Worst ISU Football Team You've Watched
- Thread starter SolarGarlic
- Start date
I would have to go with the 1997 team. I caught their game against the Gophers in the Dome and it looked like a mediocre college team playing a bunch of HS kids. We were tiny compared to the the Gophers who were an average at best Big 10 team. We were especially small on defense. My recollection is probably wrong, but I don't think we had a DB taller than 5'7".
I did some quick research and that team finished 1-10 and was outscored 214-493 - OUCH!
The two most frustrating games were both courtesy of Dan McCarney:
I did some quick research and that team finished 1-10 and was outscored 214-493 - OUCH!
The two most frustrating games were both courtesy of Dan McCarney:
- 1996 - early season game against Wyoming and it was the first season the NCAA implement the current overtime rule. ISU won the toss and decided to take the ball first. We lost the game by 3.
- 2007 - getting blown out by KU by half. It was very apparent Mac was done. That next week he was let go.
2014 for me. I remember being at that West Virginia game. The last game for me as a student. I remember being so dejected after going up by 20 or something right at the beginning of the 2nd quarter then by halftime we were down 7. I think there was 50 students in the stands (day after Black Friday game).
At least it wasn't like that one cold game the year before against Kansas when the wind chill was bringing it down to -10 or something. There was maybe 20 students that game.
At least it wasn't like that one cold game the year before against Kansas when the wind chill was bringing it down to -10 or something. There was maybe 20 students that game.
I grew up in North Dakota and I'm a Bison fan first, Cyclones second. That 2014 opener was bittersweet; happy that the Wentz era got off to a strong start for NDSU, but mortified that I had to watch that Cyclones defense for 11 more games.
Guy I work with asked me why I was so confident going into that game that the Bison would win....I told him that Vernell Trent and Robby Garcia were redshirt freshmen DT's that were giving up 20-30 pounds to the Bison OL, and that ISU couldn't stop the run. NDSU ran for 300+....walking out of Jack Trice, NDSU fans looked like they wanted to apologize.
Go through 2009-2012 classes....you'll know exactly why ISU was losing to FCS schools with a division 2 quality defense. You can't completely miss on 80% of the class 4 years in a row and expect anything else.
Because the Big 8 in the 1970s was tough.
1971 - #1, #2, #3 in the final AP poll (ISU's 3 regular-season losses)
1972 - #2 and #4 in the final AP poll; 6 league teams ranked at some point (Top 20) during the season
1973 - 4 teams in the final Top 20; ISU and KSU only teams not ranked during the season; 6 of ISU's 7 league games were against a team ranked on game day
1976 - 5 teams in the final Top 20; 7 of 8 ranked during the season
1977 - Only 5 teams ranked during the season, but OU/NU/CU all cracked the Top 10 at some point
I don’t see how there could’ve been a worse team than 2003.
Beat UNI by 7 and Ohio. Lost to No Illinois. Not competitive again.
Put it this way. The most points ISU scored in a conference game was 21. The fewest points ISU gave up was 28.
So you could combine ISUs best scoring game on both offense and defense and they still lose by a TD.
Smallest margin of defeat in conference games was 21.
Beat UNI by 7 and Ohio. Lost to No Illinois. Not competitive again.
Put it this way. The most points ISU scored in a conference game was 21. The fewest points ISU gave up was 28.
So you could combine ISUs best scoring game on both offense and defense and they still lose by a TD.
Smallest margin of defeat in conference games was 21.
Farniok, then Cotton-Moya got ejected for targeting. Remember going up 14-0 and it looked like we were rolling. Lost those two and momentum changed.
Campbell has been a significant upgrade in terms of building legitimate depth. One injury doesn't completely kneecap us like it seemingly did under PR.
The Criner years were the worst for me. To top off the losses he had this voice that was the inspiration for Wendy Whiner on Saturday Night Live. His post games were just brutal. Of course by then the beverages were having an effect. Never will forget a Missouri fan telling me most teams win when they get caught cheating. Criner cheated and couldn't even come close to a w.
Bundrage went out with a knee injury (while blocking on a run play!) on the fourth play of the game.
Cotton-Moya got ejected on NDSU's first series.
Farniok was hurt on ISU's next possession.
All of that happened just in the first quarter.
Three other defensive starters (Meeks, Jensen, Miller) had injuries in the second half.
That kind of thing is also just a losing culture that still shows up regardless of the big wins like OSU '11. One or two things go wrong and it's a slippery slope.
My family went to Boulder for the game at Colorado that year (lost a close game). I think at that point we had started 0-3 in conference, and there was a legitimate worry that we were on the wrong path on top of the 03 debacle.
Then right after that they rattled off that 4(?) game winning streak. That was fun.
Since 05 has been brought up, I wonder how the Big 12 championship would've gone had we taken care of business. Colorado basically limped into that game, while we would have had some nice momentum instead. Our defense would have at least put up a fight against VY and that offense.
There was no way we would have stayed close to that great Texas team, but I'm not so sure it would have been 70-3.
There was no way we would have stayed close to that great Texas team, but I'm not so sure it would have been 70-3.
In my memory we lost the 2010 Utah game 77-7 but when I look it up it was actually 68-27. Silver linings...
It still feels like every Utah drive was an 80 yard touchdown on a jet sweep.
It still feels like every Utah drive was an 80 yard touchdown on a jet sweep.
1987 (Walden's first year) is a real dark-horse in that list because they were 3-8, but it totally belongs. Two conference wins over Kansas (1-9-1/0-6-1) and K-State (0-10-1/0-6-1), and a win over UNI that required erasing a 17-point deficit in the 4th quarter.
Every other game was basically a **** show. Finished the season with more field goals (20) than touchdowns (19).
