THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 3, 2015 VOLUME 105 ISSUE 10 www.UniversityStar.com
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FOOTBALL
Bobcats open season against Florida State with chip on shoulders COURTESY OF TEXAS STATE STRUTTERS
This year’s Strutters pose in their new uniforms at Bobcat Stadium.
Strutters don new uniforms after 17 years By Imani McGarrell MANAGING EDITOR @ImaniMcg
F
or the first time ever the Texas State Strutters will perform in maroon and gold uniforms this football season. The team has worn the same iconic uniforms for the past 17 years, but on Aug. 22, a brand-new look was debuted at their annual
“
hard because they were all so excited, but we told them they could only show their moms.” The uniforms have not always been maroon and gold. In fact, the Strutters started out wearing red, silver and white, eventually switching to the iconic maroon, silver and white uniforms. The new uniforms are
Some of the girls would wear rollers and curl their hair, but most of us wore wigs or clipped in falls.” —MARY MCBETH, BOARD PRESIDENT OF STRUTTERS ALWAYS
Meet the Strutters event. “We wanted Meet the Strutters to be a grand unveiling, so we made sure that none of the girls posted the uniforms on social media or anything before that day,” said Tammy Fife, Strutters director. “It was
the first to don the signature gold of the Bobcats’ maroon-and-gold color scheme. Fife said former Texas State president John Garland Flowers gave Strutters’ Founder Barbara Tidwell
permission in 1960 to establish a dance team at the university. Flowers told Tidwell she could pick whatever color she liked for the team’s uniforms, Fife said. “She picked red because she liked the bright color, and they stayed that way for a long time,” Fife said. The Str utters went through many variations of the red uniforms until the ‘90s when university officials mandated they switch to Texas State’s signature maroon color. Last year m a rke d t h e 55th anniversary of the dance team. To commemorate the occasion, the squad performed in recreations of the red uniforms worn by the original members. Mar y McBeth, board president of Strutters Always, said the original uniforms included a
COURTESY OF TEXAS STATE STRUTTERS
COURTESY OF MARY MCBETH
Tammer Porter, Mary McBeth, Margo Mohnke and Mary Bradley Kureska pose together in 1969 before their Astrodome performance.
vest, waist cincher, skirt, slip, petticoat,
funding. For the last uniform change, the Strutters were able to get their funding from the Student Service Fee. This time around, Fife said the group was denied. “We just kept thinking, ‘Surely the university is going to pay for these,’ but they really
didn’t d o m u ch and so we just finally realized we’d have to find
bloomers and a specific hairdo. “While I was in Str utters, we had a signature f lip that our hair had to have,” McBeth said. “Some of the girls would wear rollers and curl their h a i r, b u t most of us wore wigs or clipped in falls.” McBeth said she wore the original red-and-white uniforms while she was attending the university. Katy Paulsen, Strutters head captain, said the team has relaxed their hair requirements in recent years. “A lot of us have varying lengths of hair on the team, so we just make sure everyone wears theirs curled—unless it’s really short and then they can wear it straight,” Paulsen said. Paulsen said it has been 17 years since the team had their last uniform change partly due to a hesitation to part with the “classy, traditional Texas style” the Strutters are known for, Paulsen said. “We also realized it was time for a change when we realized that the freshman girls coming into the squad this year were younger than the uniforms themselves,” Paulsen said. Fife said another reason for the delay in change was
the funding o u r s e l v e s ,” Fife said. In addition to donations from Strutters alumni, the athletic department donated $15,000 to the group to help fund the new uniforms. Without that donation, the group likely would not have made the money it needed, Fife said. The team has a reputation extending far past the reaches of Texas State As the first and largest precision dance team to be founded at a fouryear institution in the U.S., they are often imitated right down to their uniforms. Other universities and high school teams often copy the Strutters uniforms. Fife said she and the Strutters officers spent almost over a year designing and redesigning the new uniforms to get them right. “Part of the pressure of making new uniforms is making sure that we don’t look like a typical high school squad,” Paulsen said. “We are a collegiate precision dance team and we wanted to make sure and look like it.” Paulsen said she is hoping the team can keep up their tradition of being trendsetters with the new uniforms. “These skirts and uniforms really move with us when we dance,” Paulsen said. “They have a lot of sparkle and I can’t wait for the crowd to see what we can do with them.”
By Paul Livengood SENIOR SPORTS REPORTER @IamLivengood
The most anticipated game in Texas State football history is just two days away. The Bobcats will face the 10th ranked Florida State Seminoles, which was eliminated in the College Football Playoff by Oregon last year. The spread of the game is no secret. Florida State is a 29-point favorite at home for the season opener. “Well, its game week,” said Coach Dennis Franchione. “I feel like everybody is excited. We’re ready to go. I think we’re where we need to play a game and we will at least find out where we are.” Texas State was in a similar situation three years ago. As a first year FBS-school, the Bobcats entered their season opener with the Houston Cougars as a 30-point underdog. The team left the stadium with a 30-13 victory. Florida State, however, is on a different level than Houston. “We aren’t quite playing the New England Patriots but sometimes it feels like it or a little bit close to it,” Franchione said. Florida State is returning four players on offense, including Dalvin Cook, sophomore running back, who faced allegations of punching a woman in a bar. Cook was suspended pending the trial decision. When he was acquitted, Cook was reinstated almost immediately and returned to practice this week. Whether or not Cook will play remains a mystery, but Franchione feels it doesn’t matter what running back starts for the Seminoles. Cook rushed for 1,008 yards and eight touchdowns as a freshman. “The running back is good, Cook is really really fast,” Franchione said. “Even if he doesn’t play, the others are really good too. We will see how it all turns out.” Florida State named Everett Golson, senior quarterback as their starter for the first week of the season. Golson transferred from Notre Dame for his fifth and final year of collegiate eligibility. In a new offense, some would think it would be difficult to pick up a new offense in just one fall camp. In Golson’s case, Franchione doesn’t think it will be a factor. “I have heard about the complexity of Jimbo’s offense, which can be a challenge for any quarterback,” Franchione said. “He’s been back there for a lot of snaps in college football. The guy is talented. He throws a great ball. He’s a great quarterback.” The lack of experience on the Seminoles offensive line is something that defensive coordinator John Thompson can possibly take advantage of. Roderick Johnson, sophomore offensive tackle, is the only returning lineman from last season. Johnson is on the watch list for the Rotary Lombardi award, which goes to the most outstanding lineman – offensive or defensive – or linebacker. As for the rest of the offensive line, there will be new faces. Two of the remaining
See FOOTBALL, Page 3