Cyclones lose 34-31 at UNLV Saturday night

Yes, I am disappointed that we lost, and that we had to come from behind to tie it and force OT. HOWEVER, to come back from 21-7, to tie the game at 28 in basically a quarter and a half gives me some hope. I was checking the stats on my cell phone throughout the game, our offense struggled early. Apparently with no turnovers, if I remember correctly, we had something like 50 yards of offense to 250 yards of UNLV offense at half time.

Cyclones finished with:
ISU LV
Score 31 34
FIRST DOWNS 14 23
RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 35-151 42-209
PASSING YDS (NET) 155 245
Passes Att-Comp-Int 28-13-0 22-16-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 63-306 64-454
Fumble Returns-Yards 1-41 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards 3-25 1--1
Kickoff Returns-Yards 3-78 5-102
Interception Returns-Yards 0-0 0-0
Punts (Number-Avg) 8-43.1 6-45.5
Fumbles-Lost 3-0 2-1
Penalties-Yards 8-91 5-55
Possession Time 27:22 32:38
Third-Down Conversions 2 of 14 6 of 12
Fourth-Down Conversions 3 of 3 0 of 0
Red-Zone Scores-Chances 2-2 3-4

So ISU went for it 3 times on 4th down and achieved it, punted more often, and had WAY too many penalties, can't give your opponent an extra 91 yards. If I were Chizik, and I rarely am, I would focus on that this week (bye) before coming home to play a potent Kansas offense aka Reesing.

Kansas 38, Sam Houston State 14

It was over when... Todd Reesing scampered in for a 1-yard touchdown with 10:24 left in the second quarter to give KU its first points of the game.
Gameball goes to... Reesing, who threw for 356 yards and two touchdowns.
Stat of the game... 53. Reesing became KU's all-time leader in total touchdowns with 53.

Bad football

Saturday, September 13th was the worst football I've seen ISU or Iowa play in a very long time. 3/4 of this game was darn near scoreless, till Iowa was successful running the ball.

Up next a UNLV team who beat Arizona State last weekend, a ranked team.

ISU football: Road-weary Cyclones look to end skid....apparently we haven't won a road game since 2005. UGH

2 Quarterbacks.....interesting facts

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080911/SPORTS020602/809110367

Offense on FIRE and Special Teams Dominate Kent State

I was all set to write a scathing review on how we still can't tackle (I watched 9 defenders on 2 plays miss sacking the QB) and how Kent State's rushing attack we had no answer for.

But, I listened to the post game show. Watched the highlights. Read the Associated Press article.

2-0 sounds pretty good versus a year ago. ISU held on. They scored early and often. 21 unanswered points in the FIRST QUARTER. DO NOT BE FOOLED BY THE CLOSE SCORES! Bates and Arnaud created HAVOC in AMES and I think Chizick changed something after it hit 21-7.

Arnaud has a much stronger arm and isn't slow when scrambling. Bates is just fast, and finds holes pretty well. Look for Arnaud to continue to start.

Special teams dominated, ISU started possessions at or around the 40 yard line consistently on most kicks, we blocked 2 punts (when was the last time that happened?), and we made a 48 yard field goal (Hallelujah).

All in all, pretty good. ISU needs fewer 15 yard penalties (late hits, etc) 6 penalties for 65 yards in all.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=282500066

Next week, the Hawks, who played a local Jr. High again. I'd rather struggle against Kent State than walk all over Florida International prior to playing "real" games.

Go Cyclones