Which is tougher for Coach Rhoads???

lenosky

New Member
Sep 18, 2007
25
5
3
Trying to get the team ready for 2 weeks for an undefeated Nationally ranked #2 team in the country in Okie State, or getting the team refocused after the big win for another top 10 Nationally ranked Oklahoma team?

I know most of the time he does a great job getting the team ready, but with us having the biggest win in school history, Oklahoma coming off a loss to Baylor, it is going to be a very tough task for us in Norman this weekend.
 
Getting them refocused on Oklahoma and trying to win in Norman will be more difficult. Oklahoma has had their way with ISU forever.
 
On KGGO this morning he said that they had a great workout yesterday and that they are focused and have been since the A&M game. I don't think ISU gets blown out in either of the next two games. This team is confident and looking to keep winning.
 
OU. I'm not worried about the team being unfocused, but I am worried about them being over-confident and it leading to sloppy play. The first quarter against a very bad UConn team (after beating Iowa) was atrocious. The Texas game (after a 3-0 start) was awful. I think we looked past KU after beating Tech, and that almost nipped us in the backside.

Hopefully the players have learned from those experiences, but I'm still wary.
 
OU. I'm not worried about the team being unfocused, but I am worried about them being over-confident and it leading to sloppy play. The first quarter against a very bad UConn team (after beating Iowa) was atrocious. The Texas game (after a 3-0 start) was awful. I think we looked past KU after beating Tech, and that almost nipped us in the backside.

Hopefully the players have learned from those experiences, but I'm still wary.

A) UConn, like it or not, is still in the hunt for the Big East title.

B) No offense to our beloved, current, and legendary in his own right back-up quarterback (who carried us undefeated through the non-conference), but Steele is not starting on Saturday. In any case, foot-shooting has diminished as the season has gone on.

C) We did not look past KU in any way. KU played their hearts out and we made errors (but not the disastrous throat-slitting early and repeated errors we made vs. Iowa, UConn, UNI and Texas) in the red-zone. KU should have beaten Baylor straight up, but they are gasless in the 4th quarter.

D) The game in Norman should be a real game. Is OU better than us? Yep, but, with their injuries, not by much. This is a team that couldn't beat Tech at home.
 
A) UConn, like it or not, is still in the hunt for the Big East title.

B) No offense to our beloved, current, and legendary in his own right back-up quarterback (who carried us undefeated through the non-conference), but Steele is not starting on Saturday. In any case, foot-shooting has diminished as the season has gone on.

C) We did not look past KU in any way. KU played their hearts out and we made errors (but not the disastrous throat-slitting early and repeated errors we made vs. Iowa, UConn, UNI and Texas) in the red-zone. KU should have beaten Baylor straight up, but they are gasless in the 4th quarter.

D) The game in Norman should be a real game. Is OU better than us? Yep, but, with their injuries, not by much. This is a team that couldn't beat Tech at home.

A) Which tells you just how putrid the Big East is. UConn is complete garbage.

B) The Texas loss was a team effort; you can't pin it all on Jantz.

C) We scored 13 points against one of, if not the worst defenses in football. I hope that's mostly due to sandbagging.

D) They're also the team that obliterated Texas, K-State, and aTm. They're on par with OSU offensively and have better defense. On paper, we're not even close.

I'm not trying to be a pessimist, but I don't think it does any good to sweep things under the rug and pretend they're not issues, either.
 
CycloneErik said:
If the guys get overconfident, he can point them to last year. It was sort of on the ugly side.



Looked how well that worked for Texas Tech against the Clones this year. Wait a minute.... But seriously, there should be no way that ISU is overconfident going into this game. Oklahoma has absolutely owned Iowa State. Although how cool would it be for the Cyclones to be undefeated in November?
 
I think every week is tough in a way for a coach, and probably hard to compare. All things being equal, I'd prefer to send a confident group down there, and they've shown themselves to be really resilient this year. I think it will also help with Barnett at QB, with his demeanor. Many qb's would crumble after throwing a pick 6 early in a game against a top opponent, but he didn't seem phased by that, or by his later successes.
 
A) Which tells you just how putrid the Big East is. UConn is complete garbage.

