Has the Rot Started to Set In?

[madguy30]

Well, we don't actually play in the margins. That's just coachspeak for something we don't do.

ISU's best games under CMC have been when they are synched up fundamentally.

Every team has sloppy games or needs to 'reset' throughout a season but coming out of August camp often looking very discombobulated in specific situations continues to be a mystery.

 

[CYEATHAWK]

Earle Bruce was a conservative Woody Hayes disciple.

Yes.....a disciple of a hall of fame coach.

Apples to oranges to Matt Campbell. Not that it's bad.........Matt is who he is. He is however, no Earle Bruce.

 

[1UNI2ISU]

These times are reminiscent of the Bruce years. A good coach who wasn’t fully appreciated by fan base. No idea what we had til he was gone. Then decades of misery.

In fairness, it wasn't Iowa State's fault that Woody Hayes punched that kid.

The entire trajectory of Iowa State football is different if that doesn't happen. Even if Earle eventually takes the Ohio State job, two or three more years in Ames would have been massive for the program.

 

[Stormin]

Yes.....a disciple of a hall of fame coach.

Apples to oranges to Matt Campbell. Not that it's bad.........Matt is who he is. He is however, no Earle Bruce.

Earle Bruce almost always punted on 4th and 1. We would rush 50 times a game. Maybe pass 15 to 20 times a game. Solid defense. Pat Kennedy was a special teams standout IIRC. Those players had a camaraderie and dedication and they would run through a brick wall for
Earle. Was devastated when Earle left. Disappointed we hired Donnie Duncan. Missed out on John Cooper. That is what started the demise of Cyclone football and coincided with the Hawkeyes hiring Hayden Fry.

 

[CloneIce]

Too early to go down this path. Yeah we had a disappointing season last year but it's not like we are getting our asses handed to in these losses like we were during the end of the previous coaching tenures. So we did get our ass kicked by TCU at the end of last year but they also were a playoff team. Outside of that our other losses:

Lost to #7 Baylor 31-24 (7 points)
Lost at Kansas 14-11 (3) when KU was on a hot streak
Lost 10-9 (1) to KSU
Lost 24-21 (3) at #22 Texas
Lost 20-14 (6) at OSU
Lost 14-10 (4) to TT

If we had a halfway competent offense last year those were all winnable games. 2021 our worst loss was by 10 to Iowa and the other 4 were all by 7 or less points. If you go back and look through Rhoads last 3 seasons we had several ugly losses in those seasons.

Campbell and his staff has put together a program where our defense has been really good the past few years and kept us in nearly every game but we can't get over the hump with the offense and had many special teams blunders too. Hoping the special teams issue are getting cleaned up now we actually hired a ST coordinator but gotta get something corrected with the stagnet offense. Doesn't help we lost some starters we were counting on coming into this season but at some point we need to start winning within the margins like CMC preaches instead of consistently losing in the margins. I don't think we are close to the point of seeing a downward spiral like we did when things went bad with Rhoads but we've been too talented to not be winning more games either. Hoping the staff keeps working on it and can get over that hump of losing winnable games but I've seen enough bad football over the years at ISU to know things aren't as bad as some may think they are.

I’m with this poster. If we make a couple field goals or don’t drop wide open TDs late, we win 6-8 games last year and w aren’t having this conversation.

Yes I knows that’s part of the game and reflects on coaching and recruiting issues, but still, last season should not have been a 4 win year as far as the overall state of the program, if that makes sense.

 

[cayin]

One year. An outlier with Wayne Stanley and Buddy Hardeman and Luther Blue. Let’s look closer. They feasted on their 4 non-conference opponents and hapless K-State which was the doormat.

We scored 58 points against Drake in the season opener. 41 points the next week against Air Force. Then 47 points the next week against Kent State. We scored 10 points against Oklahoma the next week. Then scored 44 points against WAC opponent Utah (132nd rated defense out of 137). We scored 45 against winless in conference K-State after only scoring 21 against Missouri and 14 against Colorado in a devastating loss. 31 against Kansas and 36 against Nebraska in an epic win sparked by Luther Blue’s electrifying return. We only scored 21 points in our disappointing loss to Okie State which ended our season.

