This Thanksgiving many fans are grateful for Coach Deruyter. And a new poll just released shows especially women are liking his style.
Coach Tim Deruyter is bringing wins, and fans back into Bulldog Stadium. His success in his first year has translated into a fondness many fans are feeling according to an exclusive Action News poll by SurveyUSA.
Deruyter gets high praise from women 55 and older. But, he is also getting the nod from younger ladies who are 35 to 54. Overall 48 percent of woman are down with Deruyter.
"I appreciate that, 48 percent, so I'm there like Romney I guess," Deruyter said. "Except maybe I'm doing a little better with the female vote than he did."
The enthusiasm seen at practice is also spreading throughout the Valley. Thousands more are coming out to games. The average game attendance is around 30 thousand. Lines are again returning to the ticket office. People like Sarah Griffith are coming to catch the coach's action in person.
"Lo and behold we have a new coach and we have a decent defense now, because that was really lacking, that was really lacking," Griffith said. "And it's fantastic."
Even though our SurveyUSA poll revealed only half the adults surveyed like college football, Deruyter says he's getting tons of high fives around town.
"I don't know which half doesn't love college football because the ones I've run into absolutely love it," Deruyter said. "We've got great support from the red wave hoping to have a great crowd Saturday. The ones I've run into are absolutely fanatic about it and we love that here in the Valley."
There's a lengthy list for why fans are pumped up.
"The exciting offense," David Rodriguez said. "Just fast paced you know offense. And, defense. Defense is doing great. Defense is what has kept us in these games, so."
Deruyter is hoping all fans can be the Bulldogs biggest weapon this weekend. He wants a loud crowd Saturday, since Air Force is a no huddle team that likes to make signals at the line of scrimmage.
