Experiments

Clearly, the Fred Experiment isn't working out. There's a reason you don't bring in a cast of refugees from other teams and make a team. The Land of Misfit Toys doesn't work well together.

But lacking a clear alternative, and without the cash for a buyout, we'll soldier on.

The above is sarcasm folks. Fred's great- the good times are back.

Big Ending

Looking ahead, ISU needs to build up wins while it can. The B12 schedule ends at K State, at Mizzou, home to Baylor.

Wow.

Upside

After thumping two inferior teams- on the road- it's clear Fred's boys are finding a rhythm. They are challenging the great teams and taking care of business when they need too.

While they are susceptible to taking teams lightly (cough- Okie State- cough) when focused and on task they run the gameplan, find the open man, and win. I think this team can be as good as it wants to be.

While two games with Baylor and one each with KU and Mizzou remain- This could be fun.

Finishing

The most impressive part of the win over a$m wasn't the first half scoring spree- it was finishing the dang game. Up 19 at half, they Cyclones never let it get closer than 15 in the entire second half, and ended up winning by 24. They increased their margin even after bringing in subs. Awesome.

It was fun watching a team continue to run its stuff the whole way, playing aggressive defense, making the extra pass, doing all of the same things that built the big lead. If ISU backed off on anything it was giving up easy shots after offensive rebounds- no point in adding a free throw and giving the Aggies a bit of momentum.

So now ISU sits at 2-0 with a road win. They two best teams in the league are next week, but given their play against UT and a$m at least you can say "Why the heck not?"

Charts

Click on over to Black Heart Gold Pants for this epicly awesome chart. Inspired work, fellas.

It's always interesting to read the view of a game from the other side. They bring stats, too.

Hammer

It was delicious fun watching the Cyclones positively hammer the over-matched Hawkeyes (or GoBlas for you old- timers) in a game that was over well before halftime. For those of us who hadn't seen much of the season so far (thanks, Mediacom) we now understand what the fuss has been about. When these guys are on they can play.

The down side is that there is no team in the Big 12 as bad as Iowa- although Tech is close. That kind of effort will be needed every night to even approach .500. Something that approaches a point guard would help, too, as they Cyclones looked like lost children when Iowa broke out the half-court trap. Good teams don't give up 10+ points in the last 2:00 minutes.

But Friday gave us a peek at what could be- and that peek was damn fun.

Nails

They didn't finish the job against the Wildcats, but I will follow a Cyclone team that gives their opponent everything they want. That's all I ask- be the team nobody wants to play.

And now we get to play Rutgers in Yankee Stadium. A Rutgers team that got crushed by the UCONN club that ISU beat back in September. Sure beats Shreveport.

This is Iowa State's chance not to just win, but to make a statement.

Hard Hat

I love the fact that Iowa State's winning drive against Okie State relied on the fullback. No trick plays, no Hail Mary's, no FG tries from 57 yards away. A "We're going to run for the TD and you can't stop us" attitude, which paid off with the rumbling of a 240 pound back with both hands on the ball. All of the beauty of a beer truck plowing through a snowdrift. Money.

If any play symbolized the mental makeup of the Cyclones, it was the winning TD.

Tough Outs

Iowa State will never challenge for a league title with the smallest football budget. My only hope is that our Cyclones can become the team that everyone dreads playing- especially in Ames.

Tonight was a heck of a first step.

Cowboy Mission

I would love to drink the Kool-Aid and predict a stunning, program defining upset of the Cowboys on ESPN- but I think OSU is on a mission to get to the BCS title game. Only ISU and OU stand in the way.

ISU gets the same as what Tech got last week: OSU 56, ISU 21.

Just Win Baby

The Russian judge hated it, but 13-10 counts the same as 41-7. Three turnovers in the red zone will ugly up an otherwise decent yardage total.

Climb the ladder, exceed your budget.

Respect

This sounds counter-intuitive, but to earn the respect of the football public, Iowa State needs to take the wood to Kansas. A workman-like covering of the spread at the minimum.

Struggling with the Jayhawks (like they did last year) will scream "Not Ready To Be Taken Seriously".

