After weeks of practice and endless months of discussion and debate about conference affiliations, Utah college football teams got noticed on the national stage this weekend for finally playing the game on the field.
Weber State, Utah State, BYU and Utah all got prominent mention on the highlight shows, as college football kicked off Week 1.
Leading up to Weber State's contest at Boston College, there was plenty of speculation on what impact Hurricane Earl might have on the area. The worst damage Earl did in the New England area was to rain out my chance to visit Fenway Park to watch the Red Sox versus the White Sox on Friday.
According to the Nashua (N.H.) Telegraph, after days of preparations and planning for a potential strike by the storm: "The guest of honor" didn't show.
Indeed, fickle Hurricane Earl, which only days ago all but promised Nashua and most of New England a wild, noisy start to the Labor Day weekend, instead weakened, veered to the east, and left the region with little more than another soupy and showery summer night.
When the game did get played, a lot of national attention on the Weber State-Boston College game focused on the remarkable story of Eagles senior linebacker Mark Herzlich. Herzlich -- the 2008 ACC defensive player of the year -- had five tackles in his comeback from missing last season with a rare bone cancer.
ESPN's College GameDay analysts gave Herzlich a helmet sticker, saying it was the most deserving they'd ever awarded.
Weber State showed some resiliency as well in a 38-20 loss, keeping its focus forward, not backward, as coach Ron McBride said, after falling behind 31-10 at the half.
"We had the leadership, we wanted to see how we would come together as a team (in adversity). I think we came together," offensive lineman J.C. Oram said. "The last two quarters, we put drives together."
The experience should help the Wildcats when they turn to Big Sky Conference play, the Fremont High product said. Weber State faces Northern Colorado at home Saturday.
Back on ESPN, former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz cited the play and recent history of Utah and BYU in defending his argument that non-BCS schools deserve to be considered in the national championship discussion. Then he mentioned Utah State's surprisingly strong showing at No. 7 Oklahoma as further evidence.
How long has it been since the Aggies got that kind of respect on national television?
When Davis High product Peter Caldwell kicked a field goal late in the first half to finally get the Aggies on the board trailing 21-3 in Norman, it had to be an eerie feeling.
After all, it was just three years ago (Sept. 15, 2007) that Caldwell kicked a field goal late in the second half to put USU on the board, down 21-3 to No. 3 Oklahoma. That kick was the only score the Aggies managed in a 54-3 blowout defeat.
But this looks like a whole new USU. The Aggies fought to the end and had a shot at what would have been the biggest win in school history before a Sooners' intereption sealed the victory with less than five minutes to go.
The focus could have been on Oklahoma's 800th all-time victory as a college football powerhouse. Instead it was on the underdog Utah State Aggies.
The national spotlight on BYU was on quarterbacks: the two QBs that split playing time for BYU, Riley Nelson and Jake Heaps; the Heisman candidate/potential NFL top draft pick they played against, Washington's Jake Locker; and the Quarterback U. reunion of former BYU standout signal callers, including current Huskies coach Steve Sarkisian.
Utah was in the mix, too -- savoring its final opportunity to claim BCS outsider status, perhaps?
ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd complained loudly on his national radio show that the Utes' Thursday win over No. 15 Pitt could cost a Big 6 school a bid to a BCS bowl game in January.
Poor BCS schools. Must be tough to deal with all that money and access to five-star recruits and national championship games.
At least they didn't soak up all the TV exposure this week, too. Nice of them to save some for the little guys.
Roy Burton covers Weber State for the Standard-Examiner. Follow the Wildcats on the Weber State sports blog at blogs.standard.net and at Twitter.com/RoyBurton.
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