*Game Thread* Iowa State 9/5

[claw]

Re: *Game Thread* Iowa State 9/5

...and Kansas lost to South Dakota State at home today...in case you didn't know that.

And finished a head of Iowa State in the B12 last season

[vbfan19]

Re: *Game Thread* Iowa State 9/5

would UNI fare better in the B12 than Kansas? I don't know. But I'm sure we'd be happy to give it a shot if the conference wants to extend an invite to join.

[95UNIGRAD]

Re: *Game Thread* Iowa State 9/5

No it isn't.

Keep spending millions to finish 2nd to last in the Big 12.

You're better than Kansas. I'll give you that.

They are? Kansas spanked them last year.

Just got back from the game. Embarrassing performance. Penalties, bone head plays, poor offensive execution, receivers who can't get open, horrible field position, terrible special teams. Nothing about that performance gives me any optimism for this year. And we did it against a team that might win two games this year. Utterly shameful.

[Gocats15]

Re: *Game Thread* Iowa State 9/5

The team was so woefully unprepared tonight. Terrible special teams, terrible line play, too many turnovers, and our defense didn't seem aggressive. My major thoughts on the game:

Where was Ronelle McNeil the entire first half? Last year, we consistently rotated DL, even with guys like O'Brien and Williams. I'm pretty sure we played like 6 DL the entire game tonight. Reth, Schult, Pfeifer, Ales, Gaeta, and then McNeil at the end. McNeil was our best pass rusher until he got hurt last year.

It's obvious we didn't have an OL coach this offseason, that was atrocious. No running lanes, no pass blocking, stupid holding calls. That was the biggest problem on offense. If we could get Huggins and Miller going on the ground with an occasional Bailey read option keeper, our offense would be great. Instead, our offense relied on QB draws since our OL couldn't get any regular push.

We need bigger WR's on the outside. Throwing jump balls to 5'9 WR's doesn't work. Brown is a great slot guy, but sending him deep and having him try to win jump balls is putting him at a huge disadvantage. Put him at slot, and keep Fountain and maybe Hall on the outside.

Our offense looked inconsistent because we rotated 4 QBs with the 1s each day of camp. It's impossible to develop a rhythm doing that. Bama can have battles like that since they have a great OL and studs at each skill position. We can't with our limited pool of players. We needed to pick a QB in early August, not the week before our game. If it was a true competition too, why was Demos playing WR? How could he possibly have been practicing at WR in the middle of the QB battle?

Lastly, our team just wasn't ready for this. We were missing tackles, turning the ball over, just making sloppy mistakes. Does anyone know when the team went to Ames for sure? Long bus rides right before a game usually doesn't work well, so I hope we went yesterday.

[Blue42]

Re: *Game Thread* Iowa State 9/5

ISU has been uncompetitive in Big 12 for years. When they win a game they wanna be big time. But when they lose...its "look who we have to play".

Well which is it....are you an underachieving "big time" program or just cannon fodder for real Big 12 FB?

[Trapped in California]

We ran 75 plays (four more than ISU). what a train wreck. That initial delay of game penalty was the canary in the coal mine.

From my NSA monitored nexus 5

[Gocats15]

Re: *Game Thread* Iowa State 9/5

We ran 75 plays (four more than ISU). what a train wreck. That initial delay of game penalty was the canary in the coal mine.

From my NSA monitored nexus 5

Exactly. How on earth is there a delay of game on the first play? Shouldn't that play have been decided weeks ago? When running a no huddle offense with little to no substitutions, how do we have delay of game penalties?

[DomeIsHome]

Re: *Game Thread* Iowa State 9/5

We ran 75 plays (four more than ISU). what a train wreck. That initial delay of game penalty was the canary in the coal mine.

From my NSA monitored nexus 5

Haven't read through the thread yet, but I will say this about that first play. The referee started the play clock VERY early, and then only did once more the rest of the game (that I saw). After that first time I was trying very hard to pay attention to how the officials timed the ball.

/It's still ridiculous (like screaming and yelling ridiculous) that the delay happened

[Kyle]

Re: *Game Thread* Iowa State 9/5

The new addition to Jack Trice looks pretty bad a$$. That facility went from looking very amateur 5 years ago to really quite impressive. Just about everything from the video boards to the concourse and sound system looks and feels brand new. Heck, even the concession stands had full grill menus.

The game day operations, however, are still very much amateur hour and wreak of the cheesy Cyclone game day atmosphere visiting fans are so familiar with. Tornado sirens, long drawn out intros, distorted and constantly clipping sound, and weather alert warnings should be left in the past with your old crappy stadium. You have come so far with the tools and resources available to you, why not upgrade everything else along with it?

