I don't give a flying jack Sj*t crap if they had 10th year seniors. The apologists are unreal. We are allegedly a Big 12 team playing a freaking Mac team. Yes, a good team, but a MAC team. And got physically whupped as much as I would if I stepped into a ring with prime Mike Tyson.
Hufford - started 3 years, essentially
Miller - 2nd year starting
SImmons - 3rd year starting
Bonifas - has been here, what, 2-3 years?
Neal - is new but he's not a true freshman
Don't act like we had a bunch of 18 year old kids. We had men over the age of 21 playing other men over the age of 21 and got our crap pushed in.
Or that we are the only team that has a lot of underclassmen playing. Because its not like we're the only young team in America.
We are in year freaking 7. We just brought in a new S&C, and was raved about how much weight and strength and everyone gained.
Yes, Iowa State is never going to win a national title in football.
Yes, Iowa State is never going to perennially win the Big 12.
Yes, Iowa State is never going to finish top 25 in recruiting.
Yes, Iowa State is never going to win 8+ games regularly.
Yes, Iowa State is going to be athletically at a disadvantage against certain teams like Texas, OU, etc.
NONE of that pertains to Ohio. NONE of that pertains to Northern Iowa.
I completely support having realistic expectations at Iowa State. But I am so tired of the apologists and excuses after losing to Iowa (again) in a game where we self destructed and looked like crap on offense (again) and struggling to push around an FCS team and getting pushed around by a MAC team.
How exactly is it unrealistic to expect an offensive line to not look like dog crap with an offense that looks like it can run effectively more than 6-8 plays? This is a team that was leading the nation in turnovers and we just lost the turnover battle.
There is no spin for this. No justifying it. It was ugly. It was embarassing. It was that simple. And rather than having a coach who comes out and says it's unacceptable and its on him and the coaches he talks about how they're a hair off. I am as close as I've ever been to apathy with Iowa State football and I was a fan during Walden and the end of Criner.