Utah State 2012 season in review.

It was the best season in Aggie football history.  No team, before 2012, had ever won more than 9 games.  For some perspective, let's look at some highlights of previous Aggie greats.

Merlin Olsen arrive on campus in 1958.  Back then, freshmen were not allowed to play on the varsity team.  USU was 3-7 that season.  In 1959, USU improved to 5-6.  1960 and 1961 were USU's best years prior to 2012.  The Aggies finished 9-2 in 1960 with their two losses being to Utah in Salt Lake City and to New Mexico State in the Sun Bowl.  1961, the Aggies did not lose in the regular season, but endured a 6-6 tie to Wyoming in Laramie.  They lost to Baylor in the now defunct Gotham Bowl.  Merlin Olsen was name the winner of the Outland Trophy in 1961 and was drafted in the first round in 1962 by the Los Angeles Rams and went on to a Hall-of-Fame NFL career.

In 1962 the Aggies were just as good, going 8-2 and they had the same record in 1963.  But what followed is one of the most painful episodes in USU football history.  The newly-formed WAC decided not to include USU and the Mountain States Conference folded leaving the Aggies to years of independence, followed by a stint with what would become the Big West Conference.

1960-1963 was the best 4-year stint in USU football history.  They finished 34-7-1 (.829) in that era, and had a head coaching change in that time period.  John Ralston left after the 1962 season for Stanford where he had some modest success.

They also had a conference change in that era, and now history seems poised to repeat.

USU was 11-2 in 2012 and have just seen the departure of coach Gary Anderson for Wisconsin.  The pieces are in place for USU to be successful over the next few season.  On offense, the Aggie running game was good in each of their 11 wins and the defense was consistent in all but one of their 13 games.  There will also be a new conference for USU in 2013.

The only lapse on the defensive end came against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, but USU was able to pull off a thrilling overtime victory.

Otherwise, there were lapses on special teams at the wrong time.  Kicks that could have tied the game at BYU and won the game at Wisconsin were missed.

Sure, it could have been better, but USU fans have a great season to look back on.  If history is a good lesson, there are at least three good seasons to look forward to.