Do ISU fans see and understand how the rest of the world views these things or is this sort of like explaining to your 62 year old Dad who just bought his first iPhone why he doesn't need to keep digging out the road atlas on family vacation?

[Purrrrrfect]

Re: *Game Thread* Iowa State 9/5

Hey Hey I'm 30 and still use a paper map/atlas.

[95UNIGRAD]

Re: *Game Thread* Iowa State 9/5

The new addition to Jack Trice looks pretty bad a$$. That facility went from looking very amateur 5 years ago to really quite impressive. Just about everything from the video boards to the concourse and sound system looks and feels brand new. Heck, even the concession stands had full grill menus.

The game day operations, however, are still very much amateur hour and wreak of the cheesy Cyclone game day atmosphere visiting fans are so familiar with. Tornado sirens, long drawn out intros, distorted and constantly clipping sound, and weather alert warnings should be left in the past with your old crappy stadium. You have come so far with the tools and resources available to you, why not upgrade everything else along with it?

Do ISU fans see and understand how the rest of the world views these things or is this sort of like explaining to your 62 year old Dad who just bought his first iPhone why he doesn't need to keep digging out the road atlas on family vacation?

The parking is also horrible, both in finding a spot and getting out. And we left with 6 minutes left.

I agree with everything else you said. That's not the same building at all anymore where I went to games as a kid. I wish they would allow the crowd and band to generate some of the noise instead of always cranking those speakers and artificial noise/music, though. It's pretty annoying.

[run&blade]

Re: *Game Thread* Iowa State 9/5

I don't hear very well and I thought the music was way too Damon loud. Is that what it takes now to get students to show up? Have to make it like a night club right up to the snap of the ball on every play?

Zero cell service also was a bummer, they need to put in more towers to handle the load.

[Newsbreaker]

Re: *Game Thread* Iowa State 9/5

I'm not quite as negative as most of you, though I agree we aren't very good.

I thought Bailey was okay. Receivers weren't getting much separation. He was probably too cautious with making a choice and delivering the ball, but when the QB can create with his legs, that's okay. He kept several drives alive largely on his own. The offensive line play though, woof. That was abysmal.

I was actually fairly happy with the defensive effort. We out gained them entirely because they played the whole game on our side of the field. It's hard to gain yards like that. Still, the defense did as well in those conditions as you could ask. We generated some pressure and kept their running game mostly in check. ISU has some legitimately talented recivers. We played a lot of bend but don't break, and that's okay in that circumstance.

The major problems from my seat were terrible special teams play (read: punter) and a lack of offensive cohesion. I actually don't think Bailey was the problem so much as a lack of reps for any one starting QB. Against a FBS opponent, even a bad one, that is asking too much.

That building has been dramatically improved. It at least looks like a major college stadium now. With a larger crowd, I expected longer waits all over, but yesterday was the easiest in and out in Ames I've ever had ( ;-) ).

That said, Iowa State is a deepy odd fan base and culture. They brought out flags for every conference team during pregame. They show the Big XII logo regularly on the scoreboard. It's on two of the speaker screens. The suites all have penants for every league school. It's almost like they think they have to keep reminding people they are in a P5 conference, and as if they know they really need to lean on "conference pride" as a reason to fire people up.

That place will look really strange in October and November with the sidelines half full and the endzone sold out.

[UNI MadCat]

Re: *Game Thread* Iowa State 9/5

I wish they would allow the crowd and band to generate some of the noise instead of always cranking those speakers and artificial noise/music, though. It's pretty annoying.

I go to at least 3 FBS stadiums each fall and this is consistent with how it is everywhere now. Very pro-like. Disappointing.

[UNI MadCat]

Re: *Game Thread* Iowa State 9/5

That said, Iowa State is a deepy odd fan base and culture. They brought out flags for every conference team during pregame. They show the Big XII logo regularly on the scoreboard. It's on two of the speaker screens. The suites all have penants for every league school. It's almost like they think they have to keep reminding people they are in a P5 conference, and as if they know they really need to lean on "conference pride" as a reason to fire people up.

Of all the things to pick on ISU about, this is a weird critique. I can't think of a FBS stadium that doesn't fly the other teams' flags or put the conference logo everywhere, including at your beloved Kinnick (and I've been to at least 30 across the country). Even Thursday night when I went to the Gopher game, their band trotted out all of the B10 flags...against a non-conference opponent (TCU). In fact I'd say the B10 schools lead in shameless conference promotion.