USU ready to kick off 06 Football Season

LOGAN, Utah - An opportunity to renew an in-state rivalry has forced a change in the 2006 Utah State football schedule that was released just last week.

A date with Brigham Young University has replaced USU's visit to Oregon on Sept. 23 it was announced by Aggie athletics director Randy Spetman on Monday. The Aggies and Cougars will meet in Provo on the 23rd.

"This is a very bright time for Utah State," Spetman said. "We are going to be able to resume a tradition between two great schools. We truly appreciate the administration of BYU to help make this happen. We look forward to working out a long-term agreement for the years to come."

The schools have already agreed to a three-game series with games at Provo in 2006 and 2009 and a game at Logan in between in 2008.

"The BYU-Utah State game is a tradition in Utah and we are excited to have the Aggies on our schedule," said BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall. "It will be nice to renew this rivalry and have the opportunity to play for the Beehive Boot."

"We are excited to resume this great in-state rivalry," said BYU athletics director Tom Holmoe. "This is a game that dates back over 80 years. We have been working on this for several months now, and we are excited to have Utah State on our schedule. We appreciate Randy and his staff for their willingness to help make this game happen."

The two programs will be meeting for the first time since 2002. BYU holds a 40-33-3 lead in the series, which dates back to 1922. The teams had met every year from 1946 through 1994 and then played every year except 1995 and 1998 before the series stopped after 2002.

BYU has won seven straight since the Aggies posted a thrilling 58-56 victory in 1993. Three of the last five games in the series were decided by one score as BYU held on for a 42-35 home win in 1997, won 34-31 in overtime in 1999 and then rallied for a 35-34 win in the last meeting in 2002.

With the schedule change, Utah State will play four straight games in the state of Utah from Sept. 16 through Oct. 7. The Aggies will host Utah on the 16th before playing at BYU on the 23rd. USU will then host back-to-back Western Athletic Conference games against Idaho on Sept. 30 and Fresno State on Oct. 7.

2006 Utah State Football Schedule Date Opponent 2005

Record Sept. 2 at Wyoming 4-7

Sept. 9 at Arkansas 4-7

Sept. 16 UTAH 7-5 (Emerald Bowl)

Sept. 23 at BYU

Sept. 30 IDAHO* 2-9

Oct. 7 FRESNO STATE* 8-5 (Auto Zone Liberty Bowl)

Oct. 14 at San Jose State* 3-8

Oct. 21 at Louisiana Tech* 7-4

Oct. 28 Bye Week

Nov. 4 HAWAI'I* 5-7

Nov. 11 at Nevada* 9-3 (Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl)

Nov. 18 at Boise State* 9-4 (MPC Computers Bowl)

Nov. 25 NEW MEXICO STATE* 0-12

* - Western Athletic Conference game