2017 Non-con . . .

[YeahBuddy]

I can provide some thoughts on Iowa:

QB- Concerning. I was hoping Stanely would separate himself from Wiegers this spring but that has not happened and I dont think its because of improvements that Wiegers has made. There are some things working against the QB's, lack of WR's and installing a new offense, but it has not been very encouraging so far.

RB- Wadley is a game changer and has legitimate 1500+ yard potential. Durability will always be an issue with him. Two way race to back him up between Toren Young and Toks Akinribade.

WR- Extremely short on scholarship bodies. We have 2 left at this position as of the end of spring practice. If Vandy can come back healthy, he is the #1. Jerminic Smith is probably #2 if he can get his academics in order. Junior college walk on Nick Easley really had a good spring and will play this year. At least 2 true freshmen will play in my opinion at this position with the most likely being Brandon Smith.

TE- A lot of bodies here and Brian Ferentz made some comments last week that they may look to utilize more TE's to create mismatches because of the lack of depth at WR. Noah Fant and TJ Hockensen have the most potential at this spot.

OL- Lose 1 starter but return 5 guys that started a lot of games last year. Should be the strength of the team. No doubt about their ability to run block but their pass protection needs to improve. I dont fault all the sacks on them last year though, some of that goes back on the QB.

DL- Should be solid. Jaleel Johnson is a big loss but we return all the others starters. Matt and Anthony Nelson play on the ends along with Parker Hesse and Nathan Bazata started alongside Johnson at DT. Epenesa will play.

LB- Best position group on the defense led by Josey Jewell. All three projected starters are seniors but it sounds like sophomore Amani Jones is pushing Bower for his starting spot.

DB- Lost an All American in Desmond King. The 3 guys that will play most at CB (Jackson, Rugamba and Ojemudia) have gained some experience the last couple of years and Rugamba really played well as a true freshman last year after Mabin went down. We were set to return both starters at safety (Taylor and Snyder) but Snyder tore his ACL in spring ball and is expected out all year. His replacement, Jack Gervase, had 3 INT's in the spring game but that was mostly due to poor QB play. Sophomore Amani Hooker may push Gervase from the starting spot.

Special Teams- Keith Duncan is the place kicker, Colton Rastetter will most likely be the punter and it sounds like Wadley is lobbying to return kicks and punts which would be a great weapon.

Let me know if you have questions.

 

[TheJackWePack5]

I can provide some thoughts on Iowa:

QB- Concerning. I was hoping Stanely would separate himself from Wiegers this spring but that has not happened and I dont think its because of improvements that Wiegers has made. There are some things working against the QB's, lack of WR's and installing a new offense, but it has not been very encouraging so far.

RB- Wadley is a game changer and has legitimate 1500+ yard potential. Durability will always be an issue with him. Two way race to back him up between Toren Young and Toks Akinribade.

WR- Extremely short on scholarship bodies. We have 2 left at this position as of the end of spring practice. If Vandy can come back healthy, he is the #1. Jerminic Smith is probably #2 if he can get his academics in order. Junior college walk on Nick Easley really had a good spring and will play this year. At least 2 true freshmen will play in my opinion at this position with the most likely being Brandon Smith.

TE- A lot of bodies here and Brian Ferentz made some comments last week that they may look to utilize more TE's to create mismatches because of the lack of depth at WR. Noah Fant and TJ Hockensen have the most potential at this spot.

OL- Lose 1 starter but return 5 guys that started a lot of games last year. Should be the strength of the team. No doubt about their ability to run block but their pass protection needs to improve. I dont fault all the sacks on them last year though, some of that goes back on the QB.

DL- Should be solid. Jaleel Johnson is a big loss but we return all the others starters. Matt and Anthony Nelson play on the ends along with Parker Hesse and Nathan Bazata started alongside Johnson at DT. Epenesa will play.

LB- Best position group on the defense led by Josey Jewell. All three projected starters are seniors but it sounds like sophomore Amani Jones is pushing Bower for his starting spot.

DB- Lost an All American in Desmond King. The 3 guys that will play most at CB (Jackson, Rugamba and Ojemudia) have gained some experience the last couple of years and Rugamba really played well as a true freshman last year after Mabin went down. We were set to return both starters at safety (Taylor and Snyder) but Snyder tore his ACL in spring ball and is expected out all year. His replacement, Jack Gervase, had 3 INT's in the spring game but that was mostly due to poor QB play. Sophomore Amani Hooker may push Gervase from the starting spot.

Special Teams- Keith Duncan is the place kicker, Colton Rastetter will most likely be the punter and it sounds like Wadley is lobbying to return kicks and punts which would be a great weapon.

Let me know if you have questions.

