ISU over OSU Yahoo Sports #1 Upset of 2011

[jdoggivjc]

It's not that they're saying OSU shot themselves in the foot against us. I'd be fine with that. They should have stuck with just their first paragraph, maybe adding in the sentence which talks about us being a mediocre .500 team. The rest of the second paragraph is that same old SEC bias which says OSU was never good enough to be #2 to begin with. They pull out that tired old "No Defense League" BS that people from the B1G and SEC always say about the Big 12. Personally, I'm upset for OSU and the Big 12, not so much for ISU.

"To the extent that Oklahoma State lived by the turnover en route to its 10-0 start, it died by the turnover against the Cyclones — and by a defense that was ultimately every bit as porous as its critics suggested. One week after shutting out Texas Tech, the Cowboys yielded 24 consecutive points in the second half and overtime to an offense that came in averaging just 24 points per game, fewest in the conference. When the turnover margin finally flipped on the nation's stingiest defense, all that was left was the unit looking every bit like one yielding 445 yards per game."

Everybody KNEW going into that game that OSU's defense was horrible. It shouldn't surprise anyone that an analysis of the game would include people suggesting that OSU's inability to play defense would come back and bite them in the arse. It's not the slight at ISU that some ISU fans want to make it out to be.

[Trice]

Superlatives: The best upsets of 2011 - Dr. Saturday - NCAAF*Blog - Yahoo! Sports

Still getting love from that win!

I never really thought of it this way until I read that story, but in many ways ISU could be the school that brings down the abomination that is the BCS as we know it. That's pretty sweet.

[Storkenheimer]

I never really thought of it this way until I read that story, but in many ways ISU could be the school that brings down the abomination that is the BCS as we know it. That's pretty sweet.

We can only hope.

[Clonefan94]

"All because the No. 2 team in the nation couldn't finish off a .500 outfit that opened the conference schedule with four consecutive losses by double digits"

" the Cowboys yielded 24 consecutive points in the second half and overtime to an offense that came in averaging just 24 points per game, fewest in the conference."

I know they are speaking the truth in both statements, but both seem to me to have been written in the article in a way that really made the loss seem completely unjustified.

I think had we beaten KSU, it wouldn't have seemed so outlandish. In the end though, we ended 6-6, 3-6 in the conference. Granted, the conference was tough this year and we finished better than anyone outside of this board picked us to, but without that win, we aren't going bowling. So, it was a pretty big upset.
As an insider I know what 6-6 means to this team. To the rest of the world though, we are at best an average football team.

[galactawitz]

Did you bother to read the article? Basically another article saying Oklahoma State completely stepped on their d***, and that it in no shape way or form should have ever lost to a team as bad as Iowa State.

Terrible reading comprehension on your part.

"Instead, with a stunning rally out of a 24-7 hole, the most unlikely spoiler the BCS has ever produced may have stuck a dagger in the system as we know it."

The message in that upset is "Iowa State defeats the BCS."

You really have to project a lot of insecurities to get to your interpretation.

Hey, I agree there are some backhanded compliments in there too. But Iowa State has earned the reputation as a bad football program overall for the last 20 or so years. The part I liked most was the part I bolded, that this victory could have toppled the BCS as we know it. Not manyin the country knows how good of program we are becoming, and how much depth and talent we have compared to a few short years ago. They will though.

[Cyforce]

Did you bother to read the article? Basically another article saying Oklahoma State completely stepped on their d***, and that it in no shape way or form should have ever lost to a team as bad as Iowa State.

it's the upset of the year it took the perfect storm for us to win. Hopefully it becomes the cornerstone of our rise to relevance.

[troutslayer]

I think had we beaten KSU, it wouldn't have seemed so outlandish. In the end though, we ended 6-6, 3-6 in the conference. Granted, the conference was tough this year and we finished better than anyone outside of this board picked us to, but without that win, we aren't going bowling. So, it was a pretty big upset.
As an insider I know what 6-6 means to this team. To the rest of the world though, we are at best an average football team.

Agreed. Until we start winning more of these games in one season, this is how the rest of the world will continue to look at us. CPR has this team moving like a locomotive, and soon "one good upset" will turn into "multiple quality wins".

[intrepid27]

I was more impressed with Baylor's win over OU than their win over TCU. It was early in the season and TCU was WAY overrated.

