Williams & Blum Pod: Red alert on bowl season, Liberty Bowl thoughts & hoops wrap-up

Going to be interesting to see the next year or two (wild, that's how long NIL has been around and look at how that's changed/impacted/adjusted in a short time)

I think all involved (admins, players, coaches) will start to be more honest/transparent. JP making a video telling fans to go to Memphis will be a thing of the past. "Cyclones travel well" won't matter any more...because if the games are a shell of what they used to be, why not just vacation where you want to go vs Memphis?
 
The interim d coordinator thing to me is pretty weak. We've played a whole year of football. If the new defensive alignment throws off the opening drive that makes sense but a P5 football team at the end of the year with all their starters should be able to make an adjustment. Campbell's teams never give up which I appreciate but I'd like to see quicker adjustments in game. Seems like we often wait too long and can get back in the game but have a super small chance of actually winning.
 
Money arguments are pretty weak in today’s landscape because of how much stupid money is getting thrown around with no oversight. After saying that, $4 million meant something 10+ years ago. That’s a bottom 1/3 salary in P5 now and is completely irrelevant when it comes to how poorly we played in our bowl game.

I just looked it up and Campbell is the 47th highest paid coach in college football.

Source: https://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/football/coach
 
The interim d coordinator thing to me is pretty weak. We've played a whole year of football. If the new defensive alignment throws off the opening drive that makes sense but a P5 football team at the end of the year with all their starters should be able to make an adjustment. Campbell's teams never give up which I appreciate but I'd like to see quicker adjustments in game. Seems like we often wait too long and can get back in the game but have a super small chance of actually winning.
Was going to post the same thing. There are major changes in game you face every week like shifts from odd to even fronts, etc that you have autos and rules for. The idea that a terrible defense can absolutely dominate you by changing a defense in 15 practices is nonsense. They weren’t executing well, they were blowing coverages as you’d expect from a major change in defense.

They were playing downhill and attacking gaps/blitzing and their coverage was leveraging heavily against slants. My guess is they were hoping They could cause problems for 2-3 series then adjust, but ISU just kept playing in a phone booth far too long.
 
No doubt these factors had a huge negative effect on many of the bowls. Unfortunately for us, it had no impact on Memphis’ game and they rolled. They evidently did think it was a game.
Would have been interesting to see how much Memphis would have cared if they were playing their bowl game at Jack Trice and how much more our team would have tried. Home field thing is a big deal. We would have played twice as well/hard at home, no doubt in my mind.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ribsnwhiskey
Does it rub anybody else the wrong way when the guys who hype the bowl game, for weeks telling everybody how we all need to get down there and scold people about grumbling over the match up, then turn around after a loss and say how ISU fans are behind the times for being upset with a loss because bowl games don't matter?

Other than that, good podcast.
 
Does it rub anybody else the wrong way when the guys who hype the bowl game, for weeks telling everybody how we all need to get down there, turn around after a loss and say how ISU fans are behind the times for being upset with a loss because bowl games don't matter?

Other than that, good podcast.

I think there's a difference between being disappointed or upset with the result and losing your god damned mind over a loss. Friday was bad. If the coaches were talking amongst themselves, they'd say that. But that doesn't mean the season wasn't pretty damn good and that it appears that the coaching changes were the right move. And it doesn't change the fact that the future looks solid.
 
Does it rub anybody else the wrong way when the guys who hype the bowl game, for weeks telling everybody how we all need to get down there and scold people about grumbling over the match up, then turn around after a loss and say how ISU fans are behind the times for being upset with a loss because bowl games don't matter?

Other than that, good podcast.
Yes. Our fans aren’t behind the times. Our fans actually were excited for the bowl game because unlike most, there were almost no opt outs. Our fans aren’t dumb and fully understand bowls.

And fans aren’t pissed because ISU lost. They are pissed because the bowl did not have big opt outs, got promoted based on that and it’s importance, then the team was completely unprepared and got dominated by a terrible defense that couldn’t stop AAC offenses. But then those fans are told bowls are weird and don’t matter, and are expected to believe that a team can effectively shut down an offense by changing defenses in three weeks.
 
