Perspective

[SEIOWA CLONE]

No doubt we've been a disappointment from a preseason ranking standpoint, but the award goes to Clemson (#3), with North Carolina (#10) and Florida (#13) fighting out the second spot with us.

As much as we are disappointed about our season, at least we are not Indiana, started the season at 17th and currently setting at 0-7 in the Big 10 least and 2-8 overall, or Texas started at 21st, now 4-6 with a five game losing streak including a loss at home to Kansas.

We are far from the bottom of most disappointing team of 2021.

 

[iowastatefan1929]

As much as we are disappointed about our season, at least we are not Indiana, started the season at 17th and currently setting at 0-7 in the Big 10 least and 2-8 overall, or Texas started at 21st, now 4-6 with a five game losing streak including a loss at home to Kansas.

We are far from the bottom of most disappointing team of 2021.

Yes I have been wanting to post regarding Indiana. Remember the team that was mad we got into the Fiesta Bowl and they we put a darn beatdown on Oregon and they lose to Ole Miss, then Tom 'leo' Allen gets a massive contract.

 

[Kinch]

The idea you propose above seems to be that we should be happy to be habitual 7-5/8-4 team. And on the whole, sure, why not.

But many of us also think that such "settling" could be complemented by a periodic outstanding season. I think that's a reasonable expectation. If you can't occasionally have high hopes, why do this at all?

Problem is, this should have been that year -- senior laden, top tier in the skill positions, positive momentum, etc, etc. If not now, when? Even (and perhaps especially) the coaching staff seemed to be hyping this. That's why our disappointment is reasonable and the whole "perspective" thing rings hollow.

Would you want Donnie Duncan back?

 

[CYdTracked]

I'm disappointed with where we are at this far into the season and if you went back and looked at all the people here before the season started that were saying anything less than 9 or 10 wins would be disappointing then there is good reason for people to be frustrated and down right now. We are looking at a 7 or 8 win season at best right now not counting a possible bowl win.

We all knew 2022 is going to be a step back after all the players we will lose after this season and I'm concerned now the drop off is going to be worse than expected. Coming off a 9 or 10 win season winning 6 or 7 would be expected. A list of who likely is gone after this season and this is not counting any unexpected entries into the transfer portal:

Purdy
Hall
Kolar
Allen
Milton
Hutchison
Wilson
Foster
Newell
Schweiger
Mevis
Assalley
Dunn
Uwazurike
Petersen
Hummel
Vance
Rose
Eisworth
Johnson
Young
And possibly McDonald enters the draft too.

There is a possibility a few of the guys who still can come back for an extra year do so but we are talking about possibly losing 16 of our starters and 22 from the 2 deep.

Take a look at the 2 deep and not counting any true freshmen or transfers that might come in and the team we have now compared to next year could be fighting just for bowl eligibility: https://cyclones.com/documents/2019/7/16/Depth_Chart.pdf I am not one to say the sky is falling despite hoping this team would be the one that finishes at the best in school history but given the situation we are in now it's OK as a fanbase to be frustrated and disappointed as we have seen this group of players play better than they have and the expectations to be in the Big 12 championship game were fair expectations given we made that game last year.

 

[Land Grant]

Would you want Donnie Duncan back?

Because that's the only choice if we don't pump sunshine -- the return of Donnie Duncan.

 

[CycloneWanderer]

I'm disappointed with where we are at this far into the season and if you went back and looked at all the people here before the season started that were saying anything less than 9 or 10 wins would be disappointing then there is good reason for people to be frustrated and down right now. We are looking at a 7 or 8 win season at best right now not counting a possible bowl win.

