For those who are on the ledge...

[Mr.G.Spot]

Love the optimism but we are not 4-5 plays from being 4-0. We played horribly in the CyHawk game and honestly, until they went prevent, we were awful on offense. We are a good team, we just have to clean things up. Kansas will be a nice confidence booster next week.

If you call rushing 4 and an occasional blitz prevent then that is news to.me. That is what I witnessed.

I agree our offense was subpar, but not awful at 340 yards in offense? 170 for Iowa?? Eliminate two plays against Iowa and it is 10 points less for them the way our defense played.

 

[Darius Bieber]

If you call rushing 4 and an occasional blitz prevent then that is news to.me. That is what I witnessed.

I agree our offense was subpar, but not awful at 340 yards in offense? 170 for Iowa?? Eliminate two plays against Iowa and it is 10 points less for them the way our defense played.

I think it’s fair that others have pointed out that total yards is not a good indicator. Iowa always had a short field to work with - not much potential for gaining yards.

 

[StPaulCyclone]

For those more in the know, how much of this is related to pre-game film study being a little lacking? Did Baylor,and every team for that matter, come out in the first half with something not on film? Seems doubtful.

Mike Rose said that’s exactly what Baylor did last year. No reason to think they didn’t do the same with the new OC and OLine coaches from BYU. Given who they had played, they may have had some new wrinkles, this game was circled for them.

 

[Mr.G.Spot]

I think it’s fair that others have pointed out that total yards is not a good indicator. Iowa always had a short field to work with - not much potential for gaining yards.

I agree with comment. In the second half, even when Iowa had a short field they didn't do much

 

[Clonefan32]

I find it super funny you mf’ers think this is some super low moment. Live through the 80’s Clones and tell me about it. I’m as disappointed as the next dude but it’s ******* laughable that this is some super low point.

I don't understand this logic. I don't think anyone is saying this is a low point in Iowa State history. There's not a person here that wouldn't take the current state of our program over any other point in program history.

But we have a golden opportunity to have a historic year and we are letting it slip away. The top of the Big 12 is as down as it has ever been. OU is get-able and OSU and Texas are marginal. On a national scale, you have probably your best chance in the last 10 years to get into the playoff with Clemson and Ohio State struggling. You started the season in the Top 10 so you aren't relegated to having to hope the teams in front of you keep losing as we've been in years past when we started unranked or ranked in the upper 20s. Hell, Iowa and their 2 yards per play are ranked #5. It was all right there for us, with the returning All Americans and All Big 12 players, a veteran group, etc., and we didn't take advantage of it.

And to compound the issues the two loses were due to issues that have prevailed for several years now. Poor special teams play, slow starts in September and offensive inconsistency are nothing new. So it's a perfectly reasonable response to be upset that these issues haven't been addressed, especially with a high potential team like we have.

 

[clonehoodie]

The recruiting classes are getting better, but all of the Big 12 is getting better talent. The Campbell recruits have been 4th or 5th out of 10 each year,

The coaches need to Develop talent, like other schools do.

 

[Cybone]

Since Saturday’s game I was on the edge, but today I am a step further….

 

[superiorcyclone]

Hi.
Today sucked.
You may be able to argue that this one hurt more than a Baylor A$$ Kicking of old for one simple fact: we were the better team.
In both our losses, I believe that we were the better team. Yet, here we are sitting 2-2.
I am not writing this post to sob about how we are the better team and should be 4-0 or complain about a specific aspect of the game. I am here to offer a little perspective.

My fandom started in the Rhoads era, so my knowledge of the subject may be limited. However, I believe the subject holds true throughout the history of Iowa State no matter who the coach may be.

The subject: Why do we lose?

There is a famous line from Anna Karenina (which happens to be the opening line): "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

This line holds true for football as well... Great football teams are all alike. They play sound defense. They don't turn the ball over. They have good lines. They play solid special teams. Yet, bad football teams are bad in their own way. Either the quarterback sucks, the defense is terrible, awful coaching/playcalling, etc.

In the Rhoads era (and I can assume other eras), we were bad in a TON of aspects. Bad defense, undisciplined players, inability to run the ball, bad QB Play, but worst of all... There was such a large talent gap between our guys and any one else in the Big 12.
We had so many issues; it was almost impossible to conceive how the team could ever make a bowl, let alone compete in the conference.

Seriously, we shouldn't have won some (a lot) of the games that we won.

Here's where the perspective comes in... When we b*tched about Rhoads/other eras teams after a loss, we would fight amongst ourselves ALL of the reasons why we lost. Now, it's different. There are only a few areas that we really need to address in this program to be a contender. It probably won't happen this season, but we could (hopefully) see improvement for the near future.

