Official: ISU one of the unluckiest teams of the year

Sigmapolis

Minister of Economy
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Aug 10, 2011
25,031
37,140
113
Waukee
That is an interesting analysis.

Thank you for sharing.

It does go back to a point, though — the quality of the program is high right now, probably the highest in school history. I share some of the frustrations on here, but “luck” tends to even out in the long term. If Campbell can keep the program at this level of quality, and I think he can, and have a lucky year, then watch out.

We are going to be 10-2 and playing in the Big 12 championship with a good chance to win it. We just need a lucky break or two in a season.
 
Last edited:

Clone9

Well-Known Member
Nov 12, 2006
3,202
967
113
Boston, MA
Considering how lucky we were to beat UNI I have a hard time saying we were so unlucky on the year. The Iowa game is the only one that I would call bad luck. A few of other losses (BU, OU, maybe OSU) were missed opportunities more than unlucky.
 

Statefan10

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
May 20, 2019
19,984
24,831
113
Considering how lucky we were to beat UNI I have a hard time saying we were so unlucky on the year. The Iowa game is the only one that I would call bad luck. A few of other losses (BU, OU, maybe OSU) were missed opportunities more than unlucky.
Yeah UNI is a tough game for lots of opponents, especially when teams like us, Iowa, or Wisconsin have played them in the past. Every once and a while they play an absolutely perfect game and just flat out make plays that put them into position to possibly win.

When talking about luck though, there was a point in that game where if we had scored, UNI was going to have to take more shots and be more aggressive because we would've gone up 17-6. Instead, Purdy gets hit with his arm clearly moving forward, and they return the TD to go up 13-10. We had a play earlier in the game that was a mirror image of that, however they blew the play dead. That is definitely unlucky. This is not me blaming it on the refs or anything, just saying that there were plenty of unlucky plays that we did have that completely changed how that game was going to go.
 

harimad

Well-Known Member
Jul 28, 2016
7,381
11,777
113
50
Illinois
I have trouble believing that "luck" is the factor there. It's just a lack of execution.

And for the guy saying "8 months to prepare for UNI," no. Nobody spends 8 months on one game. That's prep for the season time.
Apparently playing catch means you're "preparing for the New York Yankees."
 

Sigmapolis

Minister of Economy
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Aug 10, 2011
25,031
37,140
113
Waukee
Call it unlucky, but really, it was mostly due to us just not being that great of a football team this year. Missed opportunities marred the season and that's on the coaches and players. It's not a roll of the dice.

We were #24 in SP+.

That was good for #4 in the Big 12 after OU, Baylor, and UT.

I suppose you could have been more optimistic about "not great" than I interpreted it, but that is still one of the best rankings in school history.

We certainly did not meet our highest expectations and lost a lot of frustratingly close games, but I still consider it a pretty good season.
 
  • Agree
  • Winner
Reactions: Snydes and aauummm

CascadeClone

Well-Known Member
Oct 24, 2009
9,051
10,877
113
We were on the good side of the luck equation in 2018. Hopefully will be back on it in 2020.

Sugar Bowl is a CFP game next year though. Bummer.
 

Statefan10

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
May 20, 2019
19,984
24,831
113
Call it unlucky, but really, it was mostly due to us just not being that great of a football team this year. Missed opportunities marred the season and that's on the coaches and players. It's not a roll of the dice.
I don't think we were a great football team this year. I think we had some great players but overall were just a good football team. We forced way too many mistakes at critical times. Depending on the game, our offense or defense failed to show up for the entire game. Our special teams was an absolute joke.

The good thing about all of this is that we have a great coaching staff and a load of young talent that got tremendous experience this year. We also have talented guys that have been waiting to get their shot and will get that shot this upcoming year.

For me, I'm quite hopeful that our offense next year will be even better than it was this year, and probably more consistent too. Purdy had a very good year, but there were times that him and the offense felt a bit off. Giving him another off-season to get healthy, keep learning the offense, and keep developing the chemistry with some of the young guys will certainly help.
 

c.y.c.l.o.n.e.s

Well-Known Member
Feb 21, 2007
1,593
983
113
I am just enjoying the fact that we had our third straight winning season against a schedule that was ranked in or near the top twenty each of those years. In the past we would need to catch a break in the scheduling to even sniff bowl eligibility. Unlucky would get us a 3 win season and lucky would maybe get us to 6-7 wins.

In my opinion we were probably around a top 30-40 team. We had some flaws but caught a few bad breaks and still made it to a bowl game.
 

Cydkar

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2006
26,546
12,059
113
Call it unlucky, but really, it was mostly due to us just not being that great of a football team this year. Missed opportunities marred the season and that's on the coaches and players. It's not a roll of the dice.
Agree. CMC would as well.

Not catching easy interceptions isn't bad luck, in my book. It's for sale on Amazon, btw.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: Stewo