Auburn 28 - 31 Utah St. (11:20 left in 4th quarter)

But Utah State will not go away! The Aggies drive 80 yards straight down the field for another touchdown to re-take the lead. They are now less than one quarter from taking the title back to Logan!

Auburn 28 - 24 Utah St. (1:57 left in 3d quarter)

This game is remarkably similar to a lot of Auburn's victories last season. The Tigers would fall behind, and then their offense would catch on fire in the second half, and they would pull out the game. This time, they responded to the Aggie field goal with a 73-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown to give Auburn its first lead of the game.

Auburn 21 - 24 Utah St. (4:52 left in 3d quarter)

Auburn's defense stiffened, and the Aggies were forced to settle for a field goal. Still, this game looks as evenly-matched as the score would indicate. Auburn is trying to use a bunch of new players -- they lost 16 of 22 starters from last year's national championship squad -- and they look pretty bad.

Auburn 21 - 21 Utah St. (6:36 left in 3d quarter)

After an exchange of punts, the Aggies are on the move again. They just hit a long pass to set up a first down at the Auburn 17. So they should re-take the lead soon.

Auburn 21 - 21 Utah St. (11:37 left in 3d quarter)

Well, that was easy. Auburn took the opening kickoff to start the second half, and promptly drove 64 yards down the field for a touchdown to tie the game.

Now we will see if Auburn can stop Utah State. In the first half, the Aggies' quarterback, Chuckie Keeton, went 13-15 for 110 yards.

Auburn 14 - 21 Utah St. (Halftime)

Auburn was favored by 23 points in this game, and I assumed that we would be easing into the UCFC battles this year with a fairly simply contest. But this game kicked off at 11 A.M. Auburn time, and the Tigers are usually much better at night. The Utah State Aggies jumped all over Auburn at the beginning of the game, taking a 7-21 lead with 7:58 to go in the first half. Auburn made it 14-21 with a 97-yd kickoff return for a touchdown, and the remainder of the half was scoreless.

So Auburn is in a bit of trouble at home. The folks at Weber State should be on the edge of their seats. If Utah State can hang on for one more half, next week's match-up in Logan between Weber State will be for the UCFC.

Utah State

In 1888, the Territory of Utah passed a bill to start the Agricultural College of Utah, which opened in Logan in 1890. A few years later, the Agricultural College narrowly survived an effort to merge its operations with the University of Utah. Instead, pursuant to a 1907 agreement, the activities at the Agricultural College were strictly limited to agriculture, domestic science, and the mechanical arts. Over the next two decades, these restrictions were generally lifted -- although the University of Utah still has the only law school and medical school. By 1950, Utah Agricultural College granted its first doctoral degrees, and in 1957 it became Utah State University.

USU's most prominent alumni include Sen. Harry Reid, the current Senate Majority Leader, and Merlin Olsen, who you will remember as Father Murphy from the old TV show.

The USU Aggies started playing football in 1892, and in their early years they were a great power in their part of the country. They also had some good years in the 1960s and 1970s. The 1961 Aggies finished number 10 in the country. The 1972 Aggies finished number 19.

But in 1962, six teams formed the Western Athletic Conference: Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Utah State and New Mexico State applied to become charter members -- but they were turned down.

Frozen out by BYU and Utah, the Aggies football team -- which had traditionally been a great power in the state -- went into decline. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen them play a game. And Utah State has never played for the UCFC. But they can win tomorrow at Auburn, they will be taking the trophy back to Logan.