I think there's a difference between being disappointed or upset with the result and losing your god damned mind over a loss. Friday was bad. If the coaches were talking amongst themselves, they'd say that. But that doesn't mean the season wasn't pretty damn good and that it appears that the coaching changes were the right move. And it doesn't change the fact that the future looks solid.
I don't think anyone should be losing their mind but I don't think that's what that poster was saying. We were told how big of a bowl game this was going to be and how great of a springboard it was going to be and then we looked completely unprepared against a good but not great opponent. I wasn't that disappointed in the loss as I thought it was possible but the way that it went down was bad.
 
I don't think anyone should be losing their mind but I don't think that's what that poster was saying. We were told how big of a bowl game this was going to be and how great of a springboard it was going to be and then we looked completely unprepared against a good but not great opponent. I wasn't that disappointed in the loss as I thought it was possible but the way that it went down was bad.

We all know that most people trying to minimize the importance of this bowl would have the exact opposite take had we won. And most were hyping how awesome it is to make a bowl game in general. It’s sad and predictable.
 
We all know that most people trying to minimize the importance of this bowl would have the exact opposite take had we won. And most were hyping how awesome it is to make a bowl game in general. It’s sad and predictable.
Quite frankly ALL games are important for our program. We have what zero 10 win seasons and a handful of 9 win seasons? Matt has done a great job elevating the program and being consistent and doing really well in the Big 12. But if we want to get to the top of this new Big 12 all wins are big. OOC and bowl games are part of our record and if we want to get to the top getting some 10+ win seasons is necessary. Not saying it is the expectation every year but it certainly should happen occasionally in our new conference.
 
I don't think anyone should be losing their mind but I don't think that's what that poster was saying. We were told how big of a bowl game this was going to be and how great of a springboard it was going to be and then we looked completely unprepared against a good but not great opponent. I wasn't that disappointed in the loss as I thought it was possible but the way that it went down was bad.

there's been plenty of losing of minds on here since Friday.
 
And had they won, folks like yourself would be nowhere to be found.
I was just typing the EXACT same thing. It works both ways.

Their schtick is incredibly tiring and after losses people like them make this board nearly unreadable. I’m not sure how many times I can read “Campbell sucks and if you don’t agree with me you’re part of the problem” before getting fatigued.
 
Last edited:
The two things that stood out to me during the game were bad blocking in the run, and bad tackling. That tells me that the team just didn't really want to be there. Being in a defacto road environment for a basically meaningless game didn't help either.

Not getting the team invested in the game is a knock on the staff. But at the same time the outcome of the Liberty Bowl is less important for this program than the extra four weeks of practice.

It's not the best look, but I don't think it's worth crucifying Campbell and co. about.
 
We all know that most people trying to minimize the importance of this bowl would have the exact opposite take had we won. And most were hyping how awesome it is to make a bowl game in general. It’s sad and predictable
I stopped listening to all the hype followed by excuses several years ago.
 
  • Useful
Reactions: joefrog
This bowl was hyped big time by CW, Blum, Pollard, and many others because it was going to be one of the only bowls where both teams were basically intact (hardly no opt outs, etc). And it could be a big springboard into next season, etc, etc.

And then we got our a**es handed to us... and all of the sudden the fans put WAY too much importance on this meaningless game.

Is there any podcast, or coverage out there that doesn't just pump sunshine into this program all the time because it's in their best interest to do so?

I do think CF, and Iowa Everywhere, do a great job at what they do, and I enjoy all the coverage and listening to it. I just wish the coverage was a lot more honest... but I get it... they HAVE to do that or they get no access, inside info, interviews, etc. I know they say they don't, but it's very obvious that is the case.
 
Going to be interesting to see the next year or two (wild, that's how long NIL has been around and look at how that's changed/impacted/adjusted in a short time)

I think all involved (admins, players, coaches) will start to be more honest/transparent. JP making a video telling fans to go to Memphis will be a thing of the past. "Cyclones travel well" won't matter any more...because if the games are a shell of what they used to be, why not just vacation where you want to go vs Memphis?


I don't think I'll be going to any bowls in the future . What's the point? I can go on vacation when and wherever I want. Why would I want to center it around a freaking exhibition game?
 
  • Like
Reactions: CapnCy

Help Support Us

Become a patron