Pretty good rundown. Iowa QB situation is concerning for them but it should make their job a heckuva lot easier with a good running game to help out.

Also I am torn on when teams have their best players return punts/kicks. You want your best play makers back there, but if they got injured you'd really be kicking yourself.

 

[cyhiphopp]

UNI only returns two assistant coaches (TEs and DBs but he moved to coach RBs). They were replaced with older guys from tiny, unsuccessful programs (Tennessee-Martin, UT-Davis). Have no idea how its possible, but actually on our 3rd OC of the offseason. Everything I've heard does point to Farley coaching for his job this year, his act has worn pretty thin and having a new aggressive AD came at the worst time for him

Should be good defensively, Farley always is, but the offense will most likely be a train wreck. If Iowa State doesn't win this by at least a couple of scores, I'd have some real reservations about Matt Campbell going forward.

Wow. If the new AD fires Farley then he's an idiot. There's no earthly reason why UNI should be as good as they have been the last 15 years other than Farley is a good coach. I don't even like the guy, but I would laugh at UNI if they thought they could suddenly do better than him. Even if his new staff struggles, you let him work it out.

Now the Cyclone fan in me says let the guy burn. With the financial problems UNI has they will have a hell of a time finding a good replacement.

 

[YeahBuddy]

Also I am torn on when teams have their best players return punts/kicks. You want your best play makers back there, but if they got injured you'd really be kicking yourself.

Its really kind a new thing for KF as well. In the past he would never even have considered putting King or Wadley back there.

It always seemed like the guy returning punts was a sure handed guy that is fine taking a fair catch. Our most dynamic punt returners, prior to King, were Hinkel and Martin-Manley.

Field position is such a huge component of the game for Iowa, I think the risk is worth the reward.

 

[1UNI2ISU]

Wow. If the new AD fires Farley then he's an idiot. There's no earthly reason why UNI should be as good as they have been the last 15 years other than Farley is a good coach. I don't even like the guy, but I would laugh at UNI if they thought they could suddenly do better than him. Even if his new staff struggles, you let him work it out.

Now the Cyclone fan in me says let the guy burn. With the financial problems UNI has they will have a hell of a time finding a good replacement.

He's the highest paid coach in FCS and UNI spends well above the national average on football at the FCS level and he hasn't delivered anywhere near the results to match that since 2008. Couple that with the fact that he's not very easy to get along with and he's put himself in the situation he's in. UNI only owes him one year if they pull the trigger after this year. It won't be difficult to find a very good coach with the resources and facilities we're able to offer.

 

[cyhiphopp]

He's the highest paid coach in FCS and UNI spends well above the national average on football at the FCS level and he hasn't delivered anywhere near the results to match that since 2008. Couple that with the fact that he's not very easy to get along with and he's put himself in the situation he's in. UNI only owes him one year if they pull the trigger after this year. It won't be difficult to find a very good coach with the resources and facilities we're able to offer.

Ok. I thought he had been pretty successful for the FCS level, but I guess he hasn't won a title or anything.

I think with UNIs location and recruiting disadvantages that they would be happy to keep a coach who has been loyal to the school. You MIGHT be able to get a good coach to replace him, but will that guy bolt in 3 years when a better deal comes along? Farley has been there forever and there will be a rebuilding process no matter who is hired.

Also, I think if they fired Farley, they wouldn't offer nearly as much to the next guy. UNI shouldn't be spending as much as they do on football with all of their financial issues.

My bet, if they did let Farley go after a bad season this year, is that they would be hiring a new coach again 4 years from now. Rinse, repeat.

 

[BryceC]

I would warn people about just chalking up Akron, they have a great coaching staff for a mid-major.

I think ISU stands as good a chance to beat Iowa this year as any time in recent memory especially if this QB competition keeps up. I see a really low scoring game this year.

That said I think 2-1 should be the expectation for the noncon this year.

 

[TheJackWePack5]

I would warn people about just chalking up Akron, they have a great coaching staff for a mid-major.

I think ISU stands as good a chance to beat Iowa this year as any time in recent memory especially if this QB competition keeps up. I see a really low scoring game this year.

That said I think 2-1 should be the expectation for the noncon this year.

As I stated in my post looking at the 3 non-conference opponents, Akron returns a ton of players. Not a lay-up by any means, on top of the fact that it's a road game...

 

[1UNI2ISU]

Ok. I thought he had been pretty successful for the FCS level, but I guess he hasn't won a title or anything.

I think with UNIs location and recruiting disadvantages that they would be happy to keep a coach who has been loyal to the school. You MIGHT be able to get a good coach to replace him, but will that guy bolt in 3 years when a better deal comes along? Farley has been there forever and there will be a rebuilding process no matter who is hired.

