GROWING UP

[GoClones123]

Just got back into town from the IC. Still pumped up from the game. I think what I got from this game is how much ISU has grown up as a team.

4 Turnovers (3 in the Red Zone)
Anemic rushing game
Hostile Enviroment
Game on the line with less than 2 minutes to go

Despite all of that we came out with the win. I don't know if I have ever seen ISU play so terribly, yet still manage to pull out a workman-like win. I think this shows us that maybe we have turned a corner, I know still early yet in the year. But it was exciting to see that we didn't have to play "near perfect" ball. We didn't have to have our QB play out of his mind in a surreal performance to win the game at Kinnick.
I'm not saying that we can pull this crap all year and expect to win, but for tonight, I'll take it as a good sign and let it be.

[TXCyclones]

You're right! Another positive: 2 penalties? Two weeks in a row we played pretty smart.

[CYlent Bob]

I remember thinking that our early personal foul penalty might be a sign of bad things to come......but honestly? We only got flagged for one other penalty the whole game? Two penalties total. You've got to be defecating me here.

[cycophagus]

I think you're right. It's all about solid defense, a masterful punt game, and for now, just enough offense.

[MeanDean]

Bruce Springsteen - Growin' Up - YouTube

[justcynn]

Fans expected to win, Players definitely expected to win, things are changing for Cyclone Nation, lets enjoy the ride

[CYlent Bob]

blink-182 - Dammit - YouTube

[Psyclone Brian]

I thought this was going to be a thread for hawkeye fans.

[BuffettClone]

The 4 turnovers still bothers me though, especially the 3 in the red zone. That game should have been a blowout win without those mistakes. I'm still very happy with the win, but those problems need to be fixed...in a hurry

[demoncore1031]

all the mistakes we made today are fixable. we got an easy win next week followed by a bye week. thats gonna be huge or us before entering conference play. i think our D will play well all year long. the one thing that could use improvement is the pass rush... the offense needs alot of work. some of the poor play on offense was due to play calling though. in the 1st qtr, we ran all kinds of plays and mixed it up really well. after that we just got too predictable. the zone read is not a good play for jantz to run. i think we can definately get a 4-0 start and have alot of momentum heading into the tougher games... im just lad we got the W today, but it would have been nice to put a beating on iowa like we could have

[Cyclone_Grav]

Speaking of growing, Steele really overall played a good game today. Really only had 2 dumb throws (two ints) but another high completion percentage day while spreading the ball around to his receivers. I really think he's only going to get better as the year goes on.

[klamath632]

The thing about our D that scares me is I saw two different D-lines yesterday. On Iowa zone run plays, our D-line was able to slip the gaps and make tackles at the LOS or even get TFLs. When Iowa called power runs, our D-line was blown off the ball. Against strong running teams like Texas or K-State, we're going to need to be able to control the line of scrimmage, and I don't think we're there yet.

[CascadeClone]

Not sure if I buy into Steele having played a good game. I'd say about 80% of the time he was very good; even on those incomplete deep balls, I think those were the right reads just couldn't quite connect. But he absolutely can not turn the ball over so much. Both picks were really bad, it wasn't like they were on target and tipped, I have no idea who he was throwing to on one of them. He HAS to eliminate negative plays.

Lucky ISU played such a terrible team today. That performance will not win at Kansas.

This is what I think right now, might have different ideas after watching the replay.

[clonedude]

Not sure if I buy into Steele having played a good game. I'd say about 80% of the time he was very good; even on those incomplete deep balls, I think those were the right reads just couldn't quite connect. But he absolutely can not turn the ball over so much. Both picks were really bad, it wasn't like they were on target and tipped, I have no idea who he was throwing to on one of them. He HAS to eliminate negative plays.

Lucky ISU played such a terrible team today. That performance will not win at Kansas.

This is what I think right now, might have different ideas after watching the replay.

Yeah, I'm not sure I'd give Steele good grades either for yesterday. Probably a C+. He did some good things most of the day, BUT once again inside the redzone, he needs to convert those drives into TDs, or at worst case 3 pts. On 3 drives inside Iowa's 5 yd line we came away with nothing. That is completely unacceptable by any standards. It's not all his fault, but he is the captain of the offense.

Once again he did some nice things to put us in position to take control of this game on numerous occassions, but couldn't convert. That HAS to change for us to have success this season. Not only did he not convert drives into points, but he nearly cost us the game again. I'm thankful he ended up tackling Morris after that horrible INT, otherwise this would have been a loss folks.

And he needs to be buying Jake Knott dinner too. If Knott doesn't make that INT at the end, I think we also lose this game. And if we lose that game yesterday, I'm not certain Steele keeps his job going into next week either? He would have been the goat on the headlines of every paper in the state had Iowa won that game. He better be thankful today.

[MNCYWX]

I remember thinking that our early personal foul penalty might be a sign of bad things to come......but honestly? We only got flagged for one other penalty the whole game? Two penalties total. You've got to be defecating me here.

Second was a holding penalty (grabbing the jersey around the end) that made it 1st and 20. We converted the very next play.