ISU-UNI POST game thread

[Jer]

Well the good thing about ISU playing on Saturday is that you know you can at least flip channels on Sunday to get some good football in before going back to work Can you imagine if it was the other way around, Mondays would have an incredibly high suicide rate in Iowa.

 

[cycloneinmonaco]

At the end of the day someone needs to wake Chizik up. Hope this thread does it.

 

[Jer]

You know, looking back it becomes more obvious that this really is where we should expect this team to be.

Last year, just a few plays from winless.

The two seasons before that, just over .500 with the "soft" schedule from the South division and a North as bad as it has ever been. And these teams folded with something big on the line.

The season before that, 2-10.

And for all the talent we think we have, we replaced an awful o-line full of seniors with an inexperienced line, and looking at last year and two games this year, is Meyer really that great of a QB? We should probably still have the horses to hang with UNI, but the truth is we need some serious rebuilding. I don't think we have had a truly good football team since Seneca graduated. I think we have just been benefactors of everyone crumbling around us enough to hide our own shortcomings.

But for as bad as tonight was, I still feel a lot better about the future than I did sitting through last season. Just hang in there Cyclone fans.

I think the reality of how bad we really have been is finally starting to set in with some people. Mac knew how to win the important games like UNI and Iowa that a lot of the general fans care about. Most people couldn't tell you how many games we've won each year with the exception of the IA, UNI and NE games. Now that we have a tough schedule and a new staff, our fecade of a decent team is starting to crumble and set people running for a reason and excuse. The truth is, we've been damn close to being winless so many times the past few years that it's pretty scary to think about. Mac couldn't win the good games but he won the ones that kept us looking better than we really have been.

 

[Jer]

At the end of the day someone needs to wake Chizik up. Hope this thread does it.

Oh believe me, there are plenty of "people" in the Jacobson Building that read the boards here and they feel just as bad as we do for not having two wins. I know it's hard to believe that they can be upset because they have to keep a respectability in public but they feel devastated when the house is full to a new record and they can't beat UNI.

 

[Cyclone62]

Well, Stoops went 7-5 in his first season. That isn't exactly comparable in any way to this situation...

Minor correction, Stoops was 7-5 in his first year at OU and went to a bowl. I believe he won it all in his second season at OU.

I meant that Stoops was sub-par to OU standards. That is, not winning the conference/division. They have a "slightly" higher repetoire than we do. The fact remains though, that OU fans weren't sold on the guy during the first two YEARS. (not games)

 

[jakemcilroy]

Mac won every single home opener...which sounds simple, but man does it take life out of the season when you lose to a mid major team at home, no matter how good they are. Follow it up with a loss to a team with 20 less scholarships that plays in a 16,000 seat stadium? Wow.

 

[ISUFan22]

2 games in our offense has scored a mere 4 touchdowns...the same number of interceptions our QB has thrown.

Ick.

 

[SouthCyder]

I think the reality of how bad we really have been is finally starting to set in with some people. Mac knew how to win the important games like UNI and Iowa that a lot of the general fans care about. Most people couldn't tell you how many games we've won each year with the exception of the IA, UNI and NE games. Now that we have a tough schedule and a new staff, our fecade of a decent team is starting to crumble and set people running for a reason and excuse. The truth is, we've been damn close to being winless so many times the past few years that it's pretty scary to think about. Mac couldn't win the good games but he won the ones that kept us looking better than we really have been.

That's the truth. I couldn't agree more with that statement. We have been so easily blinded by some of our bigger wins that we don't look at the whole picture.

 

[URBCLONE]

Mac won every single home opener...which sounds simple, but man does it take life out of the season when you lose to a mid major team at home, no matter how good they are. Follow it up with a loss to a team with 20 less scholarships that plays in a 16,000 seat stadium? Wow.

Wrong. We lost to Oklahoma State at the beginning of the '97 season I believe. Also, I believe the incredible debacle against Wyoming was the season opener in 1996. He also lost to TCU to start the '98 campaign.

 

[CLONE2THEBONE]

Do we belong in the Big 12?

I'm not trying to be a jerk, but I wonder if we are really in the right conference.

The Big12 might be a little ambitious for us as a football school.

Sure, we've come close to winning the North, but what would've happened in the Championship game? It wouldn't have been pretty.

Currently, I would consider the likelihood of us winning the conference at less than 1% for the next 4 years. If my amateur assessment is correct, do we really belong?

We've been in the Big 8 and Big 12 for a billion or so years and haven't won it yet.

At what point do we come to the realization that we just don't belong?

 

[URBCLONE]

2 games in our offense has scored a mere 4 touchdowns...the same number of interceptions our QB has thrown.

Ick.

