What Would a W Over TT Mean?

[RedStorm]

Looking at our schedule the rest of the way, any win should probably be considered a landmark victory.

I have no real arguements with that statement.....

[CrspnDragnwagn]

TT Guys: Get a defense, seriously. I'd much rather see you guys win down there than Texas or Oklahoma. As frustrated as we are at losing, if we were putting up 50 points a game and still losing games, I don't know what I'd do.

Isn't it great to see the Big XII so competitive top to bottom???

Its been frustrating to say the least and I guess Leach finally got tired of it as well considering he canned the DC two weeks ago. I'm not positive why we've struggled so much defensively but I have a few guesses: 1) Inability/lack of effort in recruiting talented defensive players to Tech. 2) A below average DC that was preoccupied with his wife's health problems and was someone Leach should have fired two seasons ago but he felt obligated to Setencich for giving him his 1st coaching gig. 3) Overall lack of emphasis on defense by the Leach.

All those things said, I think they are each changing. #'s 2 and 3 have/are in the process of changing, and concerning lack of talent - I think some of the young guys are truly talented, they just lack experience and were in a system that was a passive read and react scheme - now they'll get a chance to play downhill.

Lastly, this year's Tech squad is capable of anything from 8-10 wins, but what people are really looking forward to is next season when 10 starters return on offense and 8 return on defense. Plus, a real influx of junior college talent on the d-line: Tech has verbal commitments from two of the highest rated DEs at the juco level, plus a solid juco DT who at the very least will provide much needed depth - all three of whom will enroll in December and go through Spring practices. The d-line has been a real weakness for Tech in recent years, but the coaches know Tech is capable of contending for the Big XII title next year and they want all the pieces in place to do just that.

[twojman]

Its been frustrating to say the least and I guess Leach finally got tired of it as well considering he canned the DC two weeks ago. I'm not positive why we've struggled so much defensively but I have a few guesses: 1) Inability/lack of effort in recruiting talented defensive players to Tech. 2) A below average DC that was preoccupied with his wife's health problems and was someone Leach should have fired two seasons ago but he felt obligated to Setencich for giving him his 1st coaching gig. 3) Overall lack of emphasis on defense by the Leach.

All those things said, I think they are each changing. #'s 2 and 3 have/are in the process of changing, and concerning lack of talent - I think some of the young guys are truly talented, they just lack experience and were in a system that was a passive read and react scheme - now they'll get a chance to play downhill.

Lastly, this year's Tech squad is capable of anything from 8-10 wins, but what people are really looking forward to is next season when 10 starters return on offense and 8 return on defense. Plus, a real influx of junior college talent on the d-line: Tech has verbal commitments from two of the highest rated DEs at the juco level, plus a solid juco DT who at the very least will provide much needed depth - all three of whom will enroll in December and go through Spring practices. The d-line has been a real weakness for Tech in recent years, but the coaches know Tech is capable of contending for the Big XII title next year and they want all the pieces in place to do just that.

Nice info, I have always thought that with just a little D and the offense that Tech runs, there would be a chance that Tech would need to be taken serious nationally.

[tejasclone]

I'm surprised that some ISU fans are downplaying the importance of winning this game. Gene Chizik has exactly 1 win as a head coach. We have beaten Texas Tech exactly 1 time in the history of the series. We have won in the state of Texas exactly 1 time in the history of ISU football.

You bet it would be a landmark victory.

[jumbopackage]

Its been frustrating to say the least and I guess Leach finally got tired of it as well considering he canned the DC two weeks ago. I'm not positive why we've struggled so much defensively but I have a few guesses: 1) Inability/lack of effort in recruiting talented defensive players to Tech. 2) A below average DC that was preoccupied with his wife's health problems and was someone Leach should have fired two seasons ago but he felt obligated to Setencich for giving him his 1st coaching gig. 3) Overall lack of emphasis on defense by the Leach.

All those things said, I think they are each changing. #'s 2 and 3 have/are in the process of changing, and concerning lack of talent - I think some of the young guys are truly talented, they just lack experience and were in a system that was a passive read and react scheme - now they'll get a chance to play downhill.

Lastly, this year's Tech squad is capable of anything from 8-10 wins, but what people are really looking forward to is next season when 10 starters return on offense and 8 return on defense. Plus, a real influx of junior college talent on the d-line: Tech has verbal commitments from two of the highest rated DEs at the juco level, plus a solid juco DT who at the very least will provide much needed depth - all three of whom will enroll in December and go through Spring practices. The d-line has been a real weakness for Tech in recent years, but the coaches know Tech is capable of contending for the Big XII title next year and they want all the pieces in place to do just that.

