Bowl or Bust

I didnt read the whole thread. But right or wrong, I don't think it comes down to a number of wins per se. I think Pollard will use the eye test. How competitive do we look? Do we lose some heart breakers on a bad call? Do we have more key injuries. Does it look like the team has given up? Etc. Not saying that's how it should be. But I bet that's how it is. If we only win 4 games but battle down to the last possession in several others......I think CPR stays. If we lose to UNI though or have 3 or less wins......then yeah.....I think he might be packing. Also, will Pollard's near death experience affect his decision? I.e. total change of perspective on what's important in life.

Aaaaaaaaand welcome to the new era of Cyclone football where as long as we try real hard and remain close dear friends everything is OK. Participation ribbons for everyone!!!
 
While this may be true, there are a lot of people that use a lot more thought than a shrug of the shoulders, and all of those people are going to assume ISU is going to have a losing record. No one may know, but there's a lot of money to be made in Vegas if you think they'll go .500 or better.

There would be a lot of money to be made in the opposite situation if you think we are a lock to lose to UNI like many are saying.

And what I stated IS true. The grumblings were loud after the 1975 season. We averaged 14.6 points per game in 1975 placing us 112th in the nation. We ranked 102nd in the nation in scoring defense. We went 1-6 in the Big 8 Conference. Our only conference win was over winless K-State. Our starting QB completed 32.8% of his passes.

We were pretty bad.

http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/iowa-state/1975-schedule.html

Keep in mind that Earle Bruce had inherited a football team that had gone to Bowl games in the previous 2 years to his arrival under Johnny Majors before Earle Bruce took the job.
 
I'm assuming it is true. However I don't think it's relevant to anything we are discussing in this thread. Going back 40 years to prove that people were wrong one time doesn't mean anything about this year. Vegas hasn't set the over/under lines for next year yet. The guys who put together metrics haven't yet. But if either are over 3.5 for a number of total wins it will be shocking.

Which means that yes, it's POSSIBLE that we could go .500, most places will have it as extremely unlikely. And I haven't seen anybody arguing anything differently than that.
 
I'm assuming it is true. However I don't think it's relevant to anything we are discussing in this thread. Going back 40 years to prove that people were wrong one time doesn't mean anything about this year. Vegas hasn't set the over/under lines for next year yet. The guys who put together metrics haven't yet. But if either are over 3.5 for a number of total wins it will be shocking.

Which means that yes, it's POSSIBLE that we could go .500, most places will have it as extremely unlikely. And I haven't seen anybody arguing anything differently than that.

If the line is over/under 3.5, I would take the over bet.

As far as the assessment of 40 years ago, one can see that we did not have a very good team in 1975. Comparable offense and defense ratings to what we had last year. We were a poor team. It is relevant because many people like you were talking of firing Earle Bruce, just like they are talking of firing CPR today. In hindsight, EVERYONE agrees that firing Earle should not have even been considered since he won 8 games in a row for 3 years after that. I am willing to bet that IF the same thing happened with CPR that all of the naysayers would jump on the bandwagon and then try to claim they were always supportive of CPR as coach.

So let's just quit with the fire CPR talk and see how the season plays out. And let's just stop with the idiotic predictions of a disastrous season. Let's not be advocates of Negative Attitudes. Is that the way you approach life? Expect the worst?
 
I was attending ISU at the time. The grumblings were loud. ISU had just been to 2 consecutive Bowl games under Johnny Majors. Earle Bruce did not take over a team that was terrible. And we had 3 consecutive 4-7 seasons. Many fans felt the football program had regressed and that Earle should be fired.

That's all true, the grumblings against Earl were loud from a lot of fans. I'm just in the camp that it takes a good number of years for a football coach to establish his own system with his own players. Imo its' unfair to fire any new coach until he's had at least 5 years
 
That's all true, the grumblings against Earl were loud from a lot of fans. I'm just in the camp that it takes a good number of years for a football coach to establish his own system with his own players. Imo its' unfair to fire any new coach until he's had at least 5 years

Remember that Earle took over a program that went to Bowl games the previous 2 years prior to his arrival. Not exactly a rebuilding job that he inherited.
 
If we're being honest CPR didn't really take over a rebuilding job either, his best years came with players that weren't his.
 
If we're being honest CPR didn't really take over a rebuilding job either, his best years came with players that weren't his.

LOL. That is the most dishonest post ever. We had won 4, 3, and 2 games in the previous 3 years. Good grief. And just stop with the idiotic statements about winning with players that were not his.
 
LOL. That is the most dishonest post ever. We had won 4, 3, and 2 games in the previous 3 years. Good grief. And just stop with the idiotic statements about winning with players that were not his.
He said "his best years came with players that weren't his" which is true. CPR's best year was his first.
 
He said "his best years came with players that weren't his" which is true. CPR's best year was his first.
Correct. I think it's clear year 1 of CPR was the continuation of what Chizik was developing talent-wise. And now, 5 years later, that talent is gone. Put it this way. If fired today, CPR would be turning over a worse situation than he inherited.
 
Correct. I think it's clear year 1 of CPR was the continuation of what Chizik was developing talent-wise. And now, 5 years later, that talent is gone. Put it this way. If fired today, CPR would be turning over a worse situation than he inherited.

The 2009 was not CPR's best team at all. They definitely had the easiest schedule though.

So what you are saying is that CPR must be a vastly superior coach to his predecessors? Because Chizik couldn't win at IISU.......and then won a National Championship at Auburn.

And the number of Chizik recruits that actually played at ISU is vastly overstated. A few good ones like Leonard Johnson, Benton and KO. Lots of busts.
 
