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LOGAN — There was tangible jubilation from those dressed in purple on Saturday night at Maverik Stadium after Weber State football knocked off Utah State 35-7.
It sounded like a minor seismic quake had erupted in the visiting locker room as the Wildcats players sang their fight song and reacted to the win. The celebration spilled back onto the edge of the field, where families of coaches and players awaited with matching enthusiasm.
Amid the chaos, Utah State coach Blake Anderson stepped to the podium in the media room — situated directly above the visiting team's locker room — and attempted to make sense of what had just happened on the field.
His opening comments were relatively tame, with talk of disappointment, accountability and need for adjustments.
Then Anderson was asked about the booing — the offense was booed by fans throughout the game, and most notably when quarterback Logan Bonner took the field for the a possession immediately after throwing an interception that was returned for a touchdown to make the score 28-7.
That's when the pressor got interesting.
In a lengthy answer, Anderson didn't hold back. The coach in his second year at Utah State defended his senior quarterback, admonished the fan base for booing Bonner, and questioned their "true colors" in the process.
The comments, no doubt, struck a chord, as Utah State fans in all corners of the internet descended into mayhem.
Is what Anderson said, which undoubtedly polarized him against portions of the fan base, warranted? How about the boos? Or the chants of "We want Cooper," from the student section, calling for backup quarterback Cooper Legas to play?
Anderson and the fans don't seem to agree.
Do you think Blake Anderson's postgame comments about fan behavior was called for?
— Jacob Nielson (@Jacobnielson12) September 11, 2022
One thing everyone can agree on is that nine months after winning a conference title and all lofty expectations put on this year's Utah State squad to repeat that success, Saturday's outcome was unexpected.
The Aggies failed to score an offensive point and were run off its home turf by four touchdowns by a school people in the Utah State community consider a glorified community college.
How do the fans react to that? Not well, it seems.
The fans expressed their frustration by booing the team, and Anderson seemed to take his frustration out on the fans. Neither was a particularly good look.
"Adversity hits, you're going to find out exactly who you are," Anderson said. "We found out some of that with some of our fans tonight."
It was a harsh statement to make. In reality, though, the booing and Anderson's response to it were authentic reactions to how each side was feeling in the moment. Neither actions were indicative of either side's "true colors."
Anderson is a man who is adored by his players, their parents and coaching staff alike. His comments were rooted in a desire to back his player — something that endears him to them in the first place.
He has coached Bonner since he was a redshirt freshman at Arkansas State in 2016 and seen him battle through adversity, including a season-ending injury in 2019 and ACL tear in December, which Bonner is still recovering from this season.
It's understandable why Anderson would be angry with the fan base for booing a player he's coached for seven years and who put his body on the line for his team — all en route to achieving Utah State passing and touchdown records and a conference championship.
It's also not hard to see why Aggies fans would take exception to Anderson's comments.
The undergrad enrollment on the Logan campus of Utah State is roughly 17,000, and the student section at Maverik Stadium, which holds 6,000 people, reaches full capacity, or near capacity, several games throughout the season. The students always show up color coordinated and rowdy.
Although the overall attendance of Utah State football games is often lambasted, nearly 18,000 people showed up to watch the Aggies play an FCS opponent on Saturday night, which is equal to 35% of the Logan City population.
It's a community that supports its team.
Those fans spent time and money on Saturday to watch their team's offense fail to score a point against an FCS school. They saw their starting quarterback have a poor showing and saw the coaching staff refuse to make personnel adjustments until it was too late.
The reaction in the moment is not "let's cut them a break, they won a conference championship last season." The Aggies have tasted success in the past decade — a WAC championship in 2012 and several big wins before Anderson came to town — but losing to Weber State? It's only happened once in 15 games prior, a 44-25 loss in Ogden 44 years ago.
So, yeah, the fans are going to boo; it doesn't mean they hate Bonner or the team.
Credit to Weber State, though, they were the better team on Saturday. Wildcats head coach Jay Hill has built an FCS powerhouse and a defense that could probably compete against several Group of Five offenses.
But the issues in Logan stem deeper than anything Weber State did; there were red flags before the game began for Utah State.
Coming off a 55-0 blowout loss at Alabama, the team struggled to prepare for the Wildcats. Anderson mentioned after the game that his team didn't "respect the opponent" coming into Saturday. Receiver Terrell Vaughn added: "Energy has gotta get picked up."
If a shocking defeat to Weber State is not a sign Utah State's season could go off the rails, the fan base and team continuing to pit themselves against each other certainly is.
Saturday night was a stain on the Aggies program, and any reactions to it should probably be left there. It's best if the fans forgave Anderson and let him run his program; and it's best if Anderson forgave the fans and turned his attention toward improving the team.
If not, there will be more celebration from the visitors' locker room when UNLV comes to town in two weeks.
