Everything I stated in my last post still holds true. Bad teams find a way to lose. Iowa State fans have been witness to the maxim for more than 100 football seasons.
The only bright spot to come from the three losses is the chance to chant the Cyclone Classic Cheer: "Wait 'till basketball! Wait 'till basketball!" (like Nebraska cares).
One glimmer of hope: ISU has left on it's schedule three teams that rank below it on the current Sagarin rankings: OSU this week, K State and Kansas, who has an amazingly motionless offense and will probably fire their coach at the end of the year. Win all three, and they get another bowl trip, and opponent the can beat and the three weeks of practice to work on next season. That's the goal now. Anything more is gravy.
It was ironic that during the loss to Baylor the ISU marketing department began running their TV ads for the coming hoops season. The men's team has a great slogan: "I Will". Taken to heart, it should encourage each player to play his role, do his job, win some games. When a team has some filthy talent like Stinson, it is natural to begin to stand around and wait for him to make the play to save the day. There were moments during Jamaal Tinsley's senior year that this happened. Hopefully Wayne can get his crew to avoid these lapses at critical moments.
It is that slogan that seems to be lacking in the football team at the moment. When the key opportunity presents itself, the football player just can't catch the pass, grab the fumble cleanly, or score without fumbling. One play in each loss would have resulted in a probable win, and ISU is getting BCS buzz. Instead, they are hanging on for dear life.
A game of inches indeed.
Peterclone
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