Meyer was the Independence Bowl MVP in '04. He doesn't even look like the same QB now. I think his confidence was destroyed in '06 and nothing that has happened so far will restore it.

And to think 2 years ago we had the North Championship in our hands and couldn't close the deal against Baylor at home or Mizzou or KU... Thanks, Danny Mac.

 

[cygrads]

I have read through all of these posts ripping the new coaching staff and others defending and blaming the lack of talent. I thought we would win 4 games before the start of the season maybe 5. I did not think that was out of line after all we hired this great new coach. I saw no improvement tonight and the coaching staff is not aggresive - at the end of the 3rd quarter we let the last 10 seconds run off when we were driving and we are behind. I don't know what to think but it was ugly tonight - we did not look well coached compared to UNI. Maybe that is because of all the turnovers. Blah Blah Blah this is very frustrating:sad:

 

[Rocky2321]

I think that people need to realize that this is only Chizik's 2nd game as a head coach. From the reports that we were hearing from the players is that this past winter conditioning drills were the hardest they have faced since they have been on campus. To say that these losses are based solely on poor coaching is completely moronic, if the players are not executing the plays being called it really doesn't matter how good of athletes you have or how well you prepared during practice.
I strongly believe that Chizik is the man for the job people need to calm down and give him a chance to instill his system and players. I know its going to be extremely frustrating supporting a team that is struggling, but after a couple years I believe we will be happy with the results.

 

[BryceC]

ISU suffered some key injuries last year AND Blythe was out for 3 games. Last season could have been much better. They never gave up and played to win. Where is that attitude this year?

Are you on crack? The team mailed in the last 4 games of last year. Unless Kansas was such a phenomenally better team than us it's unbelievable.

 

[BryceC]

Actually, thanks to a great 2005 season, there were a lot of games to watch on TV last year... so... yes, I did see a lot of him last season. I don't buy the lack of talent argument. ISU can get it done, and they can win a couple this season. Its really not up to us what happens, its up to the players and coaches. If they aren't on the hot seat there will be no sense in urgency. Period. We are obviously behind the team or we wouldn't be online in the middle of the night venting!

2007 was a 7-5 (4-4) year. That isn't great. That's mediocre. The Mac supporters are going to get really annoying over the next few years. Does anybody else honestly feel like Mac would have done better with this team? If you don't think there is a lack of talent on this team you are seriously smoking something. We just got dominated by a 1-AA team. I don't care how bad of a coach somebody might be, that doesn't happen unless there is a serious lack of talent on a team. I'm done with this thread, there are too many absolutely ridiculous posts in here.

 

[Rogue52]

Three Words.

Pathetic. Embarassing. Unacceptable.

If this season continues the way it's going, with no upsets whatsoever, what is Pollard going to use to keep momentum going? Hopefully, we'll see some real improvement by the time November comes.

 

[URBCLONE]

Three Words.

Pathetic. Embarassing. Unacceptable.

If this season continues the way it's going, with no upsets whatsoever, what is Pollard going to use to keep momentum going? Hopefully, we'll see some real improvement by the time November comes.

Great question. Frightening to think about it. 0-12 is a real possibility. Makes it that much harder to raise $$ and sell tickets for '08.

 

[SouthCyder]

The marketing department still has 2 years of selling this "bright future" for Iowa State athletics to maintain ticket sales and fund raising. Though we'll likely see a dip, although slight, next year.

But to go 0-12 would be a hit, but not as big as one might think. The best thing about Cyclone fans is their loyalty. Especially the ones with money.

 

[Jer]

I think you'll see a drop in ticket sales next year but that's to be expected when the hype runs off. Luckily a lot of money has been raised and the program should be getting stronger around the time the rennovations are done. I wouldn't expect a tremendous season for ticket sales next year not only because of the lack of wins this year but also due to the softer home schedule. This year was kind of a perfect storm of the awesome home schedule along with the new era hype that caused the tickets to skyrocket above what they normally would have with only one of those two variables.

 

[CY ST8T]

This is frickin ridiculous. People act like losing to UNI is like losing to Ankeny HS. UNI had an offensive line averaging 314 which is bigger than ours, they had 4 seniors and a junior along with a defense tough on the run and a QB with 4 years experience. The D1-AA gap has closed and there are many reasons including split scholarships where they can give a kid half a scholarship and carry many more players than a D1 team. Gaps are closing with troubled D1 players along with players overlooked going to UNI. You underestimate the power of being familiar with a system. Chizik does not have this team ready to play under his system. No one on the team has adapted and Chizik needs time. I won't even justify the idiots calling for his head. Have patience! Tailgate hard! Enjoy our success in the future which will just taste that much sweeter from watching frustrating moments such as these!!! Alcohol sales in Ames will go up this year!!!