State of the Football Program

[ISUFan22]

LMAO.

I know, Chris Brown was causing all that pressure we were getting in the first half on their QB.

Just lunacy man...

 

[ISUFan22]

In all fairness, Chris Brown didn't miss two easy FGs for Colorado, and Chris Brown or not, no one in their right mind should think that we shut CU out in the first half if Cody Hawkins starts.

Right. I knew we were in trouble when they made the QB change. That's twice this year a QB change beat us.

 

[ajk4st8]

Picking out a position on defense that is worse than another for ISU is kind of pointless.

 

[MaxPower57]

The thing that really bothers me about the defense is that the guys that are out there are for the most part, upperclassmen.

DL-2Sr2Jr I don't understand why Lyle doesn't start over Parker as Rashawn just doesn't seem to do anything. We have to hope Maggitt is some sort of pass rushing monster, but he is undersized and hasn't played a snap. It seems that a JC DE would help here, but Taylor Martin is playing like an average JC player, I doubt he would come in and be anymore of an upgrade over what we already have. Laing is another name to throw in there. Frere seems solid, then we have Black and Johnson, who were supposed to play a lot but have been hurt, so who knows with them. Rumpeolhamer has played well, and we have McDonough coming off redshirt. These, hopes for the future, however, will just have to go through their own growing pains next year as they really are not playing at all now.

LB (with Bibbs)-1Sr2Jr

In the Tampa 2 you have to have a great athlete to help cover the middle of the field. I know people rag on the safeties for giving it all up, but a lot of it goes on Smith. He's smart, plays hard and is alright against the run, but he is physically limited and can't really succeed in pass coverage. A guy who runs a 5.0 forty isn't going to be able to cover anyone in the Big XII. Bell, the guy with all the physical attributes, just doesn't seem comfortable out there. He probably should have stayed at RB and been the powerback we needed the last two years, but hopefully he can get it together since he has all the tools. Yet, even with some starting experience with Bibbs being hurt, his stats are pretty even with the likes of Ernest Ferguson who may end up being a decent player for us. With Garrin and Raven you get two average guys who don't really help or hurt.

DB- It changes every week so who knows.

There is a logjam at CB with Johnson, Benton, Bell, Banks, and McDowell coming back. Someone should move to safety, and I think it should be LJ. He seems to have the best feel for the game as he is often in the right place at the right time. That would fit him well at safety as it deals with playing in space and he isn't afraid to lay the wood. At CB his impact can be limited as a team can ignore the half of the field he controls, at safety he can be more of an impact player on the whole field and help out stopping the run. Out of the remaining corners we should be able to find 2-3 guys to do a decent job.

At safety, James Smith is alright, a pretty sure tackler, but those tackles are usually 15+ yards down the field. Then we got guys like Sandvig and O'Connell who seem like primarily special teams guys. Hopefully Butler can step in and contribute.

The offense seems to be making progress, but the D has just kind of played at the same low quality all year....even against SDSU and KSU outside of the TOs. You can score all the points you want but if you can't stop anybody you wont win any.

Yet I'm cautiously optimistic this will all get better as it can't get any worse. I'm in it for the long haul with Cyclone athletics, as I'm sure you all are too, so lets beat Kansas State and go Cyclones!

 

[isucy86]

State of the Program

This is a tale of 2 teams.

I am very optimistic about our offense. We lose 2 guys who played considerable minutes in Sumrall/Dedrick and only lose 2 other guys who are in the 2 deeps Scales/Johnson. I don't want to minimize those guys abilities, but I think their replacements will be as good or better- considering Darks & Johnson will be sophs and Jones & Hamilton will both be seniors. At OT we should be able to fill the 2 slots among Hulburt, Haughton and Hicks. That assumes Lamaak moves over to guard.

Add to the mix guys like Tiller(QB), Swartz(RB) and Williams(RB) we should have competition at each position and hopefully it will be stiff.

On defense- we need a talent infusion. Leonard Johnson might be the only difference maker. I thought Nate Frere played well, but he is basically a hole plugger. I also thought Lyle played well at times and would like to see if he could get upto 265-270lbs and play strong side DE. Otherwise we need a dynamic DT that can stuff the run & put pressure on the QB. We also need a huge upgrade at Weak End- hopefully the JUCO kid can hold the edge and get to the QB.

LB was a disappointment, especially on the outside. These guys didn't provide much in run support or in pass coverage. Jesse Smith gets the most out of his ability, but he is a liability in pass coverage.

As bad as our pass coverage was this year- DB's might be our strength with Johnson, Benton, Bell, McDowell and Banks returning. I'd like to see if Banks or Bell can't be moved to safety if they can get up to 200lbs.

The coaches also needs to do some self evaluation. If Chizik is serious about establishing the run- he needs to consider using the spread offense less. Running plays take too long to develop. There is a reason why good running teams typically have a QB take the snap under center. Additionally, although Austin is a strong runner, he doesn't have the quickness or didn't show the decisionmaking be even an average option QB in the spread. Maybe Tiller is the answer if ISU is determined to be a spread team, running the option and short passes. However, I really like what I saw of Austin when he threw the ball down field. If he can improve his accuracy, I think we might have one of the better passing QB's at ISU since David Archer.

