Fair 52° F

Home > Archive > Oct 3, 2007

Former Flyer Soars as DSC's Running Back
By Stephen Vincent
Growing up, Dallas Irvin had to be tough. The youngest of four active boys in his family, Irvin learned football playing with his older brothers in the backyard of their home.
Irvin spent many afternoons playing catch and pick-up games with his brother, Jay, Brandon and Ezra. Playing against his older brothers, Dallas learned quickly to play the game with tenacity, so he could be competitive with his older brothers.
That toughness paid off at Dixie High School, where Irvin carried the ball frequently at his running back position in 2004.
Three years later, Irvin, a sophomore, has become the featured back in Dixie State College's offense, and he is working to help restore the winning football at DSC after the school suffered a disappointing first season at the Div. II level last year.
While Irvin is carrying the load for the Rebels' offense, he is also carrying quite a bit of other responsibilities. Irvin married Karlie Cox about eight months ago. And to pay the bills, Irvin works at a company that maintains sport courts. Irvin, who is a Communications major, also has to find time for his schoolwork. That's all in addition to football.
Irvin said on a typical day he doesn't get home until 9 or 10 p.m.
“Every day is a constant go, go, go,” he said. “Then I get home and get to spend time with my wife.”
Irvin met Cox in high school. She was going out with another guy for most of high school, but when that ended, Cox began hanging out with some of Irvin's friends.
“And then we started hanging out, and it progressed from there,” Irvin said.
At Dixie High School, Irvin was used heavily. In fact, his total carries in the 2004 season, during which he had 292 rushing attempts, rank fourth all-time in Utah high school football history.
“They used me as a workhorse at Dixie High,” Irvin said. “I had a lot of fun with that. I like getting the ball. I like being in control of the game.”
Irvin had a big game in the Flyers' 3A semifinal game at Hansen Stadium his senior year. Although Dixie lost to Pine View 35-28 that day, Irvin played well, rushing for over 200 yards, and recording two interceptions and 13 tackles from his middle linebacker position.
In all that experience at running back during his high school days, Irvin was unacquainted with one aspect of the position when he began playing running back for the Rebels: pass blocking.
“I've had a problem with pass blocking,” he said. “In high school, we didn't pass block because they usually just gave me the ball.”
Those high school performances may be the reason why Irvin is playing running back for the Rebels.
Irvin was not a member of last year's squad, as he was on a church mission at the time. Prior to that, he was a starter in the Rebels' secondary as a freshman under then-head coach Greg Croshaw. When Irvin returned for spring practice this year, the coaches asked Irvin to switch back to the running back position.
Irvin doesn't know exactly why the coaches asked him to switch positions.
“I guess they just saw some film of me from high school,” he said. “All I know is they said, 'Irvin, come play offense!'”
Irvin said he was initially nervous about the switch because of the running backs the coaching staff recruited to join the team this year. But Irvin emerged as the Rebels' starting running back, and he has had some nice games so far in the season. Irvin had 73 carries for 244 yards and three touchdowns in the Rebels' first four games.
Irvin believes his time as a defensive back has helped him as a runner.
“Playing defense my first year in college helps me because I can read the defense better,” Irvin said. “It makes it easier for me as a running back to say, 'This is what they're going to do.'”
That has helped Irvin have a solid first four games of this season. The fifth game, however, may have been the most difficult for Irvin.
Irvin missed the Carson-Newman game on Sept. 20 because of a sprained MCL he suffered in the second half at Montana State on Sept. 15. The injury occurred when Irvin was so focused on watching the linebackers that he didn't notice a cornerback approaching. The cornerback drilled Irvin in the knee, causing the injury.
Talking a few hours before the start of the Carson-Newman game, Irvin regretted not being able to be on the field that night.
“It's going to be awful,” he said. “It's not going to be fun sitting on the sideline wishing I was out there because you know the entire night, I'm going to be wishing I could carry the ball one more time.”
Irvin hoped to be on the field when the Rebels play at Humboldt State in Arcata, Calif., on Sept. 29. Irvin believes the Rebels have turned the corner as a program.
“The big change from last year to this year is the whole tempo has changed,” Irvin said. “Our tempo's changed, and our attitude's changed. I went to some games last year, and you could see the team get discouraged. This year, when something bad happens in the game, you don't see people's heads drop. There's always a positive attitude when we're out on the field.”
Tempo, or the speed of the game, is one of the biggest changes a player experiences in jumping from high school to college football, Irvin said.
“Everyone here was the best athlete at their high school,” Irvin said.
Irvin is the son of Dexter and Connie Irvin.

---