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LOGAN — Utah State returns to Cache Valley for its home opener Saturday, where the Aggies will host FCS opponent Idaho State as the team searches for its first win of the season.
After an intense Big Ten environment last week, the Aggies will be relieved to be playing in front of their home crowd at Maverik Stadium.
"That does lift our guys," head coach Blake Anderson said about the home crowd. "It energizes. It is crucial to be in front of our home crowd."
Hale Motu'apuaka, the veteran defensive tackle who was hurt and did not play in the game in Iowa City, agreed with his coach. The sixth-year senior said he gets "goosebumps" just thinking about playing at home in front of the Utah State student section, nicknamed "The Hurd."
"Nothing can explain the feeling of walking out looking at the field and just hearing Aggie nation cheer you on," Motu'apuaka said. "The excitement they have, the energy they bring … we definitely feel that."
But what makes The Hurd so special to the players and coaches? Tate Bennett, the executive director of athletics and campus recreation at Utah State, which is a peer-elected student position, explained that it's all rooted in the history of the program.
"We're rooted in tradition," Bennett said, but added that it's "just an expectation" for students to come to games, cheer loud, and be passionate. It's just the way it is and always will be at Utah State.
Student sections across the country have long been known to make their home territory a hostile environment for other teams.
For instance, Arizona State uses the "curtain of distraction," which features students doing wild, distracting things when the curtain opens as an opposing team attempts free throws. The school even invited Michael Phelps to join them for one of their games; he wore a grand collection of his olympic medals while donning his speedo, swim cap and goggles.
The question, then, is whether or not the excessive efforts of student sections across the country are truly successful at having a real impact on the game. Bennett believes the students truly do have an impact on the outcome of the game.
In 2021, the Aggies were up 2 points against Colorado State with just under a minute to play. The whole game, Bennett and his friends had been heckling Colorado State's kicker Cayden Camper as he rode the stationary bike. Toward the end of the game, as Camper realized his team would likely rely on him to kick a game-winning field goal, the kicker began to take warmup kicks. Bennett and his friends kept yelling at him from a close proximity, telling him he was kicking too far left.
As the clock ticked down within 10 seconds, the Rams rushed their field goal unit onto the field to try to get the go-ahead score. Sure enough, when Camper sent the ball into the air, he kicked it too far left. The Aggies won the game.
"It was pretty cool," Bennett said, "having a direct effect on the game."
Bennett said his goal is to let the Aggies focus on playing "the physical game" and to force their opponents to face thousands of obnoxious students in "the mental game."
"That'll give us an edge, be aware of that," he warned.
In fact, the Aggies coaches believed the student section was so successful at what they did that they switched sidelines a few years ago, forcing their opponent to stand underneath The Hurd rather than their own team.
It was a switch that quarterback Cooper Legas was grateful to make, adding that it is much calmer on the other side of the field. Now, The Hurd can "get in the other team's head instead of them just saying weird stuff to me all game."
Bennett said his message to fellow Aggies fans is to just simply come to the games and to be excited.
"It's going to be a good year," he said.
On Saturday, as the Aggies take on Idaho State in their home opener, keep an eye out for the east side of the striped stadium, where Bennett and the Utah State students will be playing "the mental game" against the Bengals.