 

[dualthreat]

Hardly anyone in the Big 12 has a good defense.. the best maybe 2-3 do, but everyone else can just outscore the opponent. Iowa has a good D, yet they would get killed in the big 12 with their offense the way it is.

 

[Ficklone02]

The thing that gets to me about our defense is all the blown coverages. Supposedly the way Chizik teaches his Tampa 2 is a very simplistic manner that is easy to pick up....so that the guys do less thinking out there and more reacting knowing they are in the right spots to make the plays. If that is true, then why all the blown coverages...especially if the strength of our defense is allegedly our cb's. I know part of this is the d-line creating next to no pressure on the qb...but still, sometimes there are guys catching passes without a defender within ten yards.

 

[Wesley]

Nobody should be surprised that our defense is struggling. We lost 3 NFL players from our defense a year ago, and we should have known going into it, that there were not a lot of guys ready to go behind them.

Who do you think has NFL potential coming back next year? Just a question for the group.

 

[Wesley]

I think the big question is whether our defense looks better from the 1st game until the last. I'm far from a defensive guru but it doesn't look any better to me. If these players are not getting better as the year goes along what makes people think that these same players will all of a sudden be good after 8 months?

On the other hand, I think our offense has been looking better.

Just trying to be honest here since the season is almost over.

The offense became better once AA recovered and McF opened up offense. Yet 20 and 28 popints in the last two games is not a big improvement from 18 points a game last year. Our five yards in plays are terrible, just terrible and need a medic. Next year I can see 30 points a game.

However, the defense was lost at the start of the game. I saw three arm tackles and foot slips on the first three plays. The game was over essentially before the second quarter started because we show no ability to stop the Bg 12 passing game. We missed a lot of tackles last night and we played soft defense compared to Missouri. Why? We were the home team. Looks to me like we lack stars on defense all over the field. Again, we can intercept and recover loose balls. I just saw little progression of the defense this year as opposed to last year when we had three NFL stars. I ask who will be improving in the group. Leadership is needed. JS and LJ? We need a tough fast active tackler somewhere on the defense. Hope to have one by next yea.

Special teams holds its own. Thank god.

I just think we lose 40-30 next year unless something changes on defense. Bolt has his off season work cut out for himself. Actually, so does McFarland because we need to score 40 at home and not fieldgoals. The pressure will be on them. We still need a legit Berryman. Our defensive line looks undersized by 20 pounds. I noticed no one had double digit tackles last night. The tackles were spread around again.

 

[cycloneML]

Who do you think has NFL potential coming back next year? Just a question for the group.

lj

 

[cmoneyr]

lj

Based on one year of above average play on a below average defense? Surely you jest.

 

[kurecabinboy]

I think a lot of this discussion goes back to what we've been used to seeing over the last 5 years. Honestly, ISU was blessed to have Scledaney (sp?) at defensive coordinator under McCarney. He did wonderful things with some pretty good talent on a regular basis. We're used to seeing a solid defense and a weak offense, which has been reversed this year.

Now, we have a head coach known for being a defensive guru who seems to have talent at the corners, but doesn't trust them to play one-on-one with the receivers and blitz the hell out of our opponents to make up for our weakness up the middle. I don't get it.

On the other side of the ball, we have the best offense on the field at ISU in six years and that's what's putting the fannies in the seats. Our offensive coordinator is doing a great job of calling our games and the young talent we have on the field will start to really deliver next year and put up some points, especially with Bo in the backfield next year!!!

I'm pumped to see our offense next year and I trust Chizik enough to come up with enough improvements in the defense next year to make us competitive.

 

[Omaha Cy]

I hate to be the poo-poo guy in this thread, but only 1 cyclone(from last year) is playing in the nfl. Tuba made it....bowen is in nfl purgatory as he is a Buffalo Bill, but on injured reserve. Banks was cut late in preseason. did he get re-signed and i didnt hear about it?

Bowen has yet to play his way onto an nfl field.

 

[Erik4Cy]

Did anybody realize that if we win next saturday, we will not be last in the big 12 north? I for some dumb reason just came to that. 5th place and K-State being the one with the huge losing streak would be a tiny victory to end the year. Plus ending the conf. & road losing streaks would be nice. I think the older guys could've used a win for senior day. no such luck. but it's okay. I think the YOUNGER guys need this win at the end to keep them as optimistic about the future of the program as the fans are. BTW - I was VERY proud of the support by the Cyclone faithful at least at the beginning of the game. JTS was not a sellout of course, but very good showing. I must say as fans, we DO deserve better. And it will come in time.

 

[Stormin]

Our safeties are bad. Linebackers can't cover the TE and backs out of the backfield. Corners blow coverage. DL have trouble getting pressure on the QB but other wise our defense looks great. (sarcasm) On offense we are pretty good except we can't convert a 3rd and 1 or 4th and inches to save our soul. We haven't broke a long pass and had someone open all year for a long TD. What happened to Jason Carlson? And Sedrick Johnson I thought would make a greater impact.