The bottom line is that we have an extremely young team who is still learning how to win football games. Sometimes you have to lose a couple close ones (KU & UNLV) before you learn how to win. We have a team that will not quit though. After we went braindead in the 3rd quarter, the mood in the stadiun was "oh crap, here we go again" but they fought back and made it a great game. Hopefully next week we can put a full game together on the road and come away with a much needed road victory.
A Positive From Today's Game....
- Thread starter Clone9
- Start date
I was encouraged by the pressure our D line provided. We had sacks when we didn't even blitz. That's been pretty rare over the last few years.
Hang in there folks. I know it's tough to keep taking our lumps year after year, but I'm optimistic things will get better soon. We have some excellent young players on both offense and defense, and the recruiting will continue to build on that trend. We're also playing with a degree of toughness that I don't think I've ever seen in a Cyclone team. And the character factor is very strong.
The good times will come, but it has to be earned - just like with Pinkle's and Mangino's programs. We're on our way.
Hang in there folks. I know it's tough to keep taking our lumps year after year, but I'm optimistic things will get better soon. We have some excellent young players on both offense and defense, and the recruiting will continue to build on that trend. We're also playing with a degree of toughness that I don't think I've ever seen in a Cyclone team. And the character factor is very strong.
The good times will come, but it has to be earned - just like with Pinkle's and Mangino's programs. We're on our way.
Dude still had 350 passing yards and four TDs. Part of the reason he didn't do much in the first half was because Quigley was getting all the carries, not Sharp.
In the first half, our tackling was MUCH better than it had been. In the second half, though, there were again way too many arm tackles. Sharp killed our defense, and our offense's inability to get a first down in the third quarter kept the D on the field way too much. It's especially frustrating when you think about how close we were a couple of times -- just a foot or two. Football really is a game of inches, and it hurt us.
Hopefully next week in Waco the guys--coaching staff included--can put together 4 solid quarters of football for a change.
Kurtis Taylor is a stud. I would love for KU to have him. A defensive end that causes pressure is hard to find. If we had him our defense would be so much better. Our D ends currently kill us. He will help you win some conference games this year, starting next week.
Meier also adjusts well to the ball. He knows how to run under it and with his size it's hard to knock him off stride. I think Marquis Hamilton is the closest thing ISU has to Meier but I'm not sure his hands are as good. It might help our receivers if AA would put a better touch on the ball (like on the throw to Sumrall to end the game).
We're moving in the right direction. When Kansas was in Ames in 2006, that was the game that made me decide Dan McCarney's days were numbered. We've made a lot of progress since then.
Just wish we could have won the bugger....
Just wish we could have won the bugger....
This is one good thing I saw, also. Our D-line was stunting like crazy. The DT's were pulling and going around the outsides of the DE's to confuse the O-line and it worked very well. Props to Coach Bolt for the scheming there.
Well, I'm still not happy about the redzone. KU went 5-5 in the red zone with all 5 scores being touchdowns. ISU went 6-7 in the red zone with 4 touchdowns, 2 FGs and a turnover. So ISU scored "only" 4 touchdowns on their 7 opportunities. That might be decent in the Big 10, but it's not good enough in the Big 12. I'll wager that teams like KU, Mizzou, OU, Texas, Texas Tech and OSU score touchdowns on around 80% of their red zone opportunities. We still have a long ways to go, and I don't want anyone to think we've arrived offensively. AA's stats yesterday were really not all that impressive either. Just calling it like I see it.
I saw a story about him on ESPN before the South Florida game. He's not even interested in going pro. Not even after next year. He's going to graduate early and start grad school. So yes, he'll be back.
AA had a decent game and his stats would be much better if we had a running game we could rely on. Mr. Robinson is good, but I'd almost kill to have a back like Iowa's Green. We get a good running game put together and it takes a lot of pressure off our passing game.
I'm still wondering why we didn't throw a run play into the final drive yesterday? We had two time outs to burn?
