Worst ISU Football Team You've Watched

[Statefan10]

The two players running into one another in that UNI game was a new one in ISU lore.

Then they looked just flat out dysfunctional in I.C. the next week.

I believe we also started that game off with a kick off out of bounds. Honestly, once that happened, I had a bad bad feeling about how things were going to go.

 

[theshadow]

We had them for a Missouri game I remember.

That was gold over cardinal (2010).

 

[Statefan10]

That was gold over cardinal (2010).

Jerome Tiller baby.

 

[Sigmapolis]

We had them for a Missouri game I remember.

Gold jerseys but cardinal pants for that one...

 

[throwittoblythe]

The 2014 team is the worst I can vividly recall as an adult fan. I am old enough though, to recall certainly not the worst team in school history, but one that made me first wish for a cyclone nut cup.

It was 2002 and we had just started 6-1 and really could've been 7-0, because as we all know, Seneca was in. We were #9 rolling into Norman for our first ever top 10 tilt. I was too young to appreciate where Iowa State football had come from historically, or where it truly still was in reality despite the ranking.

I had a very similar experience with ISU 2010 vs Utah at JTS. The team wasn't rolling by any means, they were 3-2 coming into that game. But we had just handled UNI (as we should) and beat TTU by 2TDs the following week. I remember there being a lot of optimism at that time. "This is where we take the next step on a national stage." No. 10 Utah rolls into town and ISU has upset-fever...

The game is 14-10 ISU after Q1. Then Utah rolls off 31 pts in Q1. 41-14 at half, 68-27 FINAL.

 

[Cyinthenorth]

That was gold over cardinal (2010).

I actually don't hate that

 

[Cyinthenorth]

I had a very similar experience with ISU 2010 vs Utah at JTS. The team wasn't rolling by any means, they were 3-2 coming into that game. But we had just handled UNI (as we should) and beat TTU by 2TDs the following week. I remember there being a lot of optimism at that time. "This is where we take the next step on a national stage." No. 10 Utah rolls into town and ISU has upset-fever...

The game is 14-10 ISU after Q1. Then Utah rolls off 31 pts in Q1. 41-14 at half, 68-27 FINAL.

That game. I remember having to work and being bummed having no luck finding somebody to cover my shift. When I checked the score on my break, I was no longer disappointed. A little embarrassed though.

 

[thatguy]

any of the teams that Austin Flynn QB'ed. Brutal.

 

[SolarGarlic]

It wasn't the whole year and the team improved, but the start of the 2016 season is up there with the worst stretch of football I've seen.
- Lose to a UNI team that finished below .500.
- Get just drilled by Iowa where we had issues even completing a simple pass.
- Down 24-7 at half against TCU. The second half of this game though is where it all started to turn around.
-

Good point. That Iowa game was so tough to watch. You're right about the TCU game. You could see the OL go from worst in FBS to just worst in the Big 12.

 

[dunar]

Jamelle Hollieway in Ames eating a hot dog talking to ISU cheerleaders by halftime. No shoulder pads.
October 3 1:30 p.m. at Iowa State No. 1

• Cyclone Stadium
• Ames, IA

W 56–3

First ISU game I went to. Rainy/dreary day, IIRC. My dad took me down between the locker room doors to watch the teams come out after half. OU fans that were in Ames threw oranges at them. I remember nothing of the game, but have been an ISU fan since!

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

That NDSU program was different though. It still is. On another level.

Little know fact regarding NDSU.... They actually give out partial scholarships so they have way more kids on scholarship than other FCS schools. Couple this with the fact that they don't charge out of state tuition to certain states and they have themselves a sweet little deal going. This is how they pull in so much talent.

 

[theshadow]

They actually give out partial scholarships so they have way more kids on scholarship than other FCS schools.

FCS schools can divide their 63 scholarships among up to 85 players. So 85 guys could each get a 74% ride, and they'd still be in the clear.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

FCS schools can divide their 63 scholarships among up to 85 players. So 85 guys could each get a 74% ride, and they'd still be in the clear.

Correct but not all states allow it.

 

[wcamnclone]

My first Iowa State athletic events ever came with the first Chizik team in 2007. Starting the year losing to Kent State and then following it up with a loss to UNI made me soon realize I obviously didn't pick to go to Iowa State because of the awesome sports. Follow that up and got to watch 3 years of some terrible basketball under McD.

 

[Cyinthenorth]

For sure. Normally it's the other way around - the FCS team starts out well and then eventually the P5 program just wears them down. But NDSU was bigger, stronger, and better conditioned for the early season hot weather (IIRC it was a typical Week One scorcher). Embarrassing for a P5 team to find itself in that position.

You summarize it pretty well. It wasn't simply losing to them that hurt the worst. We had lost to UNI the year before I believe, so losing to fcs was no stranger to the Rhoads era. No, what hurt most was exactly what you said about our guys being smaller, weaker, less prepared and less talented than an fcs team. And it was no simple loss, it was an annihilation. It only mildly helped that they took Iowa down a couple years later.

 

[cyclones500]

Ugh. I will need counseling after this thread.

The details are sketchy for some reason - time, alcohol, memory suppression?

Jim Criner - '84 or '85? Got throttled by Iowa and I remember 2 ties in a season. The 'keys' - Wasn't he the one that said the key play in a game was the kickoff? Every kickoff rest of his stay at ISU was highlighted by keys jingling.

1984 (i referenced earlier) -- 2 ties to bad KSU & Mizzou. Iowa beat us by 38. ('83 and, especially, '85 CyHawk games were worse, though).

I almost forgot about the "keys" thing. I don't remember doing it on kickoffs, though, only "key play" which was any time we had 3rd and short and generally that didn't go well.

 

[awd4cy]

My first Iowa State athletic events ever came with the first Chizik team in 2007. Starting the year losing to Kent State and then following it up with a loss to UNI made me soon realize I obviously didn't pick to go to Iowa State because of the awesome sports. Follow that up and got to watch 3 years of some terrible basketball under McD.

Fall of 2006 through Spring of 2010 sure would have been a crappy time to be a student going to games.

 

[Statefan10]

Fall of 2006 through Spring of 2010 sure would have been a crappy time to be a student going to games.

Being a student from 2014-2019 wasn't bad.. 3 Big 12 Tourney Championships, a Sweet 16, 3 good football seasons resulting in 3 bowl appearances and some awesome upsets at JTS. I got lucky it sounds like.

 

[qwerty]

They're going to win it all again this year (if the whole season is played).

Not to wake the dead but whatever happened to . . . . . . . LakeBison

 

[Cyched]

2009-2013 wasn't bad as a student. First 4 years of Rhoads with 3 bowl games and the upsets he had. Had one year of McD in basketball then saw the first three years of Fred when he got us back to the tournament (but a year off from him taking off).