Aggies' OT win slows anti-Arslanian talk

Utah State's 29-26 double-overtime win over New Mexico State Saturday slowed, at least temporarily, talk about changing the football coach in Logan.

Following a 1-5 start with losses to Idaho and Boise State, Aggie naysayers were blaming coach Dave Arslanian and already calling for athletic director Bruce Van De Velde to find a new coach for 1999. The Aggies' 1-7 start was their worst since 1984, the second year of Chris Pella's sorry three-year stint as head coach.The fact that Arslanian was hired by Van De Velde's predecessor, Chuck Bell, just months before Van De Velde arrived fueled speculation that Van De Velde wouldn't hesitate to bring in his own man.

Earlier in the year, Van De Velde had been quick to reassure Arslanian that he was doing just as well as previous USU coaches, who struggled early in their careers. But as the season draws to a close, Van De Velde isn't talking about any vote of confidence or about three years for Arslanian to prove himself.

"Like I do with all of our coaches, I'll sit down and evaluate the program at the end of the season," said Van De Velde. "Until then, I'll reserve judgment."

"I do know this," he added. "I won't let (the football program) slip without doing something about it."

FUTURE SCHEDULES: Van De Velde acknowledges this year's tough Aggie schedule may have something to do with Arslanian's rough start. But future USU schedules philosophy won't differ much from this year's.

The Aggie AD wants to schedule "one or two" big-money games such as this year's Colorado and Washington games, annual games with Utah and BYU, non-league games with WAC (or Mountain West) schools and an occasional game with a I-AA school.

"We want to play the best and our players want to play the best," he said. "But we don't want to bite off more than we can chew."

One change Van De Velde will make is to allow for an open date in the middle of the season. This year, the Aggies didn't have an open date, which they could have used before the start of Big West play.

"I'm interested in winning football games, not scheduling wins," he said. "My scheduling philosophy won't take effect until 2000."

Next year, the Aggies will play a big-money game against Georgia and a home game against I-AA power Stephen F. Austin as well as games with BYU at home and Utah in Salt Lake. Van De Velde is looking for one more game and says it could be another big-money game, which would help pay off the new Aggie training center.

In 2000, the Ags play Arizona State on the road and Texas Tech at home, although that game could change. In 2001, they'll play at Kansas State. Van De Velde recently signed home-and-home deals with Wyoming in 2002 and 2003 and UNLV in 2004 and 2005.

STILL IMPRESSIVE: Some folks might downplay USU's win over the Aggies from New Mexico. After all, the Ags had beaten NMSU 18 straight times dating back to 1967 by an average score of 38-14. However, Arslanian pointed out several reasons why the win was so impressive. New Mexico State was trying to stay unbeaten in league play; mad at USU for running up the score a year earlier in Logan; mad about losing 18 times in a row; playing in front of a homecoming crowd; and coming off a bye week, an extra week to prepare for the Aggies.