Bottom line was our offense was very good. But we scored 190 points out of our season total of 369 points in our 4 non-conference games. That inflated our offense. Earle Bruce was a conservative Woody Hayes disciple.

good point, I didn't take who they played into context.

 

[LincolnSwinger]

Yes.....a disciple of a hall of fame coach.

Apples to oranges to Matt Campbell. Not that it's bad.........Matt is who he is. He is however, no Earle Bruce.

Feel free to dismiss Mount Union because it is D3, but Campbell is also a disciple of a HOF coach.

 

[LtRaczack]

One year. An outlier with Wayne Stanley and Buddy Hardeman and Luther Blue. Let’s look closer. They feasted on their 4 non-conference opponents and hapless K-State which was the doormat.

We scored 58 points against Drake in the season opener. 41 points the next week against Air Force. Then 47 points the next week against Kent State. We scored 10 points against Oklahoma the next week. Then scored 44 points against WAC opponent Utah (132nd rated defense out of 137). We scored 45 against winless in conference K-State after only scoring 21 against Missouri and 14 against Colorado in a devastating loss. 31 against Kansas and 36 against Nebraska in an epic win sparked by Luther Blue’s electrifying return. We only scored 21 points in our disappointing loss to Okie State which ended our season.

Bottom line was our offense was very good. But we scored 190 points out of our season total of 369 points in our 4 non-conference games. That inflated our offense. Earle Bruce was a conservative Woody Hayes disciple.

We will all know we are in real trouble if people start saying how awful the conservative offenses of Clyde Williams and A.W. Ristine were compared to the present. A.W Ristine was a conservative Harvard disciple who only beat Iowa once. Why do you have any issue with what's happening now???

 

[LtRaczack]

In fairness, it wasn't Iowa State's fault that Woody Hayes punched that kid.

The entire trajectory of Iowa State football is different if that doesn't happen. Even if Earle eventually takes the Ohio State job, two or three more years in Ames would have been massive for the program.

That and averting Jim Criner would have been profound.

 

[Cyrealist]

I like what I'm seeing in our offense so far. I believe our execution is way better than last year. Iowa had a top 5 defense in the country last year and this year's version may be even better. Campbel has a winning conference record. Who was the last ISU coach to do that?

 

[joefrog]

I like what I'm seeing in our offense so far. I believe our execution is way better than last year. Iowa had a top 5 defense in the country last year and this year's version may be even better. Campbel has a winning conference record. Who was the last ISU coach to do that?

You LIKE this? Like enjoy watching it?

As for Campbell's winning conference record:
1: ISU has never had better facilities
2: ISU finally got full revenue sharing
3: ISU's nearby rivals KU, Mizzou, and Nebraska have been down
4: ISU has never been so close to others in resources
5: ISU has probably never been in a weaker conference as these last few years

 

[Cyrealist]

You LIKE this? Like enjoy watching it?

Yep. I don't mind conservative football, I don't mind close games. I enjoy the chess match. What I don't like is poorly conceived and executed football like we've had on offense the past several years. There has been an effort to fix that, and based on the first two games, I think there has been significant progress. The improvements in facilities, etc have made it possible to compete. Wins still have to be earned.

 

[Stormin]

You LIKE this? Like enjoy watching it?

As for Campbell's winning conference record:
1: ISU has never had better facilities
2: ISU finally got full revenue sharing
3: ISU's nearby rivals KU, Mizzou, and Nebraska have been down
4: ISU has never been so close to others in resources
5: ISU has probably never been in a weaker conference as these last few years

Joe frog .

How many Conference wins does Matt Campbell have over nearby rivals Missouri and Nebraska?

You said those teams have been down so it has inflated Matt Campbell’s winning conference record.