We all knew 2022 is going to be a step back after all the players we will lose after this season and I'm concerned now the drop off is going to be worse than expected. Coming off a 9 or 10 win season winning 6 or 7 would be expected. A list of who likely is gone after this season and this is not counting any unexpected entries into the transfer portal:

It's cool we had so many players returning, but this year is coming off COVID and pretty much every team that didn't either have draft picks or transfers out had a good deal of experience returning. This year was always going to be about growth within the players we've had - it needed to be with other teams getting over a year to strategize against our returners. We've not been and continue to not be the kind of team that can take a quarter off and win consistently.

 

[twincyties]

I think “over hyped” is a matter of your expectations for this program and how long you think it takes to rebuild from how terrible we were a short while ago. Campbell has this program at a level it’s never been and don’t think anyone will argue with that. Next year will be telling with so many starters from this year gone. Think we’ll know more about the depth of the team and strength of “the process” by end mid October next year.

 

[Pope]

Just like college basketball is all about guard play, you can't have much success in college football unless you've got a strong quarterback.

Don't want to add pressure to Mr. Dekker for next year, but we'll go as far as he takes us. In fairness to him, though, his success will be determined in large part by how well our O-line plays. If they can generate a decent run game, I think Dekker is going to be very successful.

 

[madguy30]

Just like college basketball is all about guard play, you can't have much success in college football unless you've got a strong quarterback.

Don't want to add pressure to Mr. Dekker for next year, but we'll go as far as he takes us. In fairness to him, though, his success will be determined in large part by how well our O-line plays. If they can generate a decent run game, I think Dekker is going to be very successful.

The lines on both sides carry sustainable football teams.

Saturday was clear evidence of that.

 

[jbhtexas]

It's cool we had so many players returning, but this year is coming off COVID and pretty much every team that didn't either have draft picks or transfers out had a good deal of experience returning. This year was always going to be about growth within the players we've had - it needed to be with other teams getting over a year to strategize against our returners. We've not been and continue to not be the kind of team that can take a quarter off and win consistently.

I think you nailed it. At least to this point, with two games left, ISU hasn't improved from last year, except in FG kicking. It appears that the staff and players didn't have proper perspective on the COVID implications from last season. A couple of Big 12 peers seem to be improving over last year.

Also, P5 coaches rarely survive plateauing at 7-8 regular season wins. A program (particulalry one like ISU that doesn't have deep football roots) needs to jump up to double digit wins every once in awhile to maintain sufficient program visibility for recruiting, otherwise they get lost in the noise while their peers have breakout seasons. ISU kind of had that last year...8 regular-season wins in a COVID season is probably comparable to a double-digit win season any other year. BU has a very good chance to hit double digit regular-season wins this year. If that happens, BU will get the media attention, and and nobody is going to be talking about a 7-5 ISU, at least not in a good way. The OU game is huge.

 

[OnlyCyclones]

No.

The team?

Yes.

The team is still ranked 12th in SP+. You’ve got a target on your back, you get punished for mistakes against good teams (Iowa, Baylor) and this is just how it goes.
Even still, if we win just two out of the next three and that’s easily one of the best seasons in school history. With the best recruiting class in school history on board (Xavier Townsend as a scar back/slot is the kind of electrifying talent I’m not sure we’ve ever had). The road to success isn’t linear. The program, fans included, need to stay the course and keep doing what got us here in the first place. For the fans, that’s supporting through thick and thin.

 

[BryceC]

so now we’ve been relegated to stupid “perspective“ threads?

You know, it's pretty important to put into persepctive that in 100 years, we'll all be dead, no one will remember this team, and ultimately the things we do as individuals don't really matter. Great news!

 

[BryceC]

The team is still ranked 12th in SP+.

**** like this drives me crazy. Please make your "Still 12th in SP+" sign for the Liberty bowl.

 

[tolfbfan]

Well we did return the entire team, so I would think expectations similar to last year are reasonable.

They all got soft on us and thought they’d stroll back to Dallas for a re-match.

That’s the perspective I see and have - wasted opportunity by a bunch of guys (coaches and players both) that got soft and complacent on us.

Hunted this year. Hunter last year. Seems minor, but is major difference.

