USU Hosts Colorado State Saturday for Homecoming

COLORADO STATE at UTAH STATE

Homecoming

Saturday, Sept. 24 - 6 p.m. (MT)

KCSG / Streamed on UtahStateAggies.com

Merlin Olsen Field at Romney Stadium (25,513)

Logan, Utah

QUICKLY — For Homecoming 2011, Utah State (1-1, 0-0 WAC) will host Colorado State (2-1, 1-0 MWC), Saturday, Sept. 24. Kickoff for Saturday's match-up between the Aggies and Rams from USU's Merlin Olsen Field at Romney Stadium (25,513) is slated for 6 p.m. (MT). The battle between agriculture schools, which also falls on USU's Ag Day, will be televised throughout the region on KCSG (Comcast Ch. 116/DirectTv Ch. 44/Dish Network Ch. 37) with Mychal Clanton handling play-by-play duties while Kevin White will handle analysis. The game will also be available through the ESPN GamePlant. It will also be streamed through www.UtahStateAggies.com by clicking on the "Watch Live" link.

SATURDAY'S STORYLINES — Things to watch for in Saturday's match-up between the Aggies and Rams:

• Saturday is USU's first meeting with Colorado State since 1997.
• Saturday is the 68th meeting between the Aggies and Rams, with CSU leading the series 35-30-2, having won the last three meetings and five of the last seven.
• CSU is USU's Homecoming opponent for the 13th time overall, the most common-played opponent when celebrating the navy and white tradition in USU's history and nearly twice than the second-most of seven vs. BYU. Utah State has not played Colorado State on Homecoming since 1966, but the Aggies are 7-4-1 against the Rams on Homecoming.
• The Aggies are 49-29-2 (.625) in Homecoming games.
• USU is coming off its first of two byes on the season, and the Aggies are 7-9 after a bye in the 2000s.
• Utah State is seeking back-to-back home wins for first time since 2009.
• USU is in pursuit of first 2-1 start to season since 1997, ironically the last time that USU faced CSU, which beat USU to deny the Aggies a 3-0 start to that season.
• Utah State has two coaches on staff who have faced CSU as both players and assistant coaches, including USU QB's coach Matt Wells who played for USU when the Aggies faced the Rams in both 1994 and 1995.

FLIP ONE FOR THE GIPPER — The 100th anniversary of the late President Ronald Reagan's birth is getting the football treatment in September, with teams across the country kicking off their games between September 23 and 26 with the annual Ronald Reagan Commemorative Coin Toss. The coin toss festivities are part of a year of celebration honoring the 40th president. A commemorative coin will be used for Saturday's coin toss before the USU-CSU game.

COACH TO CURE MD — Both USU and CSU coaching staffs will be wearing Coaches to Cure MD Patches on the left sleeve of their shirts. Coach to Cure MD is a partnership between the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), a professional organization for more than 10,000 college football coaches and staff, and Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD), the largest national charity devoted exclusively to Duchenne muscular dystrophy. One reason the AFCA was drawn to Coach to Cure MD was because of the unique parallels between Duchenne, a disorder which robs young men of precious muscle strength and college football, a game where young men are at the peak of their muscle strength. To donate $5 to Coach to Cure M.D., text the word "cure" to 90999. You can also visit COACHTOCUREMD.org to make a donation.

FOLLOWING THE GAME AND THE AGGIES

• ON TV — Saturday's battle between the Aggies and Rams will be televised throughout the region on KCSG (Comcast Ch. 116/DirectTv Ch. 44/Dish Network Ch. 37) with Mychal Clanton handling play-by-play duties while Kevin White will handle analysis. It will also be on the ESPN GamePlan package.
• ON THE AIR — All Utah State football games are carried live on the Aggie Sports Network: KVNU 610 AM, KVNU 102.1 FM (Cache Valley) and KLZX 95.9 FM in Logan; KZNS (97.5 FM only) in Salt Lake City; on KLZX 105.3 FM in Montpelier, Idaho. All Aggie football games are also on the Internet at www.UtahStateAggies.com by clicking on "Listen Live." Legendary radio voice Al "Elevator Music Is Awesome" Lewis will handle the play-by-play duties, while former Aggie SID Craig "I Love Chili Even When It's Not Chilly" Hislop provides analysis (for the listeners, not Al).
• ON THE INTERNET — USU home football games are also streamed on the Internet through "Aggies All Access," by clicking on the "Live Aggies Video" link on the home page of www.UtahStateAggies.com. Fans can register and purchase month or season packages to watch.
• GAMETRACKER — Fans can follow all USU Aggie home games through the USU website at www.UtahStateAggies.com via GameTracker, a free service, which updates play-by-play and statistics throughout the game.
• COACHES SHOW ON THE ROAD — The Gary Andersen radio show will rotate between The Copper Mill and Elements Restaurant on Thursday nights (6:05-7 p.m. on 610 AM KVNU) when the Aggies play on Saturday, with some exceptions, including the BYU and Hawai'i weeks. The show gives USU fans an opportunity to ask questions and interact with Coach Andersen and players. Upcoming Coaches Shows: Sept. 22 at Copper Mill / Sept. 28 (Wed.) at Elements.

UP NEXT — USU heads to Provo, Utah, to face the Cougars of BYU in a nationally-televised game Friday, Sept. 30, at 6 p.m. (MT) on ESPN. The Old Wagon Wheel will be at stake, with USU holding possession of the traveling trophy after last year's 31-16 win.

(Read more highlights and “Utah State Note-Ables” in the full posting on the Athletics website.)

Additional Aggie sports news is available at the Athletics website.