The Utes’ victory over the California Golden Bears on Thursday was sweet, but it was even sweeter to see 46,768 people packed into Rice-Eccles Stadium.

For the first time in recent memory, people walking by the Merrill Engineering Building could hear the screaming of the crowd as the Utes scored each touchdown.

While some may say that more fans turn up for ESPN games, much of the credit for the turnout needs to go to Urban Meyer.

When Meyer came on board as coach, one of his goals was to sell every seat in the stadium. He didn’t mean this in an empty way-the goal of most coaches is to boost attendance. Meyer implemented a new offensive strategy and put a huge amount of work into training his team. But more than that, he spent time promoting the new team through commercials and actually getting out into the community.

Letting the state know that a new show was coming to town was essential to boosting numbers at the gate.

While Meyer recognizes that he doesn’t have the perfect cast for the new offense, he has done a great job tuning the team as much as he can, which can be seen in the way the team plays.

Had the Utes lost on Thursday, the crowd would have been again disillusioned by Ute football, and many likely wouldn’t have returned.

If Meyer wants to keep the attendance at record highs, he’s got to keep producing a team that will give results.

Players like Brandon Warfield are helping to increase the hype for the new team, as should all of the players. Watching Warfield score two touchdowns in the first quarter kept the fans cheering through the third quarter, even as Cal took the lead.

Fans didn’t leave early for this game, as they often have in the past. This was not only because it was a tight finish, but because many of the fans had a justified hope that the Utes could do it.

Again, that has come from Meyer stepping up and keeping his promises.

But fans need to do their part as well. The men’s basketball team didn’t start out as the biggest sport on campus, but after a few solid seasons, the arena was filled, and has stayed filled because of great coaching by Rick Majerus.

Fans need to keep supporting the team, and not just come for the first few games out of novelty appeal for a new coach and new offense.

For the first time in a long while, the U has the potential to have a great football atmosphere. The fans just need to keep showing up.