Reality bites: Big XII rank

[jdoggivjc]

I am watching Georgia Alabama....amazing how their defensive backs actually cover recievers on 2nd down and then on 3rd and long they may give a buffer, but they know to start covering short of the 1st down marker....amazing. I am thinking we have had like one or two good defenses the 30 years I have been watching Cyclones. Rhoads is supposedly a defensive coach........There are about 3 games this year where our team gave up....almost visibly if you watch the body language.....when our team gave up the second 3rd and 10 and our damn corners gave them a 12 yard cushion. Watch it....I am not making this stuff up.

1. We are not Alabama or Georgia, and likely will never be.

2. Our defense gave up 23.3 points per game, good enough for a top third finish nationally and (I think) 3rd in the Big 12. The defense held all but one opponent below its season average in scoring. The defense was not, let me repeat, WAS NOT the problem this season. The inept offense we were forced to watch much of the season that couldn't keep the defense on the sidelines was the reason.

[Tre4ISU]

I am watching Georgia Alabama....amazing how their defensive backs actually cover recievers on 2nd down and then on 3rd and long they may give a buffer, but they know to start covering short of the 1st down marker....amazing. I am thinking we have had like one or two good defenses the 30 years I have been watching Cyclones. Rhoads is supposedly a defensive coach........There are about 3 games this year where our team gave up....almost visibly if you watch the body language.....when our team gave up the second 3rd and 10 and our damn corners gave them a 12 yard cushion. Watch it....I am not making this stuff up.

Someone doesn't understand our defense.

[ISUFan22]

I'm disappointed with a few things, but in all - we finished with the record I expected us to.

Rebuilding has ups and downs.

[Goothrey]

Can't argue with you there, but to take ISU to the next level will take some time and there will be small improvements from year to year. Constantly finishing 6-6 or 7-5 and going to a bowl game is part of that. Getting better players and improving depth is also part of that. Wasn't ISU down 4 defensive starters against WVU? I thought there was a chance that WVU would blow us out because of that, but the backups managed to keep it close.

Likewise I can't argue that. I see a team that is capable but for whatever reason just doesn't get it done.

[swarthmoreCY]

Likewise I can't argue that. I see a team that is capable but for whatever reason just doesn't get it done.

You act like this is a habitual issue under CPR. This is the first year we may have missed taking the next step, all while facing the toughest schedule ISU has had. The reason? Start with having the 2nd worst starting QB in the league.

[alarson]

Stats and scores suggest otherwise. When was the last time we were one game from being tied for 5th or two games from 4th? We were more competitive this year than any other since 2005. Against a harder schedule.

I hate when supposed fans use what-ifs and should haves to belittle what actually did go right this year.

What all went exceptionally right? We beat 2 awful teams in conference and a qb who had 1 day of prep against us (and it showed) our non con was weak and we struggled through it relatively. Even wiu was unimpressive.

You complain of "what its" but then use mccarney-esque excuses like "so close to 5th". I am sick of moral victories.

[michaelrr1]

9th in the Big 12 means we're in an incredibly tough league.

Or a conference with an incredible amount of mediocre teams.

[longtimeclone]

Likewise I can't argue that. I see a team that is capable but for whatever reason just doesn't get it done.

I think having fans who are disappointed with a 6-6 season is also getting there. At the beginning of the season if you would have asked any ISU fan if they would be disappointed with a 6-6 season. Many probably would have said no and take a bowl game. Well we are at the end and there are some who are disappointed with a 6-6 season.

Fan expectations are starting to improve. Hopefully this leads to more donations which will also help.

[swarthmoreCY]

What all went exceptionally right? We beat 2 awful teams in conference and a qb who had 1 day of prep against us (and it showed) our non con was weak and we struggled through it relatively. Even wiu was unimpressive.

You complain of "what its" but then use mccarney-esque excuses like "so close to 5th". I am sick of moral victories.

Two awful teams? That is having it both ways, given how many are acting about how disappointing it is to not be tied for 5th like Baylor, and how so many felt losing to KU was a sure thing.
-Boykins looks no different now then he did 1.5 months ago. ISU had not time to prep for him. Besides, if you are going to remove credit from ISU benefiting from breaks, you cannot downgrade ISU when breaks against ISU hurt them in games. That is the ******* game of football. Can we get credit for losing to OU, UT, and WVU without our best defender(s)?
-We struggled through a weak non-con? You have lost your mind. No game was a struggle, and it was not weak.

[Cyclonic1]

Since you guys think we are so terrible, we might as well fire Coach Rhoads.

​I prefer to stay in the Sunshine and Rainbows jihad and keep CPR. Let's just say goodbye to those of little faith and even less vision. We got thumped by OSU & UT this year but we were in every game and most seasons ISU cannot say that. I too expected 7 or 8 wins this year but if you honestly cannot see the signs of improvement in the FB program then feel free to find another school to support. While I was frustrated with this season I am also now very anxious for Feb signing day and then for spring drills to begin. CPR told us mid season that "Sam was not ready" and he would not play him until he was. Well, he got ready, CPR played him, and now it appears that our major weakness could become a future strength. So I say BRING ON PURPLE IOWA as I wipe the Kool Aid from my lips with my sleeve.

[swarthmoreCY]

Or a conference with an incredible amount of mediocre teams.

Or teams that only look mediocre because they actually have to show up every week. No other conference has 90% of their teams at least mediocre.

[Luth4Cy]

I really think if we started offering big time recruits cash gifts, cars and houses we could get the program on the map. Im so tired of finishing 8, or 9th in the big 12

You're joking right? I'm tired of finishing at the bottom of the conference too, but that isn't something I'd ever want an Iowa State program to be associated with.

[CyCloned]

I think the lack of depth on both sides of the ball showed this year. When Knott and Watson went out the defense was no where near as good. The offense was not good enough all year, but with out Lenz, it was really bad. I didn't think there were any games where ISU was completely out classed this year. Tx and OU beat up on the ISU dbs, but their WR got away with several real bad pushoffs that would have been called on less elite teams.

[CYKOFAN]

What all went exceptionally right? We beat 2 awful teams in conference and a qb who had 1 day of prep against us (and it showed) our non con was weak and we struggled through it relatively. Even wiu was unimpressive.

You complain of "what its" but then use mccarney-esque excuses like "so close to 5th". I am sick of moral victories.

Actually I think we did pretty good getting bowl eligible with the things that went wrong. We struggled with inconsistent qb play until we stumbled upon Sam at the end of the year, lost our best defender in the middle of the Big 12 schedule, and lost 2 key d-backs the last part of the season. If we discover Sam earlier and/or don't lose one or two of our best defenders and we may have ended up 4th and added another victory over the #2 team in the country. I know everybody has injuries, but two things we had to have this year was to stay healthy on defense and get good qb play. Despite getting neither (til Sam anyway) we got bowl eligible. I'll take it.

[iowa_wildcat]

Five, yes count them, five teams in the Big 12 finished with 7-5 records. 8 of the 10 teams had winning records. Only one team had a losing record. Parity reigns. If any team showed up not ready to play or with lots of injuries, the result was a big L.