Missouri and Nebraska left the Big 12 several years before Matt Campbell arrived. When you don’t play someone in football anymore do you consider them “rivals”? I miss the Telephone Trophy Game. And I’ll never forget the 1 point loss against Nebraska in 2010…..the last time Iowa State played Nebraska…..13 years ago.

 

[gordocyclone]

Mark my words! Campbell will never take us to championship type football. He has already proven that he is an average coach at best. He is lucky in one regard. Most of Iowa State fans are not bothered by having mediocre football teams.

 

[Stormin]

Mark my words! Campbell will never take us to championship type football. He has already proven that he is an average coach at best. He is lucky in one regard. Most of Iowa State fans are not bothered by having mediocre football teams.

When was our last Conference Championship in football?

Name all the Iowa State Coaches who have played in a Conference Championship Football Game.

 

[cycloneworld]

You LIKE this? Like enjoy watching it?

As for Campbell's winning conference record:
1: ISU has never had better facilities
2: ISU finally got full revenue sharing
3: ISU's nearby rivals KU, Mizzou, and Nebraska have been down
4: ISU has never been so close to others in resources
5: ISU has probably never been in a weaker conference as these last few years

Jesus this post is bad. Let's look at facts:

1. Assuming Iowa State wins this weekend, Matt Campbell will be the winningest coach in Iowa State history since 1919 (his win percentage right now is .05 behind Earle Bruce). And Campbell has had to play 9 conference games his entire career at Iowa State unlike other coaches.

2. We have more talent within the program than at anytime in the last 40 years.

3. We sold the second most amount of season tickets in ISU history this year.

4. Matt Campbell has the best bowl win by 100x in Iowa State history.

5. We played for a conference championship 3 years ago and got to as high as #6 in the CFP Rankings.

6. We were ranked for parts of 5 consecutive seasons under Matt Campbell.

7. We have had 6 winning conference records in the last 35 years of Iowa State football. Campbell has 5 of those.

We have one 4-8 year after we lose the most talent we've ever had at Iowa State and we have people like you that want Matt Campbell fired. JFC.

 

[joefrog]

Mark my words! Campbell will never take us to championship type football. He has already proven that he is an average coach at best. He is lucky in one regard. Most of Iowa State fans are not bothered by having mediocre football teams.

Mediocre at best.

Once your opponents figure out your tendencies, and you refuse to adjust, well, you're in a lot of trouble.

Especially if you no longer have NFL talent with game-breaking abilities.

 

[Gunnerclone]

Jesus this post is bad. Let's look at facts:

1. Assuming Iowa State wins this weekend, Matt Campbell will be the winningest coach in Iowa State history since 1919 (his win percentage right now is .05 behind Earle Bruce). And Campbell has had to play 9 conference games his entire career at Iowa State unlike other coaches.

2. We have more talent within the program than at anytime in the last 40 years.

3. We sold the second most amount of season tickets in ISU history this year.

4. Matt Campbell has the best bowl win by 100x in Iowa State history.

5. We played for a conference championship 3 years ago and got to as high as #6 in the CFP Rankings.

6. We were ranked for parts of 5 consecutive seasons under Matt Campbell.

We have one 4-8 year after we lose the most talent we've ever had at Iowa State and we have people like you that want Matt Campbell fired. JFC.

I don’t want Campbell fired at this point I’m just letting everyone the chances we get back to where we’ve been have been drastically reduced over the past 18 months.

 

[Clone95]

I don’t want Campbell fired at this point I’m just letting everyone the chances we get back to where we’ve been have been drastically reduced over the past 18 months.

Correction: You're letting everyone know you think the chances we get back to where we've been...

Far too much stating opinion as fact to make points in this thread.

 

[mj4cy]

I like Campbell and he's taken this program places its never been before. That being said, my biggest beef is what he preaches seems to be what dooms us....all the little things that give the 50/50 game an edge go the other way. Iowa literally won because they didn't make mistakes.