Your defense is pretty darn good. Limit the penalties and turnovers and there’s wins out there for sure. Your YPP differentials are already in the neighborhood of SIX other Big 12 teams as it stands right now.
While true, a lot of Cyclone fans agree that we are lucky you didn’t score in your current form. Sneed is dynamic. Smith has raw talent. And you had big plays taken away with penalties and turnovers.
That’s not even factoring in general improvement. Which I believe you WILL see under CWF. He was even on ISU’s radar 9 years ago when we were looking for a coach and fortunately went with CMC. Our AD Jamie Pollard is very good with coaching hires, and all the other names in his list went on to do great things, CWF included.
I’ve watched Big 12 football all my life. I’m not just trying to be nice when I say I think you guys are closer than you think. Frankly, we all need you to be good. The State of Texas is very important to the health of the Big 12.
The biggest criticism I have is not even on the field. I get it, big city and things arent going good, but we just can’t have 20,000 people football crowds no matter what, especially when ISU is bringing however many.
At some point, even our beloved basketball teams will pay the price for it once that starts happening regularly. The networks already look for every reason to devalue the Big12. We have to stay united and look out for the good of the whole, especially when times are not so good. Its the only reason any of us even have a real conference to play in today.
I’ll be rooting for you. I think you’re closer than you think.
Another reason why stats are deceptive. When you only get 7 first downs and only convert one 3rd down, you don’t get many plays. One long play and 6 plays where you gain less than 10 but get say 8 or 9 yards can skew the average, but not the scoreboard. Wins are based on most points on the scoreboard, regardless of stats.
Penalties and turnovers. UH had at least 4 big plays off the top of my head wiped away by self-inflicted mistakes. If I go back and watch it, I guarantee it was more.
Ok, Cincinnati was rough, I cant defend that. But ISU is not your typical defense, they’ve never finished lower than 3rd in defense since Campbell and Heacock took over in Ames with a lot less to work with than Houston has. Everyone struggles most of the time: