As the new BYU football season begins, so does the Rex ROC, BYU’s student section at BYU-Idaho.
On Saturday, BYU played East Carolina, and the Crossroads at the Manwaring Center at BYU-Idaho was packed full of students cheering on their favorite team.
“The student section in Provo is known as the ROC, Roar of Cougars,” said Jake Tibbits, BYU fanatic and director of the Rex ROC. “We’ve worked really closely with them, and they’ve designed logos for us. Our main logo was designed by Provo’s team for us to be the Rex ROC, so we host the BYU watch parties.”
Tibbits says his favorite part of hosting these watch parties is the energy the BYU-Idaho community brings.
“Being in the middle of the game when everyone is going nuts, the energy that comes from that is absolutely –”
He was about to tell BYU-Idaho Radio his favorite part of the watch parties, but then the game stole his attention through the play.
“– it’s absolutely amazing, I’m sorry the game is so good,” Tibbits continued. “The energy from the crowd going nuts, I can never get enough of that and it’s so fun to see the school come together and unify and cheer for something.”
Will South was working at a table set up to help promote pregame hype, hand out Cougar Tails, sell some of the BYU spirit T-shirts and enjoy the atmosphere.
“This season has been by far the best season that we’ve seen so far at BYU-I,” South said. “There’s more people, more sales, more spirits and the Spirit of Ricks is very high.”
Even though the Rex ROC isn’t physically at the games, some traditions carry over to the watch parties. Each time BYU scores, the crowd is asked to stand up and sing the BYU fight song, just like they do at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo.
BYU went on to win the game 34-13 to stay undefeated on the season.
The next watch party will be this coming Saturday in the Manwaring Center Crossroads when the BYU Cougars take on the Colorado Buffaloes. Kickoff is slated for 8:15 p.m.