One Step Forward

It's wonderful when your team finds a way to win a game the other team isn't interested in finishing. Many of the predictions were predicated on "Iowa State can't finish, so Iowa should win", so it's nice to put that to bed for a little while.

I find it funny that it's now Iowa City that can only get a sellout when the visiting team sells a lot of tickets,  since that was an issue that dogged Cyclone fans for years.

Yet each win by Iowa State pushes the end of the football series closer to reality. Iowa isn't interested in this Cy-Hawk thing if it means losing to Little Brother half the time. Iowa State needs to get their licks in while it can.

Re-Run

I've been watching Cyclone football for about 40 years now, and I've seen what transpired today about 75 times in that span. Stop me if you have heard this before:

- Spunky undermanned Cyclones surprise everyone by playing over their heads.
- A couple of crazy plays results in an Iowa State lead
- Spunky Cyclones have chances to put the game away, don't
- Opponent says "Thanks, we'll take the win"


And people wonder why Cyclone fans are a cynical, paranoid bunch?

When you have the smallest budget in the league you have to keep your expectations modest. Being a tough out is your goal. But you have to take advantage of a situation when you can, otherwise your opponents will just wait for you to fall apart.

Bottom

Make no mistake- North Dakota State is a solid team. They would be middle of the pack in the Power 5 conferences, and would push to win a league like the MAC or Mountain West.

But giving up 34 unanswered to a team not named Baylor is going to raise serious questions about the direction of your program.

Data point: Since ISU's 2012 upset of Baylor, the team is 4-14. Two of those wins are over Kansas.

You don't have to win at Iowa State, but you do have to look competitive.