That's great to hear. Do you think that Leach's offense puts a lot of pressure on his defense since they put them on the field so much (because they are always scoring)? I mean it's hard to complain when you're putting up a ton of points, but I think that's part of Nebraska's problem at the moment. Not enough ball control.

Glad you guys are off our schedule next year!

[dinger]

It would mean...our record would be...2-4 (1-1 Big 12).

yep. thats what i would say it means

[jumbopackage]

I'm surprised that some ISU fans are downplaying the importance of winning this game. Gene Chizik has exactly 1 win as a head coach. We have beaten Texas Tech exactly 1 time in the history of the series. We have won in the state of Texas exactly 1 time in the history of ISU football.

You bet it would be a landmark victory.

Not to take anything away from TTech, but they aren't ranked. They just lost to Oklahoma State (who was blown out by Troy), and, while the O is fantastic, the D leaves a bit to be desired. We won two years ago against Texas A&M at College Station, and I don't think too many people considered that a landmark W.

I'm not saying it wouldn't be a huge W for Chiz and our program, but it's not what I would consider a landmark W. It's a W a good team should pull off at least 50% of the time or more. A landmark win is going on the road to a good, solid top 15 team and solidly beating them, in my book.

Again, I'm not taking anything away from Tech. That's a solid program with tons of potential. I'd be thrilled with a W. It's just the type of game that we should expect to win if/when we are "good".

[tejasclone]

Not to take anything away from TTech, but they aren't ranked. They just lost to Oklahoma State (who was blown out by Troy), and, while the O is fantastic, the D leaves a bit to be desired. We won two years ago against Texas A&M at College Station, and I don't think too many people considered that a landmark W.

I'm not saying it wouldn't be a huge W for Chiz and our program, but it's not what I would consider a landmark W. It's a W a good team should pull off at least 50% of the time or more. A landmark win is going on the road to a good, solid top 15 team and solidly beating them, in my book.

Again, I'm not taking anything away from Tech. That's a solid program with tons of potential. I'd be thrilled with a W. It's just the type of game that we should expect to win if/when we are "good".

Fair enough. I won't argue with you about the semantics of "landmark" -- your interpretation is valid. But, this is the kind of game... on the road, against a solid conference opponent... that ISU historically loses. I think it would be huge to win a game like this in Chizik's first season.

Concerning the A&M game, I know they weren't that good of a team that year (finished what, like 5-6?) but it is sort of akin to beating Nebraska in 2002. We won by a wide margin over a school with a "name", that wasn't that good anymore, but still brought delight and cheers to Cyclone fans. I for one thought, after we lost at home to Baylor earlier that season, that we would be toast against A&M. To not only win but destroy their defense was incredible. Made me weep that we could never duplicate that performance against anybody, no matter how bad their defense might be.

[Wesley]

Can we play Blythe and Hamilton on defense so we can get some interceptions?


Anyone know how many recruiting visitors we will have at Texas and Oklahoma games?

You know if we hang around in all of the next three games, we may get some recruits.

Four of last six games will be home games after this week.

[jumbopackage]

Fair enough. I won't argue with you about the semantics of "landmark" -- your interpretation is valid. But, this is the kind of game... on the road, against a solid conference opponent... that ISU historically loses. I think it would be huge to win a game like this in Chizik's first season.

Concerning the A&M game, I know they weren't that good of a team that year (finished what, like 5-6?) but it is sort of akin to beating Nebraska in 2002. We won by a wide margin over a school with a "name", that wasn't that good anymore, but still brought delight and cheers to Cyclone fans. I for one thought, after we lost at home to Baylor earlier that season, that we would be toast against A&M. To not only win but destroy their defense was incredible. Made me weep that we could never duplicate that performance against anybody, no matter how bad their defense might be.

Oh I don't disagree that it would be a huge huge win for the program in the immediate and short-term (next couple seasons). It's not the kind of thing you look back on in 5 or 10 years and say "That was a huge win for ISU" though. Beating solid conference opponents is what you need to do to win championships. I hope our mentality changes over the next few seasons so that beating a team like this year's TTech team isn't even in the conceivable realm of "landmark victory", but what's expected.

And like I said earlier, no disrespect to TTech. They are a tough opponent any year.

[cycloneryan]

It would mean we are still a focused team after our heartbreaking start. I think we have an upset in us but I don't think this week is when it will happen.

[tejasclone]

It would mean we are still a focused team after our heartbreaking start. I think we have an upset in us but I don't think this week is when it will happen.

Agreed. I am eyeballing Oct. 13...