 

[BCClone]

Just like college basketball is all about guard play, you can't have much success in college football unless you've got a strong quarterback.

Don't want to add pressure to Mr. Dekker for next year, but we'll go as far as he takes us. In fairness to him, though, his success will be determined in large part by how well our O-line plays. If they can generate a decent run game, I think Dekker is going to be very successful.

We go as far as the Oline Carrys us.

 

[norcalcy]

Hunted this year. Hunter last year. Seems minor, but is major difference.

It was pretty clear that TT and WVU were pretty tired of losing to ISU (Tech 5 in a row, WVU 3 in a row). As a long time fan, it is weird seeing teams like this breathing fire when we show up at their place. CMC preaches attitude and effort. Both got left back in Ames for at least the first half Saturday.

 

[stewart092284]

I have no problem accepting 7-5 and 8-4 are the most likely outcomes at Iowa State so perspective is indeed needed... However, on paper this season should have been different but someone above hit the nail on the head...

we were the plucky underdogs before... we've won enough that now teams see beating us as validation that they are on the right track and this team - a team which spent its careers trying to climb that ladder - I don't think has quite known how to deal with that. Heck its one of the reasons so many teams in the NFL fail to repeat as champions unless you have Tom Brady and even then its not a guarantee.



In a weird way I think that's where my optimism for the future comes. Yes, there will be growing pains. Yes, we will be unproven to a large degree and young.


BUT.....

its a young group that if it was paying attention to the older players, came into Iowa State once we started having some success. Once other teams started taking better shots at us. Once the narrative to some degree started to change. It might be a group that if it develops and learns the lessons of those ahead of them might actually achieve the dream because they're used to people coming out and taking their best shot at them when the veterans... rememer what it used to be like versus now....


In a weird analogy, I think our seniors and veterans carried this program from the near bottom of the hill towards the summit but it would appear have run out of gas to some degree. They hopefully have one last push left them in them to finish strong but it might be the next person in the relay who actually crests the summit (league championship, not so far gone mentally to think nationally) might be a future group of people who watched and hopefully benefited from the journey the veterans have taken us on.


7-5 / 8-4 is the norm most years - probably. I'd say 8 more than 7 but I digress. The seniors and veterans built the foundation and the main floor. It may well fall to the younger class to finish the job but that it no way discredits the seniors for the job they have done.


I don't think we beat Oklahoma because I imagine we might get a very angry Oklahoma squad on the road Saturday - but I am going to work hard to be appreciative of the journey that these kids have collectively and individually taken us on and will look forward to the next crop of youngsters journey beginning next year. Thats why the bowl game is huge... even if somewhat disappointing to be where we are at, the fact that we get those extra practices and prep time with our young players is a huge stepping stone for the future.

 

[jbhtexas]

Hunted this year. Hunter last year. Seems minor, but is major difference.

Not buyin't it. Hunters don't stop hunting. And if it is a hunter/hunted thing, the staff has really stumbled in adapting. BU should have been the wake-up call, and certainly WVU.

More likely, last season COVID masked some ongoing issues and deceived the staff/team in the thinking they had made progress, when they really hadn't. I think the big deceiver last year was the Oregon game. Oregon had only played 6 games coming in to the Fiesta Bowl, had COVID issues, and was in the middle of a QB controversy. Their two losses were to Cal (1-3) and Oregon State (2-5).

Now...that said...the season can still end 8-4, and some bowl predictions put ISU against a decent name from the SEC (Auburn/Arkansas). Winning out would certainly remove some of the sting.

 

[Pope]

Compare our record in one possession games for last year vs. this year. The margin between having a mediocre season and a great season is always razor thin.

 

[jbhtexas]

Compare our record in one possession games for last year vs. this year. The margin between having a mediocre season and a great season is always razor thin.

WVU and TTU shouldn't have been one-possession games. Therein lies the problem...