Also, I think if they fired Farley, they wouldn't offer nearly as much to the next guy. UNI shouldn't be spending as much as they do on football with all of their financial issues.

My bet, if they did let Farley go after a bad season this year, is that they would be hiring a new coach again 4 years from now. Rinse, repeat.

That's fair. I totally get that side as well.

Truth be told, there's a fair number of UNI people that would either drop to non-scholarship or drop football altogether and put every dime we could find into Men's Basketball but that is never, ever, ever, ever going to happen.

Back to the topic at hand, ISU beats UNI handily (three scores, 31-13ish), loses a close one to Iowa and beats Akron by 7-10.

 

[CycloneErik]

I think we need to start thinking differently with Matt Campbell here than we have in past. Anywhere from 5 to 8 wins wouldn't surprise me.

Agreed. There's no reason to believe that we're stuck forever as a 3-4 win team.
They've shown already that they can put the offense together. Team seems deeper this year, probably (or I lost track).

Why can't things be better?

 

[tolfbfan]

As for Akron, they return a bunch of guys off of a mediocre team. This should be a win but I don't like playing early season road games against veteran teams. How the eff did we end up playing these guys on the road??!! Smh.

Recruiting and team CMC knows very well. Also scouting info from current Toledo staff.

 

[YeahBuddy]

Recruiting and team CMC knows very well. Also scouting info from current Toledo staff.

Pretty sure the game at Akron would have been scheduled before Campbell was at ISU. I may be wrong but usually the OOC are scheduled a few years in advance.

 

[tolfbfan]

Pretty sure the game at Akron would have been scheduled before Campbell was at ISU. I may be wrong but usually the OOC are scheduled a few years in advance.

Could be, just mentioning reasons if scheduled by CMC. You probably are correct!

 

[The_Gent]

Recruiting and team CMC knows very well. Also scouting info from current Toledo staff.

Pretty sure it was scheduled prior to his arrival. Even if that's not the case it's still ridiculous. Home and home games are supposed to be scheduled with similar opponents. Doing one with a MAC team is pitiful. SMH.

 

[tolfbfan]

Pretty sure it was scheduled prior to his arrival. Even if that's not the case it's still ridiculous. Home and home games are supposed to be scheduled with similar opponents. Doing one with a MAC team is pitiful. SMH.

Stated and answered to YeaBuddy. Probably correct, but they will make the most of it for recruiting.

 

[cyclones500]

Looks like 3 wins to me.

If ISU goes 3-9, I'll be disappointed. Not saying it couldn't happen, but if Campbell is getting this program onto an up-curve, we ought to at least knock on the door of bowl-eligibility. Some good talent & experience returning, there's a clear front-runner at QB, and ISU has had one season of system-transition.

I won't stretch expectation to an 8-win season by any means. I've followed Iowa State football too long to go to that level (at least this season). Hints of positive change started to take shape in 2016, but we can't languish in "near-wins" indefinitely.

 

[tolfbfan]

As I stated in my post looking at the 3 non-conference opponents, Akron returns a ton of players. Not a lay-up by any means, on top of the fact that it's a road game...

I have to say that this game scares me more than any other MAC school we could play other than Toledo and Western Michigan.

 

[im4cyru]

This topic has been covered very well. A lot of good dialogue here guys, thanks. I'll just add a bit more to the mix.

Though 17 UNI starters of seven games or more return from last season we should handle them convincingly; lord help us if we don't.

Akron is coached by Terry Bowden who recruits and plays a load of transfers. As pointed out here in previous posts this is a road game we should not be playing. A P5 conference member going into the toy room of an experienced MAC team that will believe it has something to prove. We had better wear our big boy pants.

With respect to Iowa State/Iowa expect the usual. Iowa will likely sputter against Wyoming and play like the B1G team of the week against us in the game they claim means nothing to them.

 

[tolfbfan]

This topic has been covered very well. A lot of good dialogue here guys, thanks. I'll just add a bit more to the mix.

Though 17 UNI starters of seven games or more return from last season we should handle them convincingly; lord help us if we don't.

Akron is coached by Terry Bowden who recruits and plays a load of transfers. As pointed out here in previous posts this is a road game we should not be playing. A P5 conference member going into the toy room of an experienced MAC team that will believe it has something to prove. We had better wear our big boy pants.

With respect to Iowa State/Iowa expect the usual. Iowa will likely sputter against Wyoming and play like the B1G team of the week against us in the game they claim means nothing to them.

YEP!

 

[NolyClone11]

Pollard was in my sports economics class the other day and was asked about having a home and home series with teams like Akron and he said it just makes sense financially as it would cost us 2-3 million to just have them come to Ames and us not return there. Compared to only around 750k for FCS teams like UNI.