One third through the season

[cyclone1209]

I wrote this before the season started and just found it. Thought it would be fun to post my thoughts through 4 games (8 games left).



Clearly that hasn't happened. I had hoped we'd be 3-1 at this point.

The good:

• Rocco is the decision-maker I had hoped for
• Daniel Jackson has stepped up as a viable #2 receiver
• TE Brahmer has looked good, overall I'm relatively happy with the group as a whole
• Bacon is the surprise LB that no one saw coming
• DB's are every bit as good as we hoped, maybe even better
• Special teams are much much better

The mixed bag:

• Coach Nate Scheelhaase has looked good at times and horrible at others. Hard to tell who that's on more (him or CMC), but the trend at the moment is in the right direction. Some small things look a TON better: QB sneak, fewer false starts/substitution issues/getting the play call in issues, etc. Some play designs have been way too predictable and therefore completely unsuccessful. Other play calls are not to our strengths (e.g. zone read).
• Defensive line: Orange, Onydeim, Ezeogu etc have looked good at times, but don't consistently cause as much havoc as you'd like. Not bad/not awesome.
• The defense as a whole has been a little underwhelming overall. The talent is there in the back end and the INTs show for it. But the numbers as a whole don't look as good as you'd expect

The not so good:

• Offensive line - it all starts here and it's not pretty. There are no players that have stepped up noticeably. Probably the best thing I can say is fewer false starts and snaps have been good. James Neal and Darrel Simmons have been particularly underwhelming
• Running backs - yes, you could put it all on the line, but I'm not going to do that. While yes, there haven't been many holes to hit, when they are there, they haven't been attacked like you'd want to see. Norton seems to be at the point where he expects a hole to not be there.
• The WR room again has zero breakout players outside of Jackson. Where in the world are guys like Gains, Adams, Bitter, Essex? This is the biggest head scratcher for me. With the number of guys we have on the bench, none of them are good enough to see the field? With the run game unlikely to improve much this year, we have to identify more weapons.

Every season is a wild ride... how are we now compared to what you though we'd be at this point in the season?

Agree with most of this.

I'll say I disagree a little with the defense. They are turning the ball over more. We have 5 INT's this season which is actually quite a bit better than the D last year.

Surprises for me have been:
- How accurate / decisive Rocco can be when we let him
- Daniel Jackson, somewhat upsetting he didn't play more last year, and maybe he was hurt
- DE spot, I really thought Joey Petersen or someone would have some more sacks. This is an area I hope we can improve. We cannot let Dillon Gabriel sit in the pocket for 5 seconds, we let that happen too much for opposing QBs

 

[HouClone]

Orange and Onydeim looked awesome during the UNI game. But I haven't seen them make any impact since.

 

[nrg4isu]

Orange and Onydeim looked awesome during the UNI game. But I haven't seen them make any impact since.

Run defense, on the inside anyway has still been pretty good. Outside contain has been a problem a few times. Bowman was very good at throwing the deep ball when pressured, or just throwing it away. I'm not as down on the Dline as much as others. Obviously we'll learn more about them next week.

 

[demoncore1031]

Imo Jackson looks the part of the best receiver on the team.

Maybe the light came on a bit last week or even the week prior (he was reliable iirc) and he'll continue to show out which could help everyone.

I don't know, man. It was just one game. Lets see how he does the rest of the season. But he has definitely taken some major steps forward and I love the potential.

 

[demoncore1031]

Orange and Onydeim looked awesome during the UNI game. But I haven't seen them make any impact since.

Onyedim has been decent, in my opinion. But we don't really have anyone that stands out as a pass rusher.

 

[clonehome]

We have no shot vs KU.

We’re going to beat KU at home. They got lucky as hell that we didn’t beat them last year.

 

[t-noah]

We have no shot vs KU.

We’re going to beat KU at home. They got lucky as hell that we didn’t beat them last year.

I'd like to see us play well the next two games against some better teams, then we'll see.

Beating KU at home will be huge. Who wants to take the next step into the mid- to upper pack of the new Big 12? Who might descend even further?

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

I refuse to believe KU is better than ISU.

 

[SolterraCyclone]

That Ohio loss really hurt for bowl eligibility. I think we could steal 3 more wins. 4 is a stretch.

We’ll have to sweep @Cincy, @Baylor, and @BYU (which will be really hard) and then swipe one of TCU or KU at home. I don’t give us anymore than a miracle’s chance against OU, Texas, or @KSU.

 

[CascadeClone]

That Ohio loss really hurt for bowl eligibility. I think we could steal 3 more wins. 4 is a stretch.

We’ll have to sweep @Cincy, @Baylor, and @BYU (which will be really hard) and then swipe one of TCU or KU at home. I don’t give us anymore than a miracle’s chance against OU, Texas, or @KSU.