B) The Texas loss was a team effort; you can't pin it all on Jantz.

C) We scored 13 points against one of, if not the worst defenses in football. I hope that's mostly due to sandbagging.

D) They're also the team that obliterated Texas, K-State, and aTm. They're on par with OSU offensively and have better defense. On paper, we're not even close.

I'm not trying to be a pessimist, but I don't think it does any good to sweep things under the rug and pretend they're not issues, either.

A) Correction. Indiana is complete garbage. UConn is a recyclable - at least they have a defense.

B) I in no way pin that all on Jantz. I do note that the defense played well, and then extremely well in that game, but it didn't matter after the hole we ended up in. But, come on: 1st play?

C) Our problem against KU was untimely turnovers in the red-zone - it had very little do with how effective they were against our offense in general. I was more relaxed in the 2nd half of that game than I was in any of our other "close" games.

D) This OU team would not obliterate K-State and Texas today - their injury bug truly is that bad. In their case in particular, you can't trust what the paper is telling you, and even so, on paper, our team is most certainly close to theirs. We are better at rushing (35th overall, to their 53rd). Name a pass defense they've faced that is close to ours? Did you see Ronnell Lewis go down against Baylor? I'll be shocked if he's okay against us. Their injuries have taken a massive, cumulative toll.

Injuries are a part of the game, but holy smoke are they down a lot of guys since they rolled K-State (that was the game I think they lost Whaley in). Being OU, this means that they have plenty of weapons to win with, but their margin for error is also smaller than usual.
 
Looked how well that worked for Texas Tech against the Clones this year. Wait a minute.... But seriously, there should be no way that ISU is overconfident going into this game. Oklahoma has absolutely owned Iowa State. Although how cool would it be for the Cyclones to be undefeated in November?

Touche. This is a week of sober confidence for me (I hope). On paper, this game is a train wreck waiting to happen. On the other hand, you never rule out the RhoadsClones.

Based on CPR's 3-year tradition of shocking wins, we have a real chance to do it again.
 
A) UConn, like it or not, is still in the hunt for the Big East title.
QUOTE]

On paper only, if that. UCONN already has 6 losses and is in 6th place in the Big East. They finish at home against Rutgers and at Cincy, so I predict that they are not only not going to be a factor in the Big East, but they aren't even going bowling. UCONN is not a good team. Any road win is a good win (for ISU), but UCONN has fallen from BCS bowl game to no bowl game in one year.
 
A) Correction. Indiana is complete garbage. UConn is a recyclable - at least they have a defense.

B) I in no way pin that all on Jantz. I do note that the defense played well, and then extremely well in that game, but it didn't matter after the hole we ended up in. But, come on: 1st play?

C) Our problem against KU was untimely turnovers in the red-zone - it had very little do with how effective they were against our offense in general. I was more relaxed in the 2nd half of that game than I was in any of our other "close" games.

D) This OU team would not obliterate K-State and Texas today - their injury bug truly is that bad. In their case in particular, you can't trust what the paper is telling you, and even so, on paper, our team is most certainly close to theirs. We are better at rushing (35th overall, to their 53rd). Name a pass defense they've faced that is close to ours? Did you see Ronnell Lewis go down against Baylor? I'll be shocked if he's okay against us. Their injuries have taken a massive, cumulative toll.

Injuries are a part of the game, but holy smoke are they down a lot of guys since they rolled K-State (that was the game I think they lost Whaley in). Being OU, this means that they have plenty of weapons to win with, but their margin for error is also smaller than usual.

I don't think injuries will hurt OU that much. It's OU. They replace NFL players with NFL players.
 
It scares me that people expect ISU to go down to Norman and compete/win. The last time ISU went down there we got smoked, and it's even harder to win after a very emotional win over a great team (Farniok was puking on the sideline during the game, too). I love ISU, but I'm expecting a loss this week, but I also expected a loss on Friday, so we will see what happens.
 
I don't think injuries will hurt OU that much. It's OU. They replace NFL players with NFL players.

Agree. I don't know squat about their reserves, but you have to assume that a program like OU has depth at every single position.
 

Help Support Us

Become a patron