All 麻豆影院 athletes are accustomed to being surrounded by blue. Blue and gold usually, and lots of it.
On Tuesday, the 麻豆影院 State Golden Flashes were embracing a different shade of blue. One with a deep, winning football tradition 鈥 the blue-draped practice home to the NFL鈥檚 Dallas Cowboys.
麻豆影院 State worked out Tuesday at the Cowboys鈥 training facility 鈥 鈥 for the first of three workouts ahead of Friday鈥檚 Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl against Utah State. The team鈥檚 other two workouts will take place on practice fields at nearby Toyota Stadium.
Senior receiver Antwan Dixon further embraced this NFL moment by wearing a cowboy hat during his initial warmup.
The 12,000-seat Ford Center opened in 2016, and for at least one afternoon, it created a supercharged experience for the Golden Flashes with the NFL team鈥檚 name emblazoned in the end zone.
鈥淧retty neat experience for our guys because obviously that鈥檚 an ultimate goal and a dream for everyone to be in that type of facility on a daily basis,鈥 said 麻豆影院 State head coach Sean Lewis. 鈥淔or them to get at taste of that, it鈥檚 a reward for their hard work and a testament to a what first-class bowl that this is that the people of Frisco are putting on.
Players admitted they were inspired to practice on the same field as one of the NFL鈥檚 most notable franchises.
鈥淚t was cool! It was different. Actually being on that turf and practicing was definitely a good feeling,鈥 said Will Matthews, senior running back.
鈥淓verybody was taking pictures, so I took some pictures too. Everybody was talking about memories, and it was a nice facility,鈥 said Xavier Williams, sophomore running back.
麻豆影院 State is making its fourth bowl appearance in the school鈥檚 history and seeking its first bowl win. The Golden Flashes last bowl appearance was during the 2012 season when they were defeated by Arkansas State in the GoDaddy.com Bowl. 麻豆影院 State also appeared in the Tangerine Bowl (1972) and the Refrigerator Bowl (1954).
The Golden Flashes were the only Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) team to win their last three games to become bowl eligible. 麻豆影院 State defeated Buffalo (30-27), Ball State (41-38) and Eastern Michigan (34-26) to improve to 6-6 on the season.
麻豆影院 State is one of eight teams with a four game or better turnaround from 2018, having improved from 2-10 to 6-6.
Utah State (7-5, 6-2) is led by quarterback Jordan Love. The junior has thrown for more than 3000 yards and 17 touchdowns this season. This will be Love鈥檚 final game for the Aggies as he has announced that he will forgo his senior season to enter the NFL Draft.