Monday, September 10, 2007

UNI foreshadows the Cyclone season

A game where the Cyclones beat themselves, there is a lot more tape for the coaches to review for practice this week.
Some highlights from the game:
  • Zac Sandvig dropped yet another punt, turning the ball over to UNI inside the ISU 20
  • Brett Meyer had 3 turnovers himself, which is nice. 2 critical interceptions (one returned far into Cyclone territory) really put the nail in the coffin. His third was a mishandled snap, which he let fly past him, and UNI beat him to the ball, never mind the fact that Bret had a 5 yard head start.
  • The O line seemed to give Brett more time to throw, but he still shy'd away from #1 Todd Blythe. Maybe Brett threw 3 balls to Blythe all game.
  • Kicking game is miserable, missing an extra point and another field goal. This forced Chizik to "go for it" on 4th and long a number of times.

We did get to see Austin Arnaud throwing the ball, which he seemed excited and crisp, all 3 of his dropped passes hitting receivers in the hands at their numbers. Chizik has stated that he'll see increased field time in the future. What was inspiring was the crowd's reaction to Austin entering the field, standing applause from those left in attendance.

Special teams did not electrify like they did against Kent State, with ISU starting field position being closer to their own 30 for most drives.

All in all, very stressful encounter, UNI out coached Chizik and staff, and the boys from Cedar Falls WANTED it more.

With a record number of Cyclone fans in attendance, the guys on the field showed little spark to reward their fans.

Next week the Cyclones host Iowa, who blasted Syracuse in a shutout. I'm calling it ahead of time, Iowa 31- ISU 0. There's no way our ineffective offense, held to 6 points against UNI, is going to score on Iowa. We MIGHT get lucky on special teams, but it seems the black and gold polyester nation will be singing "In heaven there is no beer" all the way back to Iowa City.

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