Maybe you should go take a peek at our historical records in football, count the number of 8 win seasons (i.e., 5 since 1968), and then come back and pontificate how it shouldn't be hard to consistently field 8-win teams. That is not a realistic expectation or perspective at this point in time.

--and 4 of the 5 8-wins were in the old B8. I felt we were doomed when the B12 was formed. Am amazed that we have held on for as long as we have. The only reason we are still in the conference is the Texas good old boys enjoy having a whipping boy. I have watched the program for over 50 years and have never thought that 8 wins were probable, even in the Majors-Bruce years. We will forever be operating with a talent deficit. We simply can't beat the Texas schools with the kids they didn't want, and the Ohio-Mich kids all want to play in the B10. And the Florida kids we get are the SEC left overs, which are no more competitive in the B12 than the Texas leftovers. Am I missing something? Learn to enjoy the occasional upset.
 
The 2009 was not CPR's best team at all. They definitely had the easiest schedule though.

So what you are saying is that CPR must be a vastly superior coach to his predecessors? Because Chizik couldn't win at IISU.......and then won a National Championship at Auburn.

And the number of Chizik recruits that actually played at ISU is vastly overstated. A few good ones like Leonard Johnson, Benton and KO. Lots of busts.
Even if you don't think CPR's first year was his best, there is no way around the fact that his two worst years have been in years 5 and 6. We combined for five wins in the last two years and hadn't previously had fewer than five wins in any CPR season up to that point.

And you can talk all you want about how the schedule was easier, but we still beat FCS teams and we never went winless in conference at the beginning of the Rhoads era.
 
If the line is over/under 3.5, I would take the over bet.

As far as the assessment of 40 years ago, one can see that we did not have a very good team in 1975. Comparable offense and defense ratings to what we had last year. We were a poor team. It is relevant because many people like you were talking of firing Earle Bruce, just like they are talking of firing CPR today. In hindsight, EVERYONE agrees that firing Earle should not have even been considered since he won 8 games in a row for 3 years after that. I am willing to bet that IF the same thing happened with CPR that all of the naysayers would jump on the bandwagon and then try to claim they were always supportive of CPR as coach.

So let's just quit with the fire CPR talk and see how the season plays out. And let's just stop with the idiotic predictions of a disastrous season. Let's not be advocates of Negative Attitudes. Is that the way you approach life? Expect the worst?

I certainly wouldn't deny I've been critical of Rhoads. For one there is a posting history that just doesn't go away.

My expectations are exactly where my brain tells me they should be. I work for an awesome company and I am extremely bullish on the future. However if there were several years of these types of results I might start to think a change in leadership is in order.
 
I think there are very few Clone fans that expect us to average 8 wins. I don't think its' unrealistic to have an occasional 8-5 season as the high water mark, but I suspect the large majority of fans would be happy with 500 records most years and winning our share of minor bowls. We can do that without ever having a winning conference record, which is a pretty low level of expectations. I don't think that's too much to ask for any coach making millions.
 
I think there are very few Clone fans that expect us to average 8 wins. I don't think its' unrealistic to have an occasional 8-5 season as the high water mark, but I suspect the large majority of fans would be happy with 500 records most years and winning our share of minor bowls. We can do that without ever having a winning conference record, which is a pretty low level of expectations. I don't think that's too much to ask for any coach making millions.
I don't think 5-6 wins per year is unrealistic. As you said, I think most of us would be happy with a .500 record. That's why I wasn't upset with 7-6, 5-7, 6-7, and 6-7 in CPR's first four years. That's about where I think the program should/could be. If we have three seasons in a row with just two or three wins, I think that's a situation where we have to replace our coach. We're not losing to Oklahoma and Baylor every game, we're also losing to UNI and NDSU. That's the problem.
 
Remember that Earle took over a program that went to Bowl games the previous 2 years prior to his arrival. Not exactly a rebuilding job that he inherited.

True, and didn't mean to imply that he did, though if I remember right it seems like we lost a lot of great players like Krepfle, Harris, Jones, Amundson, etc, when he left. But a new coach can bring in new terminology and new philosophy on everything from offense and defense to weightlifting, and it can be a big adjustment for even the returning players. Just part of why I think any new coach deserves at least 5 years to establish his own program.
 
I don't think 5-6 wins per year is unrealistic. As you said, I think most of us would be happy with a .500 record. That's why I wasn't upset with 7-6, 5-7, 6-7, and 6-7 in CPR's first four years. That's about where I think the program should/could be. If we have three seasons in a row with just two or three wins, I think that's a situation where we have to replace our coach. We're not losing to Oklahoma and Baylor every game, we're also losing to UNI and NDSU. That's the problem.

So now it is 5-6 wins. We have not had 3 seasons in a row with just 2 to 3 wins. We have another year like the last 2 then I think that JP will have some decisions to make. UNI and NDSU losses are in the past. FTR, the last FBS loss by NDSU was to ISU.
 
True, and didn't mean to imply that he did, though if I remember right it seems like we lost a lot of great players like Krepfle, Harris, Jones, Amundson, etc, when he left. But a new coach can bring in new terminology and new philosophy on everything from offense and defense to weightlifting, and it can be a big adjustment for even the returning players. Just part of why I think any new coach deserves at least 5 years to establish his own program.

Had time to check and correct myself. Krepfle, Jones and Harris were still there in Earl's first year, but their stats were down with Amundson gone, but there was talent on that team. We had a couple of young qb's in Hardeman and Stanley cutting their teeth.
 

Help Support Us

Become a patron