COLUMN: USD battling through transition phase

I made the long 320-mile drive Aug. 23 from Eagan, Minn. — Yes, the same Twin Cities town that Jackrabbit star running back Zach Zenner is from — back down to Vermillion. As a junior, I guess I’m now considered an upperclassman. This got me thinking, with all these incoming first-years, how many actually know what to expect from their new universities athletics?

I, for one, can’t say I had any idea what to expect. But as I started attending a variety of events, I quickly picked up a few things.

USD is currently in a transition phase. The football team’s prestige was elevated when they became a part of the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
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All other sports are now firmly positioned in the Summit League. We’ve seen our ups and downs with the new level of competition. The football team’s inaugural season in the MVC didn’t quite go as planned, as the Coyotes stumbled to a 1-10 season. We’ve seen men’s basketball have two straight bumpy seasons, but then we’ve been able to see our women’s basketball team almost win the conference championship, before blowing a late lead to SDSU. We also were able to see our softball team increase their win percentage from .29 percent in 2012 to .59 percent in 2013. Like I said, USD knows how to go through its ups and downs.

Luckily for all of us, the 2013-14 school calendar also represents a brand new season for all of our athletics.

Now lets focus on football. Undoubtedly, the big story on campus this fall will  be how head football coach Joe Glenn responds to a tough first year at his alma mater.

Glenn was given the almost impossible task of leading the very young Coyotes against the tough competition of the MVC. It was an ugly season, we all get it. When looking past the win column, you will notice five of the 10 losses were by seven points or less. Given the extra year to learn Glenn’s system, I feel confident in saying improvement will be shown.

It’s going to be put to test Aug. 31, when the Coyotes take on the UC Davis Aggies. The Aggies weren’t thrown onto our schedule as some gimme out-of-conference game. In fact, they played respectable football out of the Big Sky conference and will be a very solid test for the Yotes week one.

One facet of the game that won’t directly be shown on the stat sheet is how well they defend the dome. The Coyotes need help from their fans and need to generate some noise. You can’t really blame the fans for lacking in the noise department last year. The Coyotes offense often seemed complacent and at times down right dull. They failed to scare off teams and didn’t have many explosive plays. But like coach Glenn loves to say, the team was young, and “just needed some birthdays.”

I know Glenn is very excited with this year’s core group of guys and believes they will show much improvement. The fan base wants to believe so.

Regardless, it’s a new year for every sport on campus, with new hopes and aspirations. Fans should jump on the train because it should be an entertaining year.