a-1,000 finish to beat Utah State. That's why I think the Aggies deserved to win," said tweeter Steve Luhm (@sluhm).
Trey Ward (@T_ReyWard) tweeted, "Wow!! I hate it for Utah State. Go from one extreme high to the lowest in a matter of 2 minutes. Good game by the Aggies."
"Congratulations to the Auburn Tigers on beating the Utah State Aggies on complete luck" said Jordan Stentiford (@jstentiford).
One of the most interesting tweets seen just after the game about the Aggies included one infamous NBA player. And this tweet seems to sum it up best.
"The Utah State Aggies have just put on their best LeBron James 4th quarter impression," tweeted Renato Mazariegos (@RPMSports18).
From what was seen online, it sure looks like the fans hit the nail on the head about the Aggies team and their season moving forward. The Aggies are a very good team that needs to learn to closeout games.
Make sure you follow @kslsports for extra info on the Aggies. We will also have these Twitter and online social media wrap-ups after each Utah State Aggies game this season.
Email: onlinesports@ksl.com
