I found this webpage. Some of them seem a little bit off to me.
mcubed.net : NCAA Football : Iowa St : Series records
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I found this webpage. Some of them seem a little bit off to me.
mcubed.net : NCAA Football : Iowa St : Series records
I just realized it has not been updated since January.
You look at that and its easy to see how tradition dominates college football. It's SO hard to buck tradition. It can be done, but it isn't easy.
A few things stick out to me...
1. Minnesota used to be really, really good, but that was a long time ago. Hence our record.
2. ISU-OU is one of the most lopsided series in all college football
3. K-State was really, really bad for a long time. They've beaten us most years in the last 15 years, yet our series record is still an 8 game lead.
4. Given how geography and tradition is so tied to college sports, its disturbing how easy schools like Nebraska, A&M, and Mizzou are so easy to leave it aside for a few more dollars. We've played only 9 schools more than 10 times in history. The Big 8 foes, Iowa, and Minnesota.
Our record against OU is so bad its comical.
Interesting observations.
Whenever I think of "series records" for ISU football, I immediately think of Kansas State, because that's the only ex-Big 8 team Iowa State has led since I started following. I didn't know if we still had the edge ...nice to know we do, but it's dwindling.
Baylor is only other current conference series we lead, and that's almost .500.
That OU series is mind-boggling. Even considering Sooners' tradition and ISU's hodgepodge success, you'd still almost think ISU would have won a few more here & there, just by an occasional fluke.
Random intriguing notes:
* Northwestern has 7-1 edge, and teams haven't played since 1956.
* Storied programs ISU has never played: USC, Penn State, Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State. No real surprise — ISU was never good enough to play big-time bowl games vs. those teams when there were only a few bowls, and they weren't going to schedule us. Only real shot of facing those schools would be if ISU has a good season & a powerhouse program dips (e.g., Alabama in 2001)
Just imagine the mass hysteria that would occur if ISU were to beat OU during Rhoads' tenure. It could happen...
1944 - ISU runner erroneously called OB at 1-yard line late in the game. OU won 12-7. [Side note: Head referee for that game was also a writer for the DM Register.]
1981 - ISU misses 4 FG. Game finishes in a 7-7 tie.
1984 - More missed FG. OU gets one big play, and wins 12-10.
1989 - Shudak lips off to asst. coach, gets benched for the game. No backup kicker. Had to go for 2 on touchdowns. ISU loses 43-40.
1995 - ISU led 26-23 with 11:00 to play. Lost 39-26.
1998 - Bandhauer intercepted twice in the end zone. Second time was in the 4th and ISU up 14-10. OU won 17-14.
Also, if you look closer at ISU's record against the Big Ten, you'll see that almost every game (besides the Iowa series) was played on the road.
I think we've beat every other Big 12 team since like 2005...right? Except OU. I want to say the last time we won was something like 1992. I remember there was some year in the late 90's or early 2000's where we were playing at OU and OU was in a really down period and we should've won the game. Coughed it up in the 4th quarter.
Yikes. A lot more near-misses than I thought.
* I attended that '84 game. First-ever night game at Jack Trice, if I recall. Friends & I sat on the southeast hill, some ISU mixed among OU fans. I still remember an OU fan saying, loudly, when ISU was still up 10-6 in second half, "I can't believe we're losing to IOWA STATE." Priceless moment — but actually pulling off the upset would be a far better memory.
* '81, I listened to on the radio. 4 FGs missed, but I think the big one was Giffords missed something like a 19-yard chip shot in the 4th? It was basically like XP distance – and if nothing else, he didn't miss many PATs. Seems like he attempted a FG on last play of the game, from some insane distance like 67 yards. Only Donnie Duncan would decide a hail-mary field goal was better odds than some kind of pass-and-lateral thing — especailly on a day when a reliable place-kicker was "off."