I will contribute to this thread by adding that was the worst officiating I’ve ever seen. Worse than the KU basketball game on Big Monday in 2013. The phantom hold on ISU cost ISU the game. That crew should never be allowed to work another ISU game
Unfortunately, Iowa's defense is designed to stop our offense and our defense is not designed to stop Iowa's offense..
Campbell is due some criticism. We're immensely better under his guidance but his big wins have overshadowed some Ws left on the field and some sloppy play.
The bottom line is this: when Iowa needs a long drive for points to get back in the game, they get it. When Iowa needs a stop to get back in the game, they get it. When we need either of those things, we can't get them.
I'm 100% on the Campbell train and he can coach here forever as far as I'm concerned. That doesn't mean he should be immune to criticism. These subpar September performances are officially a problem. Special teams remain a problem. Timely penalties remain a problem.
I don't want him to "own it." I want him to fix it.
If there is any fault with Campbell it seems like his teams need a full month of football to get going. First couple games are always questionable with sloppy play and missed opportunities. I dont know what that's about, but it would be great to play a compete game against Iowa one of these years.
CMC is great. He's great for us. Plenty of valid criticism in these first two games but this team can make it to the conference championship game this season if UT stumbles and we can beat them. CMC gets this team ready for the conference season even if he has a blind spot for Iowa and UNI.
I absolutely agree. There are a lot of valid complaints that can be made about last night, this season, hell - all Septembers under CMC's regime. Hell, even I was thinking to myself that CMC's teams are starting to resemble DMac's in the way they cannot put teams away early, whether it's the inability or refusal to do so because of conservative play. That being said, the refusal to admit that CMC is the best thing that's happened to ISU football in the last 40 years, not to mention openly wishing we were still under Rhoads, those thoughts are sheer lunacy.
Iowa just scored 18 points. You win a LOT of games holding other teams to 18 points. Our 3rd down efficiency sucked, but we probably end up holding them to their lowest yardage and points all season.
My guess is a heavy focus on Big 12 football instead of the Iowa game. And we’re not good enough yet to overlook it.
I’d be curious to see how we did if we had a schedule similar to Iowa this year, where it’s FCS team, Big 12 game, Iowa game and how our focus would alter.
18 points is great but the way they earned them was the issue. Like, ISU really needed to make sure Iowa didn't go down and score after the fumble before half time.
And then ISU really needed to not let Iowa go down and score after going up 17-15, but then they did.
The defense only gave up 300 yards and 18 points, but is it reliable late in a game when it needs a stop?
I don't know if it's an early-season thing, or if it's our configuration being better suited for Big 12 offenses, or what. But it's pretty frustrating that year after year, Iowa - which is as plodding and predictable an offense as exists in CFB - never fails to get the critical drive it needs for the clinching score.
I've read some dumb things, this might be the dumbest. Iowa is a rival, and because their fans suck so bad we all want to beat them, but in the grand scheme of things this game really doesn't mean that much. It really is just a tune up game for the regular season. Take a deep breath, and get some perspective.I like him. I want him to stay.
But he's 0-4 against an arch rival that is better than average at best. The mistakes made today are the same losing football we've seen for four decades.
We need an offensive evolution like the one we had on defense in ‘17. Something needs to be added in to spice this thing up. I don’t know what that is or what it could be at this point though. I think we’re just a RB short of being able to be good but until that RB steps up then everything will suffer on that side of the ball.
Totally agree on your first point. What is odd is that typically it’s on offense where great coaching and x&o’s can manufacture an advantage like we’ve done on defense.We need an offensive evolution like the one we had on defense in ‘17. Something needs to be added in to spice this thing up. I don’t know what that is or what it could be at this point though.
I think we’re just a RB short of being able to be good but until that RB steps up then everything will suffer on that side of the ball.