Hey Cyclone fans, Raider here (sorry for the long post)

[Tre4ISU]

You act like we're going to be starting 22 true freshman. Tech has the most returning starters in the conference, we'll only play 5-6 freshman, every other player has seen defenses at minimum equal to Iowa State. No offense, but UT and OU have excellent talent and play very physical, 90%+ of our starters have played them, and even won in Norman.

If they are so great, how did they only muster 7 points last year? Returning starters doesn't mean squat if they can't play. You guys are better than last year but you are almost talking about challenging for the conference title with some of the predictions for your schedule. That's ridiculous. This is also why I'm sort of glad we didn't just crush those first three teams. Then everyone gets drunk on the Koolaid and starts saying dumb ****. I think we will beat you guys and honestly I think we'll beat you by a couple scores for these reasons:

-Special teams. We are pretty decent there, you haven't been.
-Our defense. You laugh but our defense was good last year and is much better this year IMO.
-Your defense. They will still struggle. You keep talking about the DC being fired but you still haven't proven much against anything real.

 

[ttuadvisor]

It sounds like they were all healthy for OU and then all injured for ISU. That's about all I can gather from this thread.

Not really, we were devastated with injuries going into Norman, and then we lost our starting Center on the first offensive series. Doege just played out of his mind even though he was getting bad snaps all night. It definitely helped that OU lost a starter CB the week before.

 

[Doc]

Who is starting in the interior for ISU on the OL? Why are you so certain about the battle in the trenches? I don't doubt ISU DL will cause some problems. But I'm not so sure that the TTU DL will be no problem at all. One of the areas that has been beefed up under Tubs is interior DL. We used to run out 260lb DTs out there. Thank goodness Tubs stopped that foolishness.

Hey, we know something about 260lb DTs as well. :smile:

Everything moves to the middle at this level of competition. Will ISU dominate the trenches...no, I doubt it. We may be slightly better. Will Tech's defense look like a Top 25 defense? No. Will your receivers come out looking like Dez Bryant, Justin Blackmon, and Roy Williams reincarnate. I sure hope not! They may well make some plays, but our guys will make a few as well.

All this irrational confidence makes me feel like I'm at Salt Company or something.

 

[ttuadvisor]

If they are so great, how did they only muster 7 points last year? Returning starters doesn't mean squat if they can't play. You guys are better than last year but you are almost talking about challenging for the conference title with some of the predictions for your schedule. That's ridiculous. This is also why I'm sort of glad we didn't just crush those first three teams. Then everyone gets drunk on the Koolaid and starts saying dumb ****. I think we will beat you guys and honestly I think we'll beat you by a couple scores for these reasons:

-Special teams. We are pretty decent there, you haven't been.
-Our defense. You laugh but our defense was good last year and is much better this year IMO.
-Your defense. They will still struggle. You keep talking about the DC being fired but you still haven't proven much against anything real.

I've already said that ISU just whipped us last year and if I was a casual Iowa State fan I would expect the same thing in Ames this year. The thing that's tough about Rhoads teams is that they play hard and don't make mistakes. They force you to drive the length of the field without giving up big plays. A lot of offenses can't do that enough times without making a mistake.

I think we're much improved, but it's not going to be a cakewalk. I haven't seen any Tech fan predict we'll walk into Ames and beat Iowa State by multiple touchdowns.

 

[ttuadvisor]

Ask us how many freshmen we are playing. (Answer: two redshirt freshmen are in the rotation of 9 WRs we use. We have one RS Freshman in our 12 man defensive line rotation. Those are the only freshmen we are playing. No true freshmen. (We also have one RS Freshman RB who didn't get any PT in the first two games, but he will probably see 5 or so snaps vs you guys) I would guess we are returning more on defense than you. And he was talking about this year. You new brand new and improved, new look defense that is so different has not played anyone of our caliber yet this year. Or it is the same defense. Whichever you want to roll with.

I'm going off of this Phil Steele Is he really far off on Iowa State's returning starters?

 

[Tre4ISU]

I'm going off of this Phil Steele Is he really far off on Iowa State's returning starters?

Returning Defense:
Knott
Klein
Maggitt (Hurt last year)
Laing
McDonough
Washington
Reeves
Broomfield was almost a starter by the end of the year. He played as much as anyone

So yes, he is a ways off on the defense.

 

[Doc]

I'm going off of this Phil Steele Is he really far off on Iowa State's returning starters?

No. Maybe off by one at the most. We lost 2 starting DEs, a starting DT, a starting LB (well, he didn't really start), and 2 DBs. Okay, we really have 6 returning starters.

We have our best DE back from injury though, and have a bunch of guys that played well in the Big 12 but didn't start.

 

[Rhoadhoused]

I'm going off of this Phil Steele Is he really far off on Iowa State's returning starters?

You are right on returning starters. I got myself off on the tangent of not having freshmen playing. We lost some average defenders, but the players who are replacing them are JRs and SRs. Our depth is better this year everywhere except at linebacker, where our starters are obviously the strength of our entire team. What I'm trying to say is that our team is very far along in our program now compared to the past and even though some are first year starters they are upperclassmen who have been through the fire a bit this year already.

I expect Tech to be tough because of those numbers of returning starters, although I am skeptical that the defense will be that much better if they are returning 9 of the same players they had last year. Although I guess you were saying you had some injuries so that could explain it.

 

[Rhoadhoused]

No. Maybe off by one at the most. We lost 2 starting DEs, a starting DT, a starting LB (well, he didn't really start), and 2 DBs. Okay, we really have 6 returning starters.

We have our best DE back from injury though, and have a bunch of guys that played well in the Big 12 but didn't start.