Throw that drowning Jayhawk an anchor, dammit. Win 34-10 or something.

Slobber knocker

Saturday was exhibit A of why I don't bet on sports.

SUI was a 15 point favorite at Minnesota, and lost.

ISU was a 15 point dog in Lubbock and won. By 34.

I'm not sure which is more surprising- the win or the margin. The Cyclones simply manhandled Tech in every way. It was the kind of performance that we aren't used to seeing, sadly. It would be fun if it became the norm rather than the exception.

Now Iowa State prepares for a Kansas team that mustered only 41 yards in 36 plays against Texas. 41 on 36. I've never seen that before. The hardest part of the week will be getting the Cyclones to bring the same focus they had in Lubbock to bear on the Jayhawks. Being back in the bowl chase should do that.

Smaller, Slower, Weaker

Iowa State is all of the above, and yet made a$m sweat a bit. It was the kind of effort that will keep fans coming back, especially when the weather is spectacular.

The five-games-without-drawing-a-holding-penalty-streak is just sick, yet a symptom of being smaller, slower, and weaker on the DL than everyone else. Other teams don't get flagged because they don't have to hold (much) to get the job done.

Unfortunately my eyes are not trained enough to tell if ISU is getting better over time, if CPR recruits are an upgrade over Danny Mac or Chiz recruits. I do know that the schedule is getting better, er, tougher.

Heck, I think this team could beat this year's Utah, Colorado and maybe Nebraska. So it goes. FWIW- ISU has lost to 4 of the Sagarin Top 30. Iowa is 0-1. That's a huge difference.

Keep grinding- hopefully the corner is nearby.

Deja Vu

This is exactly the situation where CPR has led ISU to gigantic upsets. In a way, beating A$M would be less surprising than beating Nebraska in '09- our starting quarterback will be suiting up.

Not saying it will happen, but the conditions are exactly the same as the Nebraska and Texas wins. This time we're at home.

Peter

Gulf

Ah, September was a fine month, wasn't it Cyclone fans?

October has reminded us of two things:

A. Iowa State can beat teams in the bottom half of Div. I and even the best of Div. II
B. There is still a giant gulf between Iowa State and the Top 50. Talent, depth, everything.

It's no accident that you can pull a random Top 25 from each decade and 15 of the names are in every single poll. Good football requires momentum- once you have it its much easier to maintain than it is to build it, and most importantly it pulls you over the dips.

Whatever momentum Iowa State had on October 1 has been sucked away by those with big budgets, big talent, and momentum.

Subtle

Sometimes improvement isn't obvious. Go read this review of the defense's work against Baylor. We can watch the game and think that Baylor just gashed us- but in reality they gash everybody. In fact, Iowa State made them work for their points more than usual, and equal to K State. Perspective is key. I made bowl projects in the past by looking at how much differential a defense had on opposing teams compared to the opponents average output. The ranking against all schools only tells half the story. Get the offense to put more points on the board and we may be on to something.

Turning Point

I suspect CPR is pitching this week's game against Mizzou as a key moment in the season. Either Iowa State stops killing itself with bad penalties, turnovers and anemic offense, or they limp home with a 1-8 finish after a 3-0 start. Mizzou is in a similar spot. Two losses to ranked teams have them in last with ISU, and statistically they are twins- good at the same things, bad at the same things. This game looks a lot more winnable than it did in July, but the Cyclones are going to need their first complete game of the season to pull it off. That's a big maybe.

Changes

I'm old enough to remember a time when Iowa State would only fumble once a year or so.

Bounceback

It seems CPR has spent this week building up everyone's spirits after the loss to Texa$. "We played with Texa$- it was the mistakes that killed us." A look at the stats shows good drives, with failures when things got close.

Next up is a Baylor squad that is more Arena League than Texa$ League. They score points in bunches, and give up points in bunches, too. Can ISU score in the Red Zone rather than miss field goals? Can the defense get enough stops to be close in the 4th?

Let's go with another 36-35 loss for Baylor. Stranger things have happened.