Best ISU Football Team You've Watched

[Sigmapolis]

I thought I would make the happier version.

My answer is the 2017 team.



Easily handled Northern Iowa.
Really should have finished off Iowa in Ames.
Easy win at Akron (and I was 3/3 for attending games at this point).
The infamous "Jacob Park gets the cold shoulder" game against Texas.
Completely comes out of nowhere to upset OU in Norman.
Beat Kansas like they stole something.
Handle Texas Tech in Lubbock.
Campbell does it against in another upset of a Top 5 team.
Ugh, frustrating loss at WVU... touchdowns win games, not field goals.
Another frustrating game against OSU.
Handled Baylor, another WTF game against K-State.
Nice bowl win against a solid Memphis team while playing in their house.

Remember the talent on that team, too...

Kyle Kempt
Allen Lazard AND David Montgomery on offense
Joel Lanning at MLB leading the defense with Willie Harvey
Some other great seniors like Trever Ryen, Marchie Murdock, Jake Campos, KCM, and J.D. Waggoner, and tons of young talent down the roster

We thought that team was still rebuilding -- turns out it was the best team of the Campbell era so far. The outline for going 10-2 or 11-1 was already there that year.

 

[awd4cy]

2017 without question. Not old enough for the 1970s teams. 2017 is also easily better than 2000. Honestly think 2018 and 2019 were too.

 

[jmb]

I thought I would make the happier version.

My answer is the 2017 team.

View attachment 73763

Easily handled Northern Iowa.
Really should have finished off Iowa in Ames.
Easy win at Akron (and I was 3/3 for attending games at this point).
The infamous "Jacob Park gets the cold shoulder" game against Texas.
Completely comes out of nowhere to upset OU in Norman.
Beat Kansas like they stole something.
Handle Texas Tech in Lubbock.
Campbell does it against in another upset of a Top 5 team.
Ugh, frustrating loss at WVU... touchdowns win games, not field goals.
Another frustrating game against OSU.
Handled Baylor, another WTF game against K-State.
Nice bowl win against a solid Memphis team while playing in their house.

Remember the talent on that team, too...

Kyle Kempt
Allen Lazard AND David Montgomery on offense
Joel Lanning at MLB leading the defense with Willie Harvey
Some other great seniors like Trever Ryen, Marchie Murdock, Jake Campos, KCM, and J.D. Waggoner, and tons of young talent down the roster

We thought that team was still rebuilding -- turns out it was the best team of the Campbell era so far. The outline for going 10-2 or 11-1 was already there that year.

Not just all of what you said but it was really easy to get behind that group of young men. It was fun being in Memphis. We stayed at a hotel kind of far away and there were several player parents staying where my son and i were staying. We talked and drank with them. It was FUN.

 

[Statefan10]

Went back to 2000 to look at some of the W's and L's and we really didn't beat anyone great, while we got absolutely smacked in the games we lost. It absolutely has to be 2017 but man, I felt like we should've been better in 2018 and 2019.

 

[Sigmapolis]

Went back to 2000 to look at some of the W's and L's and we really didn't beat anyone great, while we got absolutely smacked in the games we lost. It absolutely has to be 2017 but man, I felt like we should've been better in 2018 and 2019.

Something about 2017 --

Yes, Campbell and his staff had brought in some guys, especially David Montgomery, though the real core of the team and its leaders on the field were old Rhoads guys. Lazard, Lanning, and etc. were some special players and leaders to remember.

Rhoads had some talented guys late in his tenure. He just did not seem to know what to do with them, as Campbell's pretty immediate success would show.

The rosters in 2018 and 2019 were increasingly creations of Campbell and his staff alone, and while those were excellent teams by our standards, I do not think they were quite at the level of the 2017 team. The advanced statistics like the 2017 team more, and the 2017 team had more big wins and kept its losses very close (save for Texas).

Of course, 2017 came without expectations. I imagine many of us wrote the team off after Park was kicked off the squad and we were about to head down to Norman for our execution while playing a walk-on and QB-turned-LB-turned-QB-again at QB. When we started winning, it was fun. The 2018 and 2019 teams had much higher ambitions.

