The current powder keg situation involving the Iowa State University football
program is above all else, a situation of human tragedy. It's serious, serious
stuff and that can't be forgotten and can't be moved off the top line on the
list of what's most important about the entire issue. A young woman claims she
was assaulted, against her will. And a young man faces the possibility of the
best years of his adult life being spent behind bars. Even if deserved, and that
is yet to be decided in a court of law, it's still tragic.
But this is a
sports medium and what happens at ISU in the athletic arena affects Iowa in the
athletic arena. So it is an Iowa sports story, too. For the purpose of
commentary on and analysis of Cyclone sports, it's a valid topic for this space.
We'll leave the heavier commentary and analysis for the more suitable media and
writers. We do sports here, so sports it is.
The Iowa football program
has a window of opportunity opening up to take advantage of all that ails Iowa
State football right now, including but not limited to the current
headline-grabbing situation. In short, Iowa State football is teetering on the
brink of freefall and Iowa has a chance to help itself by contributing a shove
that will help send the Cyclones over that edge. Iowa State's wounds are
self-inflicted so there's no obligation to pull punches. If Iowa State football
found itself in a bad place through circumstances not its own doing, it would be
bad form for Iowa to compete with the Cyclones looking for the jugular. But
that's not the case.
No, Iowa State's undoing is its own. Three straight
6-win seasons dripping with good fortune, good luck, good breaks and
over-their-head play had Cyclone fans believing the program was really that
good. National. Elite. Championship. Paul Rhoads and staff set the bar awfully
high for themselves and were desperate to clear it. Hard-working overachievers
had taken the Cyclones to no. 50 in the country three years in a row, no less
but that wasn't good enough. Unbelievably, that wasn't good enough. And they
knew it was going to take a better athlete to go any higher, to get to number
one, where the Iowa State faithful actually believed Iowa State should be.
The Iowa State staff was right in its analysis but wrong to succumb to
the unrealistic pressure of going higher. Values were compromised, good sense
was set aside, character was demoted and ethics and integrity were given leave.
The Hawkeyes assembled recruiting classes that were blue chip when it came to
the tangibles but red flag when it came to the intangibles. Iowa State wasn't at
a level where it could get the four-star and five-star kids that didn't come
from the scratch and dent aisle. It never will be. Those prospects who could
both play and think went to the truly elite schools like they always have and
will. The Cyclones resorted to the kids with four-star and five-star bodies but
no-star heads and hearts. Unrealistic greed won out over realistic
contentment.
And then predictably and on cue, karma caught up with Iowa
State football. Every bounce didn't go Iowa State’s way, every miracle play
wasn't produced by a Hawkeye, every key injury wasn't on the opponent's roster
and not theirs. When the Cyclones beat Nebraska with "The Fumble(s)" in 2009,
you just knew their football genie had just granted the last wish. Sure, Iowa
State would still be average or a little better, but it was time to even things
out. Three straight teams with the talent and ability to win six or seven games
had won six or seven games. The Cyclones were living on credit and the bills
were going to come due. Sure enough, over the next three years, teams with the
talent and ability to win six or seven games won four or five games. And playing
up to their ability, the equivalent of living within their means, just isn't
good enough for the Hawkeye masses.
So what does it all mean for Iowa?
It means attack. Iowa State is reeling, of its own doing, and Iowa must attack.
It must attack on the recruiting front, both for in-state and out-of-state kids
that both programs offer and want. The gloves have to come off. The Hawkeyes can
be and should be recruiting against Iowa State on the offensive, not on the
defensive. Plenty of lifelong Cyclone fans are openly questioning what is going
on with their football program, both silently and aloud. High school seniors
that have grown up cheering for Iowa State have got to be doing the same thing.
Ditto for their parents. And if they aren't, they should be, and someone needs
to tell them so. A lot of prospects fall in love with the Iowa coaches, who they
are, what they are. That has to become a red-letter selling point, making it
higher priority for prospects and their families. Warm, embracing and passionate
vs. cold, distant and calculating. You make the call.
It means attack on
the football field on September 13. A win in Iowa City opens the door to taking
control of the series again, of stringing together a few victories in a row.
Getting a road win is the first step in making that happen. A distracted Iowa
State coaching staff with its future very much in doubt will still be in limbo,
waiting for the latest investigative report from the Board of Regents. Just
winning would be enough, but if the chance is there to pile on, then pile on.
When Iowa State football was down before, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz seemed to
take it easy on his coaching friends, almost out of obligation. But by 1 or 21,
at the end of the day, another loss to Iowa, any loss, would leave Paul Rhoads
and the Iowa State football staggered at worst and on the canvas at best.
What's bad for Iowa State football is good for Iowa football, and vice
versa. Choose to not believe that if you'd like, but it's true. Jim Walden
wasn't afraid to respect Iowa enough to know that if he kept the Hawkeyes down,
he had a much better chance of keeping Iowa State up. Beating Iowa was step one
for McCarney at Iowa State and he obviously did a good job of it. To the point
it was taken for granted and forgotten by almost everyone in cardinal and gold
except McCarney. For better or worse, Iowa has never beaten Iowa State enough to
take it for granted and has never lost sight of how important it is. It's step
one yesterday, today, tomorrow, forever. Naturally, Iowa can't rely on trouble
at Iowa State to gain the upper hand in the rivalry. But it danged sure better
do everything it can to capitalize when it happens.