By Chris Williams, CycloneFanatic.com Publisher
Happy Thursday fanatics. No need for a fancy introduction today. Let’s dive right into this thing and start with a question from CycloneErik.
CycloneErik writes: Any update on Royce White? PG recruiting?
CW: No update on Royce White. It could be weeks before we know anything. Iowa State is at the mercy of the NCAA here. As for snagging a 2011 point guard, Cowley County Community College prospect Tyrus McGee is still Iowa State’s number one option at that position in the class of 2011. It is going to come down to Iowa State and Creighton.
In one other men’s basketball note, the program got great news yesterday when Jake Anderson was cleared to play by the NCAA. It has actually been a pretty positive offseason for Iowa State when dealing with the NCAA. Anderson and Calvin Godfrey have both been cleared. This program is two-for-two. My gut feeling tells me that Iowa State won’t get so lucky on the Royce White decision but only time will tell.
Palmer writes: Can I upgrade my seat since so many have jumped off the CPR bandwagon this week?
CW: Have that many people really jumped off of the Paul Rhoads bandwagon? I don’t think that they have. You’re always going to have a minority of fans who freak but from what I’ve seen, Paul Rhoads is still in a very good spot within the Cyclone Nation. I think that plenty of people have totally overreacted to Iowa State’s situation at quarterback. I went back and watched the Iowa game again earlier this week. Joe Montana wouldn’t have made a difference for the Cyclones last Saturday. That game was a total debacle. Austen didn’t play well. But he shouldn’t lose his job because of that performance. Nobody played well last Saturday. If a fan out there has lost faith in Paul Rhoads, then that person simply isn’t very realistic. And yes Palmer, if they have jumped off the cliff, then you should get better seats!
Istater7 writes: I see that the Tech game’s game time has not been announced. Do you have any idea as to when it will be announced or what time you think the game will be?
CW: You should know the kickoff time for the Texas Tech game next Monday. The Big 12 selects which games will be on television two Monday’s before games. I have no clue what time it will be. A lot will probably depend how Iowa State and Tech do on Saturday. Texas Tech will host Texas in the Big 12’s other conference game.
Alarson writes: Thinking to the game this weekend, what would Seneca Wallace do?
CW: Win. He’s the greatest player of all-time. Didn’t you know? Duh…..Seneca Wallace.
Justcynn writes: What needs to be done to give some of the more roller coaster Fanatics some perspective on what it means to be an ISU fan? I mean expectations for playing better than we did Saturday and major disappointment that we didn’t are surely understandable – but the nuclear meltdowns really are over the top and diminish the overall fanatic cred – especially when we went through the exact same roller coaster ride last year!
CW: I somewhat agree with you. I understand that fans get frustrated. That’s what being a fan is all about. You have ups and downs. But just totally flipping out because your team (who most picked to finish dead last in the Big 12 North) lost to a top 10 team on the road is kind of crazy when you sit back and look at things from a distance. Are Florida State fans wigging out this week? I know…I know. “It’s not that they lost Chris, it’s how they lost.” Again, I get that way of thinking too. But as Justcynn pointed out, the roof came off of this place last year after the Iowa loss. That happened again after the Cyclones lost to Kansas State. Iowa State’s football team has a phrase that they use very often that I think a lot of fans should seriously listen to. “It’s never as good as it seems and it’s never as bad as it seems either.” Just think about that one for a while. It makes a lot of sense.
In your opinion Does Nebraska Leaving for the Big 10 Help the remaining Big 12 Schools in future recruiting within the big 12 footprint (TX) 25 TX kids currently on their roster. 2 TX Kids on Iowa’s Roster.
CW: I don’t think that Nebraska leaving helps other schools in recruiting but I do think the entire scenario as a whole will give Iowa State a bump in recruiting the Lone Star State. Think about the fact that Iowa State is guaranteed to play X amount of games in Texas every single year. That’s a decent little recruiting pitch for a Texas kid who wants to play in the Big 12 but doesn’t have an offer from a Texas school. So I guess it is possible that Iowa State could start snagging a Texas player or two that Nebraska would have normally gotten, had they still been in the conference.
Sawyer writes: who would win in a fight? Coach Wally Burnham vs JoePa.
CW: This is really weird. For the second week in a row, I’ve received a “who would win in a fight” question concerning Joe Paterno, a guy who can barely walk. Listen, Paterno has enough issues just getting to the press box to watch his team’s game every Saturday. Fighting Wally Burnham is the last thing this man should be thinking about. I interviewed Wally after practice last night. He’s one of my all-time favorites. Wally is a big man who is in very good health. He’d clean Joe-Pa’s clock. No doubt. That’d be a KO in the first round.
Kkise writes: Any updates on Hilton? Will it be ready for MBB and WBB?
CW: I haven’t heard anything official but it sounds like things will be ready for basketball season. Don’t quote me on that but I have a feeling if the arena wasn’t going to be ready, I would know more about the situation by now.
Clones21 writes: I know you and I are big Viking fans, so what do you predict the Vikings record to be this year and how far do they get in the playoffs if they make it?
CW: I have an awful feeling about the season. Gun to my head, when looking at their schedule and knowing what I know about the team, I’d guess 9-7 as their final record, with 10-6 as a best case scenario. For the first time in his career, Favre looked like an old man to me last Thursday. I’m not going to put too much stock into that one game though as he looked awful the first time out last season too. He could come out and throw for 300 yards against Miami on Saturday. Who knows? Their defense might be good enough to get them to 10-6 despite how the offense plays.
Cycloned writes: Obviously the Clones are not physical enough on defense for teams like Iowa. Do you see this as something that is insurmountable, or are there guys in the program that a can form a decent front 7?
CW: Are you talking about this year or in the future? This unit will look a lot better in week 10 than they did in week 2. They don’t have much experience and should get better by the week. But still, I anticipate this being an issue throughout this season. Also, keep in mind that Iowa is one of the strongest, most physical football teams in America. Everybody should have known that the trenches was going to be a big mismatch going into that game.
Do you think the coaching staff is going to go after JC DL and LB in this recruiting class?
CW: I’m not positive about any individual prospects they may or may not be after but keep this in mind. As far as the defensive front seven goes, Iowa State will only lose two players, Rashawn Parker and Bailey Johnson to graduation. Here’s what I picture 2011’s front seven looking like.
DE: Patrick Neal, Sr.
DT: Jake McDonough, Jr.
NG: Stephen Ruempolhamer, Sr.
DE: Roosevelt Maggitt
SAM LB: A.J. Klein, Jr.
MLB: Matt Tau’fo’ou, Sr.
WILL LB: Jake Knott, Jr.
Yes, there are some similar names there but keep in mind that they’ll have a year of quality experience under them and instead of being underclassmen, they’re somewhat seasoned Big 12 football players. I’m not guaranteeing that they’ll equal a top five Big 12 defense but I still think that with some work, the above group is better than what you’ll see on Saturday.
