No one alive today watches an isu game and says "whoa that is a conference championship football team right there". Unless of course they are talking about isu's opponent.
I laughed
Let's start with the easy part first. Non Conference predictions
- Thread starter soybean
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I think one factor is that NDSU didn't play a D1 opponent last year .
So, many of these players coming into kinnick haven't had that experience. Yes, they've played some big games but still not the same.
I am guessing that is an edge that will be harder to overcome. Plus, the d1 schools they have beat have been pretty suspect teams. Even KSU was not very good.
I've seen a lot of good football teams whoop up on ISU over my years
too bad isu grad can't always blame their ineptitude for losing to the Hawks. 35-3 ring a bell? How about 35-10? 62-20 was one of my favorites.
Maybe just maybe the clowns will be able to put up more than 67 yards of offense against us this year in the second half.
For you guys, going 6-6 and getting a bowl game is good. Great, even. Thats not good by our standards.
No kidding. Look at Iowa and disappointment with 7-6 record after 14' season. ISU fans ready to build Rhoads a statue after going 7-6 his first season, his best and only winning season in 7 yrs by the way. Then gave him a 10 year extension after upsetting okie St to get them to that magical 6 win mark. Yeah you can say standards are a bit different for the 2 programs.
I can get you another copy of the memo that lays out posting rules for isu grads. In no way shape or form is it acceptable to use isu grad logic against them. They will simply ignore it. If it doesn't come from Chrissy Williams, Jamie Pollard or Randy Peterson it simply must be ignored. Even when info comes from those sources that must only be used in the very selective time frame or context or you guessed it you will be ignored.
I for one can't wait to see how isu grad entertains us today. Will it be them showing off their vast football knowledge or telling us how awesome the Texas Ten is?
How good a team is, is certainly in the eye of the beholder and everyone's measuring stick is different (record, eye test, sos, etc.). As a Cyclone fan I personally respect the Hawkeye teams a bunch: they're fundamentally sound, well coached, don't make mistakes and can play smash mouth with their physicality. Not saying these teams are better than Iowa but I fear games against Oklahoma, OSU, Baylor and TTU more. ISU doesn't do well against high-powered offenses, for example, in the past five years looking at points during regulation, those 4 teams have averaged 41 pts/game against ISU versus 21/game for Iowa. Iowa is a different style and team than those 4 and is likely responsible for the belief, by some, that Iowa has inflated records and really isn't that good.
My two cents on the Iowa - ISU series, lots of contributing factors:
Iowa often starts slow and improves.
Talent is often closer than it appears or at least our draft picks are usually non-skill positions.
Kirk's style of play often keeps it closer against lesser teams (see losses to Northwestern and many others) also allows us to beat teams that we shouldn't on paper (highly ranked MSU's, PSU's, Michigan's, etc.)
I think ISU might have had this game circled more than Iowa did in the McCartney era, I think this has changed in the last few years as Kirk has realized this is an important game not to lose from a fan and his job perspective even if he truly believes it should just be treated like any other game or less so than Big Ten games.
Let's also be honest that some of the mistakes and tendencies we see Iowa make against ISU are not unique at all. Until this past season how many times are we just positive we'll see our opponent convert the crucial 3rd and long or march the field in short time to get a FG or predict a fake punt or onside kick. Sometimes it feels like clockwork.
Iowa often starts slow and improves.
Talent is often closer than it appears or at least our draft picks are usually non-skill positions.
Kirk's style of play often keeps it closer against lesser teams (see losses to Northwestern and many others) also allows us to beat teams that we shouldn't on paper (highly ranked MSU's, PSU's, Michigan's, etc.)
I think ISU might have had this game circled more than Iowa did in the McCartney era, I think this has changed in the last few years as Kirk has realized this is an important game not to lose from a fan and his job perspective even if he truly believes it should just be treated like any other game or less so than Big Ten games.
Let's also be honest that some of the mistakes and tendencies we see Iowa make against ISU are not unique at all. Until this past season how many times are we just positive we'll see our opponent convert the crucial 3rd and long or march the field in short time to get a FG or predict a fake punt or onside kick. Sometimes it feels like clockwork.
Probably one or two. And they'll still get beat badly in the conventional plays portion, which will be 99% of the game.
I respect them, great FCS program, but I don't think they'll win up front. Illinois State led the FCS championship for 56 minutes against them a couple of years ago, and with an athletic dual threat QB, and they got dominated in the trenches. NDSU will be better up front than them, but I think we hold edge in both lines.
I think we'll win by three scores. In truth, ISU might be the tougher game.