Agree except i think the odds of winning both tcu and ku at home are better than sweeping those 3 road games. But those are the 5 games within reach. If they keep improving and stay healthy...

Texas, maybe they could upset them, you can imagine how pretty easy.
Defense holds them to like 20, and you get a D/ST score. Not saying will, just saying could.

Zero optimism from me at ksu and at OU. Well, maybe OU will crap the bed, but i doubt it.

 

[CYEATHAWK]

The defense is good enough to keep ISU in every game. So like I have said in multiple threads it will come down to if the 2017 version of Matt Campbell shows up.......or last and this years version of Matt Ferentz. Because if 2017 show up to call offensive plays ISU has a chance in every game including OU and UT. If Matt Ferentz shows up ISU has no chance. It's as simple as that.

 

[SolterraCyclone]

Agree except i think the odds of winning both tcu and ku at home are better than sweeping those 3 road games. But those are the 5 games within reach. If they keep improving and stay healthy...

Texas, maybe they could upset them, you can imagine how pretty easy.
Defense holds them to like 20, and you get a D/ST score. Not saying will, just saying could.

Zero optimism from me at ksu and at OU. Well, maybe OU will crap the bed, but i doubt it.

Yeah I agree with most. It’s a bummer because I think winning 2 of those 3 on the road and one of TCU, KU at home would be a good season had we taken care of business against Ohio. That would get us to a bowl on a really tough schedule.

I think Texas at home is the least likely of the 3 miracles. They are a legit title contender. I think we’re just assuming we might be able to steal that based on Texas’ history. But that is probably the hardest game on the schedule

 

[acoustimac]

Can we go 4-4 from here? That’s my new target. We will need some breaks.

Here’s who we have left:
- At OU
- TCU
- At Cincy
- At Baylor
- KU
- At BYU
- Texas
- At KSU

Possible wins are TCU, Cincy, Baylor, KU, BYU

This team could weirdly beat Texas but lose to Cincy. I expect this group to play hard every game.

What you wrote is exactly my most optimistic take. With BYU and Cincy being on the road they are pretty tough. Especially since both have decent offenses.

 

[Cloned4Life]

I refuse to believe KU is better than ISU.

It’s a hard one to cope with, for sure.

And it basically only took them 1 season.

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

It’s a hard one to cope with, for sure.

And it basically only took them 1 season.

That's what I mean. No way they have the same talent level with two years of roster churn.

 

[TitanClone]

Can we go 4-4 from here? That’s my new target. We will need some breaks.

Here’s who we have left:
- At OU
- TCU
- At Cincy
- At Baylor
- KU
- At BYU
- Texas
- At KSU

Possible wins are TCU, Cincy, Baylor, KU, BYU

This team could weirdly beat Texas but lose to Cincy. I expect this group to play hard every game.

This team feels a bit like the 2011 team that beat Okie State. We had no business winning that game but had some timely turnovers mixed in with a couple flashes on offense, when otherwise the offense wasn't good at all that game. I have zero expectations at this point but won't be shocked if we beat Texas or K State.

 

[clonehome]

Yeah I agree with most. It’s a bummer because I think winning 2 of those 3 on the road and one of TCU, KU at home would be a good season had we taken care of business against Ohio. That would get us to a bowl on a really tough schedule.

I think Texas at home is the least likely of the 3 miracles. They are a legit title contender. I think we’re just assuming we might be able to steal that based on Texas’ history. But that is probably the hardest game on the schedule

I’m hoping for a night game on Nov 18 in the worst weather possible. That’s our best chance vs Texas. Maybe a reprise of our 2011 win over OSU that knocked them out of the title game (although it was pretty warm that night).

 

[loyalsons4evertrue]

I understand we played a really bad Oklahoma State team last weekend, but there are other not so great Big 12 defenses we will play down the road....Cincy, Kansas, and TCU......TCU and KU are both at home and can be winnable if we have the right offensive game plan. Cincy will be a tough road game but is also winnable. I think we at least need to go 2-1 in the matchups I listed. Maybe steal one in Waco as Baylor is not impressive right now.

 

[MugNight]

What you wrote is exactly my most optimistic take. With BYU and Cincy being on the road they are pretty tough. Especially since both have decent offenses.

Shoot, even splitting those would be great. This season feels different where expectations were probably lower to begin with. I don’t see morale fading like it might have done in 2021 when we laid those eggs with our best roster ever.

Given our youth, I think CMC is taking extra care to keep the group motivated and focused on growing through it all. He swung it too far against Ohio and played not to lose. OSU seems to have been a recalibration.

We can say what we want about moral victories, but I think this team will benefit from them along the way.

 

[Cfinnerty16]

Was interesting to hear on that 4th and 3 play, Rocco went over to the sideline and told coach that if we run a certain play again, Noel would be open if we ran it right.
Then bam, Noel open.
Rocco has it