Pro Football Weekly's collegefootballnews.com Iowa State Preview

jdoggivjc · 07-12-2008, 01:56 AM

I was at Hy-Vee this evening, and I decided to take a quick read of the Iowa State preview in Pro Football Weekly's mag. I have to say, it's probably the most positive preview of any non-Iowa State publication. Some of the things that were said about us:

We were the pain in the Big XII's butts at the end of last season
We took a small step backward last year in order to take a huge step forward this year by playing a lot of players well before they should have been played
Iowa State could be the surprise Big XII team this season
Our O-line and running game should be the absolute strength of the team, and by the end of the year inexperience shouldn't be a problem, although we're playing players that likely aren't ready.
We are one of 11 teams in the Big XII with an honest shot at a bowl game this year (Baylor being the lone exception)

I think the biggest thing that impressed me about these guys is they are the only ones I've seen so far that it seems have done some actual research - they don't seem to be basing their preview solely on the fact that we're losing a QB and WR that own practically every record in the books (who only did this simply because both of them played in practically every game since they stepped on campus and own those records by default. IMO, losing Meyer and Blythe to me is more addition by subtraction than it is substantial losses).

I didn't see a predicted W-L, but they did have projected standings, and they have us in a 3-way tie for fifth - interestingly enough, it's with K-State and Nebraska...

cstrunk · 07-12-2008, 02:58 AM

It sounds like an interesting article, for sure. I agree with most of those points. I think there's a pretty good chance we'll surprise people this season. More of a chance to go 7-5 than 4-8 IMO.

CycloneErik · 07-12-2008, 07:08 AM

I almost feel bad saying it, but I agree with the comment on addition by subtraction.

We're in a good spot. We've got a shot to put a real good season together this year

Al_4_State · 07-12-2008, 07:13 AM

I think losing Meyer is going to be addition by subtraction. Not so sure about Blythe. That guy could flat out make some plays. Who is going to make those circus catches ala CU in '05? Cue Sed Johnson....

CycloneErik · 07-12-2008, 07:18 AM

Originally Posted by Al_4_State

I think losing Meyer is going to be addition by subtraction. Not so sure about Blythe. That guy could flat out make some plays. Who is going to make those circus catches ala CU in '05? Cue Sed Johnson....

The thing I saw with Blythe is something that a guy tipped me off to during the UNLV game a couple years ago. He told me to watch Blythe the next few plays, and see how many times he actually ran at all from the line of scrimmage, much less ran a route. It was about 1 in 15ish, really unimpressive. It seemed that he got motivated that game when the ball might come his way.

Granted, we all saw his jersey stretch a ton last year with some blatant DB grabs, but he seemed to take a lot of time off. I got the idea that he would have done better if he went all out more often, and then theywould have to defend him all the time (or just grab his jersey, as that was apparently acceptable on most deep routes

).

ISUonthemove · 07-12-2008, 08:26 AM

Meyer is definately addition by subtraction. And I don't mean that in a way that is bashing him. He is a great guy, but the DB's loved playing against him.

Cyclonepride · 07-12-2008, 08:53 AM

It's great to see a preseason review that digs into the actual state of the team, rather than just a retreaded impression of it. My impression of the Meyer/Blythe years is that it was a dynamic combination up until the point that Todd was injured, and it became somewhat average after that, perhaps making the case that the early results of the combination were more the result of Blythe than Meyer. I'm still glad we had them.

clone99 · 07-12-2008, 10:20 AM

not sure losing blythe is an + by- but meyer probably was. i agree that it Blythe wasn't running at 100% on every play but neither did Rand Moss. It i difficult to run a 60 pass pattern if the ball is thrown to you or not 80 plays in a row. i think that meyer did run his course, he was to easy for the DB's to figure out and he never really was able to make things less obvious. However, going back to Blythe, while it will be difficult to replace a go to guy like him, but our receivers really impressed me last year and am not to worried about, especially if we can actually run the ball also. That makes lots of offensive things easier. QB position still unknown at this time, but a solid running game would make that a lot easier also.
Sounds like a really good article, think I will try to find, gets away from the normal breakdown that is always stated as you mentioned earlier, losing 4 year starter QB and WR, doomed to last or 2nd to last place in Big 12.

jdoggivjc · 07-12-2008, 01:56 PM

Originally Posted by clone99

not sure losing blythe is an + by- but meyer probably was. i agree that it Blythe wasn't running at 100% on every play but neither did Rand Moss. It i difficult to run a 60 pass pattern if the ball is thrown to you or not 80 plays in a row. i think that meyer did run his course, he was to easy for the DB's to figure out and he never really was able to make things less obvious. However, going back to Blythe, while it will be difficult to replace a go to guy like him, but our receivers really impressed me last year and am not to worried about, especially if we can actually run the ball also. That makes lots of offensive things easier. QB position still unknown at this time, but a solid running game would make that a lot easier also.
Sounds like a really good article, think I will try to find, gets away from the normal breakdown that is always stated as you mentioned earlier, losing 4 year starter QB and WR, doomed to last or 2nd to last place in Big 12.

I guess I view it differently - I saw him quit on a play where the ball was thrown in his direction. Just quit on a route that required a little bit more effort than normal to make the play. What I saw out of Blythe the last several years is he would make the big play, but would disappear on the normal play. Tell me - what occurs more often during the course of a game - the average play, or the big play? I'd rather see our players make the normal play before they make the big play. And I get the fact that you can't give your full effort on every single play during the game. That's why you wave at coach and signal you need a blow, to get a sub in there. If you're in a situation where you can't give your all during a play you need to be on the sidelines, not dogging it on the field. The only reason why I think Chizik let Blythe get away with it last year is we simply didn't have any better options. I'm looking for this not to be the case in the future.

So, yes, I do feel that Blythe is addition by subtraction - I'd like to see someone on the field that isn't simply present for the big play but is absent the rest of the game.

jaretac · 07-12-2008, 01:58 PM

Meyer reminds me of Bret Farve (without the arm), he can help and hurt- sometimes in the same play. Meyer had a good career at ISU, but I'm excited about the possibility of getting some else in there at QB.

IsUaClone2 · 07-12-2008, 02:35 PM

Let's get back on track. I'd rather hear about the current players and their accomplishments than create some revisionist histories about players who were the best we had available and they have left a legacy to prove it. Let's build from there rather than try to tear down the gains the team has made.

Onward Cyclones!!!!! Let's go.

Aclone · 07-12-2008, 02:42 PM

Originally Posted by IsUaClone2

Let's get back on track. I'd rather hear about the current players and their accomplishments than create some revisionist histories about players who were the best we had available and they have left a legacy to prove it. Let's build from there rather than try to tear down the gains the team has made.

Onward Cyclones!!!!! Let's go.

Amen.

I've been really disappointed with most of the annuals--and The Sporting News annual has really gone downhill since Street & Smith's got ahold of it. No one seems to want to look at teams in any depth.

ketchupnmustard · 07-12-2008, 03:22 PM

I quit reading those pre-season magazines and am better off for it.

The reason why? A friend of mine told me that this year's Athlon rag had Iowa ranked at #38 in the country. Whaaaaaaaaaat? I about had a stroke and went blind with rage at the same time. Only 37 out of 119 teams in this country are better than Iowa? But then I had a beer and calmed down when I realized that the people at Athlon are just a bunch of raging alcoholics.