 

[awd4cy]

Went back to 2000 to look at some of the W's and L's and we really didn't beat anyone great, while we got absolutely smacked in the games we lost. It absolutely has to be 2017 but man, I felt like we should've been better in 2018 and 2019.

Kinda crazy the biggest conference win in 2000 was against a 4-7 Kansas team at home. That was probably the weakest schedule we’ve ever played.

 

[Cyinthenorth]

I thought I would make the happier version.

My answer is the 2017 team.

View attachment 73763

Easily handled Northern Iowa.
Really should have finished off Iowa in Ames.
Easy win at Akron (and I was 3/3 for attending games at this point).
The infamous "Jacob Park gets the cold shoulder" game against Texas.
Completely comes out of nowhere to upset OU in Norman.
Beat Kansas like they stole something.
Handle Texas Tech in Lubbock.
Campbell does it against in another upset of a Top 5 team.
Ugh, frustrating loss at WVU... touchdowns win games, not field goals.
Another frustrating game against OSU.
Handled Baylor, another WTF game against K-State.
Nice bowl win against a solid Memphis team while playing in their house.

Remember the talent on that team, too...

Kyle Kempt
Allen Lazard AND David Montgomery on offense
Joel Lanning at MLB leading the defense with Willie Harvey
Some other great seniors like Trever Ryen, Marchie Murdock, Jake Campos, KCM, and J.D. Waggoner, and tons of young talent down the roster

We thought that team was still rebuilding -- turns out it was the best team of the Campbell era so far. The outline for going 10-2 or 11-1 was already there that year.

Hard to argue with that. I enjoyed the early CPR years despite the inconsistent QB play. 2009-12, The defense was fun with Klein/Knott/George anchoring a solid unit. The line didn't have any real studs but they had bodies. CPR always seemed to have at least one semi lockdown corner too, whether it was Leonard Johnson, Jansen Watson, Jeremy Reeves, or Nigel Tribune etc. Was always a fan of A-Rob too as we had gone several years without a steady presence in the backfield. In fact it seems it was kind of a revolving door from Ennis Haywood to A- Rob, a span of 7 seasons or so. I digress... the 2017 team is obvious, the Seneca teams were a blast at times and heartbreak at others. So my answer is cpr teams circa 2009-12

 

[Cyched]

2017 was a lot of fun. That was a special atmosphere for that TCU game. The Oklahoma game was a watershed moment for Campbell and his program.

Still ticked that we couldn't finish off Iowa at home.

2018 is a close second for me. The Alamo Bowl trip was a blast, even with the loss.

2000 didn't beat anyone special and got beat down by the teams they were "supposed" to lose to, but they deserve a spot towards the top with what they were following. You can argue that breakthrough season was the start of the modern era of Cyclone football.

 

[Statefan10]

Something about 2017 --

Yes, Campbell and his staff had brought in some guys, especially David Montgomery, though the real core of the team and its leaders on the field were old Rhoads guys. Lazard, Lanning, and etc. were some special players and leaders to remember.

Rhoads had some talented guys late in his tenure. He just did not seem to know what to do with them, as Campbell's pretty immediate success would show.

The rosters in 2018 and 2019 were increasingly creations of Campbell and his staff alone, and while those were excellent teams by our standards, I do not think they were quite at the level of the 2017 team. The advanced statistics like the 2017 team more, and the 2017 team had more big wins and kept its losses very close (save for Texas).

Of course, 2017 came without expectations. I imagine many of us wrote the team off after Park was kicked off the squad and we were about to head down to Norman for our execution while playing a walk-on and QB-turned-LB-turned-QB-again at QB. When we started winning, it was fun. The 2018 and 2019 teams had much higher ambitions.

Yeah I think the thing that makes me want to believe 2018 could've been better was the fact that when Purdy was thrown into the mix, everything changed. He comes in, we win 7 out of the last 9 games, and make a good bowl game against a great team. Because that happened, it makes me think just how good we could've been had Purdy been ready to go earlier. That's the flaw though, he likely wasn't ready and there was no way he was going to be starting over Kempt after Kempt's 2017 year.