[VeloClone]

it's the upset of the year it took the perfect storm for us to win. Hopefully it becomes the cornerstone of our rise to relevance.

I disagree. It isn't like ISU played perfect in this game. They overcame turnovers (including a pick 6) and penalties and still were able to win. To me saying the perfect storm indicates that ISU played a perfect game and OSU played their worst game of the season. I think only the latter is true. I might even be more inclined to agree if OSU's turnovers were unforced, but they weren't - QB pressure, tipped balls, tight coverage and strips led to their turnovers. The ISU D had a big hand in making it OSU's worst game.

That doesn't make it not the biggest upset. I don't know how it couldn't have been.

[MissouriCyclone]

My one room mate and I were talking about the game yesterday and saying how awesome it will be to tell people in the future that we were at the game. My other room mate (who doesn't care about athletics) walked in and asked why it would be a huge deal. I looked at him and did a nice face palm.

[ribsnwhiskey]

No. Your bad for posting a baseless, kneejerk opinion on a message board. Here, let me show how to do it:

"It's nice to get some national attention, but this isn't where I want us to be right now. I honestly think that, had Barnett replaced Jantz earlier in the year, we would have won more games, and the upset against Okie State wouldn't have seemed so out of the blue. This team was stout, and surprising, and, even though they exceeded expectations, I honestly don't think they 'overachieved.' They were a good 6-6 team that, had the offense not shot itself in the foot so often during the transition from Jantz to Barnett, could have been 8-4. Now that would have gotten even better press."

You don't have to agree (as I don't even agree with the above quote). You just don't need to throw annoying complaint bombs that don't contribute anything to the OPs news.

It's easy.

It's easy to tell other people how you think they should post. I think you should get off your high horse.

See, it's easy.

[Cyclonepride]

If you go by margin of victory vs. the line, our TT win has to be up there too. Trying to remember what TT was favored by, but I'm thinking it was 14+.

[jdoggivjc]

Hey, I agree there are some backhanded compliments in there too. But Iowa State has earned the reputation as a bad football program overall for the last 20 or so years. The part I liked most was the part I bolded, that this victory could have toppled the BCS as we know it. Not manyin the country knows how good of program we are becoming, and how much depth and talent we have compared to a few short years ago. They will though.

That's the thing - in the last decade ISU has not done better than 7-5 in any given season, and in the last 50+ years ISU has gotten to the 9-win mark only once. So in the last three years ISU knocks off an overrated Nebraska team in their own house, a bad Texas team in their own house, and a very good OSU team that happens to play bad defense, yet in each of those three seasons ISU won't do any better than 7-6. And ISU fans are demanding national respect?

Hey, I love ISU as much as the next guy and more than most, but even I realize that the media has us pegged - an upcoming team with a nationally-desired coach that still has a very long way to go. Respect has to be earned, and a decade's worth of .500 seasons (at best) just isn't going to go as far as some ISU fans would want it to go. ISU needs to average 8-9 wins or more over a period of time before we can really start screaming "disrespect".

[Cycsk]

I would have liked the article to say a little more about how we rose to the occasion. It did make it sound like we just took advantage of turnovers (when in fact, we made plenty ourselves). We won because we played shut-down defense in the second half and played much better at the end of the game.

At least they didn't blame it on the plane crash.

[cyhiphopp]

I kind of see both sides of the argument.

Just looking at the teams involved and the expectations, it looks like a game that OSU just gave away.

If you actually watch the game, you see the killer defense that forced the turnovers. You see Weeden trying again and again to get it to Blackmon for little gain. Blackmon had a big TD catch in the 2nd quarter for 27 yards. After that, he had only one catch (28 yards) for more than 7 yards I think. Every catch the coverage was tight enough to shut him down.
That's good defense on the best WR in college football. Not a fluke.

The turnovers were forced and ISU made a good number of mistakes as well, including a pick6, a fumble inside the ten, and a bad pick late to give them a field goal attempt to win it.
ISU overcame all of that and played good football to win. Nothing was given to them.



Oh, and someone stated before, but thank goodness they didn't blame the plane crash. OSU had a 24-7 lead. If the tragedy affected them that much, they would have had their worst plays early and had to come back. ISU just clamped down on them in the second half and wore out their D.