Yeah I would count one DE since Maggit was our starter last year and is starting again this year. So Johnson, Benton, Rump, and Lattimer are the only real starters we lost. Tafaou was situational, Neal was a hard worker but not a Big 12 athlete and a rotational player. Rump and Johnson are our only real losses IMO.

 

[ttuadvisor]

although I am skeptical that the defense will be that much better if they are returning 9 of the same players they had last year. Although I guess you were saying you had some injuries so that could explain it.

We had to start 2 true freshmen at LB (thanks Leach recruiting) 3 walk-ons in the secondary and a WR at CB (due to injury). We had almost the worst statistical defense in the country. There is literally no way to get worse, that's part of the reason every Tech fan is optimistic about the defense, there's no where to go but up. Now, incredibly we're staring at a top 5 defense in the country statistically. Even though it's against cupcakes, we've come a long way and are hopeful.

 

[Doc]

You are right on returning starters. I got myself off on the tangent of not having freshmen playing. We lost some average defenders, but the players who are replacing them are JRs and SRs. Our depth is better this year everywhere except at linebacker, where our starters are obviously the strength of our entire team. What I'm trying to say is that our team is very far along in our program now compared to the past and even though some are first year starters they are upperclassmen who have been through the fire a bit this year already.

I expect Tech to be tough because of those numbers of returning starters, although I am skeptical that the defense will be that much better if they are returning 9 of the same players they had last year. Although I guess you were saying you had some injuries so that could explain it.

Not gonna lie, when I see other teams fans say this, I just ignore them. It means the other team may be incrementally better, maybe. Nothing for me to even worry about.

 

[Rhoadhoused]

Not gonna lie, when I see other teams fans say this, I just ignore them. It means the other team may be incrementally better, maybe. Nothing for me to even worry about.

Are you talking about what I said or what he said?

 

[Doc]

Are you talking about what I said or what he said?

What you said. I think it's great that guys develop and get PT when they're juniors and seniors, but those guys are not the guys that I worry about as a fan. They provide a certain baseline level of offense or defense that a team can rely on, but as an opposing fan, they are not the guys I'm concerned about. Do I think our baseline is still on the upswing...definitely. I think we're better on D than last year. I'm just saying, if I was a TTU fan, that would not give me pause.

 

[Rhoadhoused]

What you said. I think it's great that guys develop and get PT when they're juniors and seniors, but those guys are not the guys that I worry about as a fan. They provide a certain baseline level of offense or defense that a team can rely on, but as an opposing fan, they are not the guys I'm concerned about. Do I think our baseline is still on the upswing...definitely. I think we're better on D than last year. I'm just saying, if I was a TTU fan, that would not give me pause.

We were discussing returning starters and experience. Experience is a pretty big deal. Starting Jansen Watson at CB#2 is a much, much better scenario than starting a true sophomore like we had to with Reeves or a RS Freshman like we had to with Leonard Johnson. Especially in the Big 12. Having upperclassmen on the DLine is HUGE. Same for OLine.

As a fan I look for weak spots that our team can exploit, and underclassmen are where I would look to first.

I wholeheartedly disagree with you.

 

[Tre4ISU]

I forgot about Rump. Laing didn't start. We aren't starting anyone that you can make a case for being unprepared. Everyone should have had ample time in the system to at least understand how to play.

 

[KillBilly]

I'll admit you're better than you were last year. I just don't think your fans that are posting on CycloneFanatic understand how hard it is to win in the B12, especially on the road.

You all got really lucky with Coach Leach and don't understand it yet.

You don't understand that under Tuberville, Texas Tech recruits Texas better than any Big 12 school but UT and OU. And FINALLY, Tuberville's recruits are healthy redshirt freshmen and sophomores. This season reminds me of 2007.

 

[KillBilly]

Not gonna lie, when I see other teams fans say this, I just ignore them. It means the other team may be incrementally better, maybe. Nothing for me to even worry about.

You are wise beyond your years.

 

[KillBilly]

You know it's nice to see non-rivals talking football for 24 pages. I feel the love!

 

[TTUFan]

It sounds like they were all healthy for OU and then all injured for ISU. That's about all I can gather from this thread.

Here is what happened. TTU lost it's starting RB vs A&M. TTU lost Darrin Moore (Biletnikoff Award watch list) who looked like the best receiver to a ankle/knee injury vs Nevada who came back after 2-3 games but was never really the same that season. The starting Center who was played on one tore ACL tears the other one in the first quarter vs OU. So we move over a guard because we had no depth who proceeds to do his best to fire the snap over our QBs head for the rest of the game. We have a walk-on DB playing vs All-Big 12 WRs the night after his brother died in a car crash. The defense despite things like having walk-ons/WRs playing DB and true freshman LBs do enough to get the W.

So the guys are celebrating a huge emotional win over #3 OU in Norman at night where they don't lose. The DC and 1 or 2 assistant coaches all of whom are I believe no longer at TTU... Decided to take the opportunity to tell them they didn't do **** in no uncertain terms. Especially to the defense which was patchwork playing a brand new scheme their third in as many years.

Yall are ISU fans... Picture the exact polar opposite of the "I am so proud to be your football coach." moment Coach Rhoads had with the ISU team and you'll have a good idea of what went on. This proceeded to alienate the defense from the DC and when the senior leadership on D tried to talk to him about it he would dog cuss them out of his office.

"And now you know the rest of the story." as Paul Harvey used to say.

 

[CyFan61]

You know it's nice to see non-rivals talking football for 24 pages. I feel the love!

I think both teams know how important this game can be for them. A 4-0 start for either team is huge.