 

[Cyched]

The 2002, 2005 and 2012 teams would be up there had they taken care of business.

 

[MWB76]

Showing my age but it has to be the 1976 team that went 8-3 in the Big Eight, which was the dominate conference in college football in the early and mid seventies.

Averaged over 430 yards a game in offense, under the old "3 yards and a cloud of dust rules". The offensive yards per game was the school record till 2 years ago.

The 1976 team lost their best offensive player, returning 1000 yard rusher Mike Williams, to injury before the season started.

Beat top 20 teams NE and Mizzou, and played OU to 6-6 tie into the 4th qtr. Surprisingly, despite their record and the 2nd leading offense in the nation they did not go to a bowl game.

 

[dualthreat]

The 2002, 2005 and 2012 teams would be up there had they taken care of business.

To this day I scratch my head about those seasons.

The only explanation I arrive at is recruiting. We generally hang out in the 40-60 range. We just don't find enough talented depth to put a full season together. From time to time we get really close! But injuries and mistakes at key times doom the season because our margin for error is so small.

 

[Go2Guy]

1976. Nothing compares. 3rd ranked O in the nation. Wayne Stanley QB + Dexter Green RB. And the best ever D-line to wear a Cyclone uni.
Should have won the last game vs OSU to qualify for a bowl game, but there weren't many bowls at the time so our 8-3 team had to stay home.

 

[Go2Guy]

Showing my age but it has to be the 1976 team that went 8-3 in the Big Eight, which was the dominate conference in college football in the early and mid seventies.

Averaged over 430 yards a game in offense, under the old "3 yards and a cloud of dust rules". The offensive yards per game was the school record till 2 years ago.

The 1976 team lost their best offensive player, returning 1000 yard rusher Mike Williams, to injury before the season started.

Beat top 20 teams NE and Mizzou, and played OU to 6-6 tie into the 4th qtr. Surprisingly, despite their record and the 2nd leading offense in the nation they did not go to a bowl game.

We got the benefit of being old geezers and seeing the best team in history. How about that D-line!

 

[Cyched]

1976. Nothing compares. 3rd ranked O in the nation. Wayne Stanley QB + Dexter Green RB. And the best ever D-line to wear a Cyclone uni.
Should have won the last game vs OSU to qualify for a bowl game, but there weren't many bowls at the time so our 8-3 team had to stay home.

8-3 didn't get a bowl game?

 

[kcbob79clone]

Showing my age but it has to be the 1976 team that went 8-3 in the Big Eight, which was the dominate conference in college football in the early and mid seventies.

Averaged over 430 yards a game in offense, under the old "3 yards and a cloud of dust rules". The offensive yards per game was the school record till 2 years ago.

Beat me to this

 

[Go2Guy]

8-3 didn't get a bowl game?

Can you believe? Especially compared to today when a losing conf record and 6-6 will qualify. We made it to the Peach Bowl the following year with the same record.

 

[kcbob79clone]

1976. Nothing compares. 3rd ranked O in the nation. Wayne Stanley QB + Dexter Green RB. And the best ever D-line to wear a Cyclone uni.
Should have won the last game vs OSU to qualify for a bowl game, but there weren't many bowls at the time so our 8-3 team had to stay home.

And that bowl game was the Orange Bowl. Everybody thought that's where we were playing. All the other bowl games had been filled. Best team that never played in a bowl.

 

[jdoggivjc]

The 2002, 2005 and 2012 teams would be up there had they taken care of business.

2005 should have easily been the best team in ISU history - and as such probably qualifies as the most disappointing. What was arguably the best defense in ISU history was absolutely squandered. If we're going to be honest, 2005 more than 2006 cost McCarney his job - 2006 just sealed it.

 

[Cyfern]

1976. Nothing compares. 3rd ranked O in the nation. Wayne Stanley QB + Dexter Green RB. And the best ever D-line to wear a Cyclone uni.
Should have won the last game vs OSU to qualify for a bowl game, but there weren't many bowls at the time so our 8-3 team had to stay home.

No. We should not have won that game. It was in Stillwater and Terry Miller killed us. I was there.