The main issue that we solved is there is no talent gap between us and the teams in the Big 12. Yes, Oklahoma and Texas have more talent, but that's obvious. We have more talent than KSU, Tech, KU and we are on par with WVU. The only player that had talent like the guys that we are bringing in the Rhoads Era was Allen Lazard. We never got any RB close to Breece, never got a QB close to Brock, DE to McDonald and TE to Kolar, LET ALONE ON THE SAME TEAM.

I follow recruiting. You know I follow recruiting. The 2021 class (Jaylin Noel's class) and the 2022 class (the current one) are probably ISUs best classes we've pulled in. 2020 is SOLID (Dekkers, SIngleton, Tampa, Zenzen, Pedersen, Jackson) looks to be solid as well.

The main issue with ISU for the history of the program is we never had the guys to compete with the big boys. Now we do...
We have the D, we have the offensive weapons. Secure the line and figure out special teams and I think we will win A LOT of games.

Agree. Some huge mistakes in 2 games, either turnovers or special teams breakdowns. Baylor's punter really put us in a hole as well.

 

[Cyhig]

This is why college football is fun. Each week there are usually a handful of big upsets.

Would I like to go 11-1 or 10-2? Of course. That was a valid goal at the start of the season. But instead of getting down on the team, let’s sit back and enjoy this team the rest of the season. It’s arguably the most talented team ISU has fielded, and we get front row tickets. But it’s more than just talent; these kids are genuinely great people. You rarely have ever heard of a player getting into an off the field incident; rather, these players take time to interact with the fans/kids.

So now that the pressure is off, let’s just enjoy watching them and have fun the rest of this season no matter how it plays out

 

[cyphoon]

2 Quarters with no adjustments on D. Then shutdown after halftime! why can't this occur earlier?

I have been wondering the same thing. Our best unit is our D. They put together a really bad first half, followed by a spectacular second half. A mediocre first half would have gotten us a win.

It is easy to pin the loss on special teams, but we know that we will lose the the special teams battle in every game. It is who we are at this point (although Mevis is doing what he can). Can't have our best unit go AWOL for half of the game and expect to make up for our deficiency on ST.

PS: Without question, we win in OT. Why? Because OT doesn't have kickoffs and punts.

H

 

[cyphoon]

Since Saturday’s game I was on the edge, but today I am a step further….

So you're in free fall? That can be hard to snap out of.

H

 

[jbhtexas]

You are missing the point. It's not smoke because what he is preaching is that we have to win in the margins. The fact that they are failing in the margins and losing reinforces his point - the only way they will begin winning again is to get those issues fixed.

By just competing evenly in the special teams "margins", ISU could have beaten Baylor. It took being incompetent on both sides of the punting game and a bonehead mistake on the kickoff team to lose.

I think the "smoke" sentiment regarding the "margin-speak" mantra comes from the fact that ISU so bad in special teams (for how many years now???) that they can't even be considered to be adequately competing, let alone winning in that margin area of the game. The field position ISU gives up in the punting game...

And then the offensive play calling...team driving...1st and five right near the red zone...defense on its heels...apparently the best option was to call a weak running play with the backup running back to make 2nd and 6...drive stalls 2 plays later...settle for FG. That is a complete coaching margin failure. Do something to catch the defense off-guard...make them think. Aggressive, pressure offense does not mean air-raid offense.

 

[BryceC]

I think the "smoke" sentiment regarding the "margin-speak" mantra comes from the fact that ISU so bad in special teams (for how many years now???) that they can't even be considered to be adequately competing, let alone winning in that margin area of the game. The field position ISU gives up in the punting game...

This is precisely it. Yeah, we need to win in the margins to have the kind of success we want to have as a program.

But after literally years of saying this, we still don't do it. I mean we aren't even close. Extremely costly turnovers, poor special teams, etc. is the opposite of winning in the margins.

If you worked for a company that continuously said something was valuable (We will put customers first, etc.) and they don't actually do it... well that thing isn't actually valuable. I am annoyed when organizations continually say things are valuable but then don't follow through on those values.

 

[Cyinthenorth]

I have been wondering the same thing. Our best unit is our D. They put together a really bad first half, followed by a spectacular second half. A mediocre first half would have gotten us a win.

It is easy to pin the loss on special teams, but we know that we will lose the the special teams battle in every game. It is who we are at this point (although Mevis is doing what he can). Can't have our best unit go AWOL for half of the game and expect to make up for our deficiency on ST.

PS: Without question, we win in OT. Why? Because OT doesn't have kickoffs and punts.

H

No but it is entirely in the red zone, and we are only putting the ball in the end zone 68% of the time we get there.

