In the sports world, opinions and views are often dominated by athletes, coaches and members of the media. We decided to give the fans an opportunity to let their voices be heard on Saturday.
Prior to the kickoff of the 2015 football season, the fans had come to a unanimous consensus: Dixie State University football team is on its way up. Every fan who was interviewed was optimistic about the coaching changes and new recruits brought in this offseason.
Hurricane resident and former DSU student Joshua Rosen said he has heard about the new era of DSU football all summer long.
“Everyone’s been talking about these new coaches and the players they are bringing in,” Rosen said. “They are supposedly going to change the team for the better, so I am excited to see what all the fuss is about.”
Shay McClure and Blaine Monkres, DSU’s new defensive and offensive coordinators are who Rosen referred too.
“Last year was a close game,” Rosen said. “I think they beat us in overtime so it should be another close one this year. Hopefully, we can pull it out this time.”
Last year’s game was, in fact, a close one. An interception in the back of the end-zone sealed the 44-37 win for CMU.
Rosen, along with 4,000 other Storm fans didn’t get what they expected Saturday as DSU was pummeled by Colorado Mesa University 43-3 and had seemingly picked up right where they left off after last year’s one-win season.
The fans’ tone had changed following the blowout loss, former DSU student and lifelong fan Matt Jones, said he was disappointed to see the team revert back to its old ways.
“I was really excited to see how the team adjusted to the new coaches and system,” Jones said. “Unfortunately, we just didn’t see a whole lot.”
Jones did, however, say he believes the team still has some hope.
“It’s still early,” Jones said. “I wasn’t expecting their first game to be perfect, and I did see a lot of players that seemed to have some real athleticism and talent, so I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what the team improves on going forward.”
DSU will get a chance to redeem itself this Thursday at home against Central Washington University at 6 p.m.
