And last year we were 1-2, coming off a message board full of people calling for the coach to be fired and finished 6-3 in the Big 12.
Is this years' team better than we thought?
- Thread starter mjhavlo76
- Start date
And last year we were 1-2, coming off a message board full of people calling for the coach to be fired and finished 6-3 in the Big 12.
Different feel though. This team has better depth. I still think the 2022 team goes 8-4 if Jirehl Brock stays healthy and the kicking game was competent.
Not sure how good we are yet, but I think it's important to look at how we beat Iowa because it wasn't like 2022 in how absolutely inept that offense was. Iowa can run the ball and Kaleb Johnson seems to be the real deal and we had to go out and stop him. Our offense also made a few mistakes but we scored 20 points in one half against a very solid defense in a tough environment.
I don't think you can look at the 2022 season and compare it to this season at this moment. I think we're far more talented at most of the positions, plus we have a more favorable schedule. I just went back and looked but we only played one team in conference that didn't make a bowl game and that was West Virginia, who we beat.
This also is not me saying that 2022 team was good, because we weren't. Realistically speaking, we should roll Houston Saturday and come back home for a fun one under the lights against another not good team. I'm in no way looking ahead, just playing hypotheticals, but that WVU game would be so damn big considering what we have ahead of us, which would be 3 home games and essentially another in the KU game at Arrowhead.
All of that is fun to talk about but does not matter whatsoever. Just beat Houston. Don't care if we sneak out of there with one.
I don't think you can look at the 2022 season and compare it to this season at this moment. I think we're far more talented at most of the positions, plus we have a more favorable schedule. I just went back and looked but we only played one team in conference that didn't make a bowl game and that was West Virginia, who we beat.
This also is not me saying that 2022 team was good, because we weren't. Realistically speaking, we should roll Houston Saturday and come back home for a fun one under the lights against another not good team. I'm in no way looking ahead, just playing hypotheticals, but that WVU game would be so damn big considering what we have ahead of us, which would be 3 home games and essentially another in the KU game at Arrowhead.
All of that is fun to talk about but does not matter whatsoever. Just beat Houston. Don't care if we sneak out of there with one.
I love this team and fully expect our play under CMC to continue to improve each week. I’m just saying live in the moment and enjoy the game at Houston this week. No reason to jump to the end of the season with projections right now when this team is going to be fun to watch this weekend and each weekend after.
Last edited:
I’ve seen several posters pump the brakes on this ISU team because “we haven’t played someone really good yet.” Well, judging by how Iowa came out in the 2nd half and kicked the **** out of Minnesota I think they are really good, even though we like to diminish our rival. Other than Ohio St they play a very manageable schedule with Nebraska being their next best opponent. Don’t be surprised if this Iowa team wins 8, 9 or 10 games. The Clones just bowed up and dominated them on the road in the 2nd half in a game where we were pressed to the max.
demoncore1031
Well-Known Member
In the last 30+ years I have learned to not get my hopes up too much when it comes to ISU football.
Rocco has been a bit inaccurate at times this year and that is a concern.
The o-line has been average and the run game has been less than impressive. Yeah, they ran all over one of the worst run defenses in the country, but we haven't had a run of 20 or more yards in 3 games.
There's a lot to be optimistic about though. We have a great secondary, solid d-line, and the linebackers are improving every week. Plus we have some weapons in the pass game.
I'm hoping the things this team doesn't do well end up getting worked out and we have a great October like usual. The ceiling is high for this year, so let's wait and see how it all plays out.
Rocco has been a bit inaccurate at times this year and that is a concern.
The o-line has been average and the run game has been less than impressive. Yeah, they ran all over one of the worst run defenses in the country, but we haven't had a run of 20 or more yards in 3 games.
There's a lot to be optimistic about though. We have a great secondary, solid d-line, and the linebackers are improving every week. Plus we have some weapons in the pass game.
I'm hoping the things this team doesn't do well end up getting worked out and we have a great October like usual. The ceiling is high for this year, so let's wait and see how it all plays out.
So we play Houston this weekend. Houston only lost to OU by 4 and Cincinnati by 34 so Cincinnati is by far the better team. Buffalo beat Northern Illinois who beat Notre Dame so Buffalo would definitely beat Notre Dame right? Comparing scores against opponents isn't the best way to evaluate a team.
Haha, lost? What are we even talking about?
I got pegged on here for predicting a slow walk type of win in the opener and for thinking Iowa wasn't that good after that win.
I predicted a 30ish-10ish type of win this past Saturday. ISU surpassed that. They appear to be a pretty good, not great team and that 30-10 type of score wouldn't have changed my perspective.
Discussion is good, making **** up doesn't really add much.
Last edited:
The record is the ONLY similarity between these two teams
Add in that North Dakota, for an FCS team, is actually pretty decent...beating Montana, along with their other 2 wins. We will see later in the season if they are really better as they still have games against NDSU, South Dakota State, and UNI. Certainly not a bottom dweller. Arkansas State may very well win their conference too...time will tell. Bottom line is that the first 3 teams have certainly gotten ISU ready for conference play, where Campbell has proven his chops over the previous seasons. Let's enjoy the ride, one game at a time.
Ha! I did mean win by 10. But my point still stands. If the results were reversed we’d be saying how worried we’d were. It’s ok to think we might be good.
Yeah…Rocco's first half against ASU was a mess. His receivers rescued him over and over from his errant throws. All correctable though.
I worry about the environment at both of those games, if I'm being honest.
I don't think most fans are going to be hyped about playing UCF unless they rack up some marquee wins and are highly ranked when they come to town. That starts this Saturday when they host Team Prime in the national spotlight.
And the joint should be rocking for Farmageddon, but it's always hard to expect a super huge and engaged crowd over Thanksgiving break. If it's a "win and in" situation with the CCG on the line, it'll be electric. If it's simply to avoid a third or fourth conference loss I suspect it'll be pretty mild.
I'm seeing some parallels to last years basketball team. People were complaining that we should have had a tougher non-con but that allowed us to gel as a team. We feared the worst when Tamin sat out but the next up stepped in and jettisoned their careers. That whole thing didn't work out too bad for us. Let's hope we follow a similar path with the football team this year. Would be awesome if the Utah football game goes like the Houston game at the end of the Basketball season, provided we get that far, but things are lining up.
The only thing I'm a little worried about is that we haven't played anyone with an offensive pulse yet.....and I don't know if we'll get that until maybe the WVU game...and that one is in Morgantown....we historically have not played great there.
That said, one game at a time. Let's go beat the Coogs!
That said, one game at a time. Let's go beat the Coogs!
I don't think that iowa is awful. They are flawed, but not a bad team. Last year's iowa team had zero offense, but elite defense and ST. This year, their D and ST have taken a small step back, but their offense is better. They still can't throw very well, but their OL is better and their RB is having an all-conference if not all-American season. That's going to be a good win for us because a lot of teams on their schedule will once again not be able to play that defense and not make game changing mistakes. They'll definitely lose to tOSU and probably pick up another L along the way from some team that can stop the run well, but I feel like it's going to be one of our top 3-4 wins all year.
I understand your concern about both games but UCF and Iowa State have pretty favorable schedules moving forward....I find it hard to believe UCF would drop a home game to Colorado or Cincy....and they have one road game at Florida...which is a tough place to play but Florida is a terrible team. There's a decent chance that our game against UCF is a ranked matchup.
And people were concerned that the Texas game last year was not going to be attended very well last year as it was leading up to Thanksgiving but I can assure you if we're still ranked or hell, in a position for a possible Big 12 Championship berth, that game will be sold out.