 

[t-noah]

Hi.
Today sucked.
You may be able to argue that this one hurt more than a Baylor A$$ Kicking of old for one simple fact: we were the better team.
In both our losses, I believe that we were the better team. Yet, here we are sitting 2-2.

I am not writing this post to sob about how we are the better team and should be 4-0 or complain about a specific aspect of the game. I am here to offer a little perspective.

My fandom started in the Rhoads era, so my knowledge of the subject may be limited. However, I believe the subject holds true throughout the history of Iowa State no matter who the coach may be.

The subject: Why do we lose?

There is a famous line from Anna Karenina (which happens to be the opening line): "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

This line holds true for football as well... Great football teams are all alike. They play sound defense. They don't turn the ball over. They have good lines. They play solid special teams. Yet, bad football teams are bad in their own way. Either the quarterback sucks, the defense is terrible, awful coaching/playcalling, etc.

In the Rhoads era (and I can assume other eras), we were bad in a TON of aspects. Bad defense, undisciplined players, inability to run the ball, bad QB Play, but worst of all... There was such a large talent gap between our guys and any one else in the Big 12.
We had so many issues; it was almost impossible to conceive how the team could ever make a bowl, let alone compete in the conference.

Seriously, we shouldn't have won some (a lot) of the games that we won.

Here's where the perspective comes in... When we b*tched about Rhoads/other eras teams after a loss, we would fight amongst ourselves ALL of the reasons why we lost. Now, it's different. There are only a few areas that we really need to address in this program to be a contender. It probably won't happen this season, but we could (hopefully) see improvement for the near future.

The main issue that we solved is there is no talent gap between us and the teams in the Big 12. Yes, Oklahoma and Texas have more talent, but that's obvious. We have more talent than KSU, Tech, KU and we are on par with WVU. The only player that had talent like the guys that we are bringing in the Rhoads Era was Allen Lazard. We never got any RB close to Breece, never got a QB close to Brock, DE to McDonald and TE to Kolar, LET ALONE ON THE SAME TEAM.

I follow recruiting. You know I follow recruiting. The 2021 class (Jaylin Noel's class) and the 2022 class (the current one) are probably ISUs best classes we've pulled in. 2020 is SOLID (Dekkers, SIngleton, Tampa, Zenzen, Pedersen, Jackson) looks to be solid as well.

The main issue with ISU for the history of the program is we never had the guys to compete with the big boys. Now we do...
We have the D, we have the offensive weapons. Secure the line and figure out special teams and I think we will win A LOT of games.

What peaks are better than a Fiesta Bowl (New Years Six) win? The only other that I can think of are a conference championship game victory or a playoff appearance/win/national championship . All I’m saying is if that is the peak, then that’s pretty damn good. Regarding big picture, I believe the peak of New Years Six win and winning the conference (especially the new look big 12) are absolutely obtainable under Campbell if he stays here. Yes, it stinks these likely won’t happen this year when it was essentially an expectation though.

Incredibly disappointed yes, but still reason for optimism. Other teams are understanding some of our schemes, we've become too predictable. Before, when we were rising, Campbell's 2nd-5th years we were less predictable, more cutting edge.

Campbell is still a very young coach and learning. He will need to address the predictability issue, special teams issues. Not all of the Offensive woes so far this year are on Manning either. Manning is doing what Campbell has told him, largely, has learned from Campbell, Campbell being former OC himself. Will Campbell and Manning now adapt?

We have not arrived yet. This year can still be pretty good but I think it has been shown we cannot count on too many more auto wins this year.

Bill Snyder did pretty well his 6th - 9th years at K-State. It did take him to his 10th year before he broke thru and won the North division 3 years in a row. That 10th year of his, 1998, KSU was ranked #1 in the country but lost the Big 12 Title game to the Aggies, then lost their bowl game. It took him 5 more years, his 15th season I think, before he won the big 12 outright.

This is Campbell's 6th year at Iowa State.

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

Where many Cyclone fans slept last night.

Where do I find a woman that will do crazy **** like that with me?!

 

[gohawkd]

I think what your talking about doesn't take into account the main issue which is money that makes the athletic departments function. With Texas and Oklahoma leaving the Big 12 it will ruin the TV money contract for the rest of the remaining schools. Instead of Iowa State getting 60 or 80 million a year they may get 30 which is going to make it very hard for State to compete. Texas and Oklahoma have really stuck it to the rest of the Big 12.

 

[Cyched]

I think what your talking about doesn't take into account the main issue which is money that makes the athletic departments function. With Texas and Oklahoma leaving the Big 12 it will ruin the TV money contract for the rest of the remaining schools. Instead of Iowa State getting 60 or 80 million a year they may get 30 which is going to make it very hard for State to compete. Texas and Oklahoma have really stuck it to the rest of the Big 12.