5 Reasons ISU Did Beat NDSU

1. Offense, all 450+ yards of it. Arnaud looked a little 'off', as was his timing, but he still threw for near 230 yards. Robinson’s final stat line totaled 85 rushing yards, a rushing touchdown, and 36 receiving yards. The one Cyclone who surprised and impressed me the most on Thursday night was Marquis Hamilton. While he only caught four passes, the senior took two of them to the house for touchdowns and very well could have proven himself to be that home run threat. He showed me a burst of speed that I didn’t know he had. Hamilton totaled 97 yards on the night.

It’s also noteworthy that the man they call “Money,” Darius Reynolds caught six passes for 53 yards, seems to be the 'go to' guy on out routes. I love the depth that this team has at the wide receiver position.

2. No penalties, save 1 with 1:00 left on a punt return. Much more disciplined team this year, which was awesome to see.

3. New coaching staff. Coach Rhoads summed it up best after the game. He even got a little bit emotional when he said, “It’s special. To win a football game, as a head coach, and to do it here, it’s special.”

4. Special teams. Yes, we missed the 57 yarder, but we hit the 50 yarder, with a little to spare. That made the perverbial roof come off Jack Trice.

5. Fans. All 48.,000 of my closest friends showed up last night. The biggest home opening crowd since 1987, vs. Iowa. Now, the crowd was not deafening or all that fired up, but they were there. I think we'll set some kind of record next week!