As my last post stated..... we can be "hopeful" about a lot of things this year, that's fine, but it's nothing more than "hope" at this point.
I too "hope" that we're better in all aspects of the game this year, but I will not make the mistake of believing it will happen until I see it. As a lifelong Cyclone fan, I know better. I had a lot of "hope" last year that we'd beat UNI by 3+ TDs going in to that game. Turned out, UNI was better than us and more prepared for that game. So my "hope" didn't mean a whole lot.
"Hope" isn't going to get this team very far this year. They have to prove it on the field, not just "hope" they are improved enough to win.
I know better than to think we're going to beat NDSU because we are Iowa State and they are NDSU. I'm sorry, but saying "we're Iowa State" doesn't hold much water these days. In fact, it means very little. If you think NDSU will be intimidated by Iowa State, you haven't been paying attention. We haven't had enough success to intimidate anyone. Last year, our guys looked intimidated by UNI if anything.