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Here's Some Bad News for Troy State and the Rest of Iowa State's Football Opponents-- McCarney Says His Team Can Still Play Better |
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RON MALY Vol 2, No. 60,September 16, 2002 Things can get better. A lot better. Despite accomplishing something that hadn’t been done since Grover Cleveland was president, Coach Dan McCarney said today that his Iowa State football team "isn’t close to where we can be or should be.’’ McCarney, whose team stormed back to whip Iowa, 36-31, for the fifth consecutive time Saturday night, said, "We have so much room to improve and we made so many mistakes in that game. "We’ve got to do a better job of coaching. It’s easy to find a long list of things we’ve got to do a better job of, yet I’m really proud of the courage of this team and the refuse-to-lose attitude in the second half. "They were not going to give up that Cy-Hawk Trophy, and I’m proud that they hung onto it.’’ The victory was Iowa State’s third straight at Iowa City since a 27-9 decision in 1998 that ended a streak of 15 by Iowa in the series. It marked the first time since the Iowa State teams of 1894, 1895 and 1897 won successive games at Iowa City. Cleveland was president from 1885-1889 and from 1893-1897. "I’m proud of my staff and players,’’ McCarney said. "I know about as well as anybody in the country how tough it is to win at Kinnick Stadium—not only to play and win, but to be down, 24-7, as we were at halftime and win."We beat a real fine Iowa team, no doubt about it. It’s very obvious this is the best team Kirk Ferentz has had since he’s been at Iowa. They jumped all over us.’’ Iowa State is an 18-point favorite to improve its record to 4-1 in a 6 p.m. game Saturday against Troy State (1-2) at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames. "The Iowa game is behind us, and it’s time to move on,’’ McCarney said. "Troy State is a fine team. We watched them from a distance last season and knew they were doing great things. They went to Mississippi State and won, 28-14, and have 16 starters back. They outgained Nebraska, 347-313, this year. They’re going to be a great challenge.’’ Troy State is No. 94 in the Sagarin power rankings. Iowa State is 14th, Iowa is 42nd. McCarney said there’s no question this is a dangerous time to play Troy State."I’m sure they’re hoping we’re still thinking about Iowa....re-living that, talking about the Cy-Hawk Trophy and thinking ahead to our game (Sept. 28) against Nebraska,’’ he said. Then they come in here and we get knocked silly by Troy State. "We just can’t let it happen. Troy State is a physical, well-coached team. They match up with us very well.’’ This will be Iowa State’s fourth night game of the season. McCarney has been saying he prefers playing day games, "but we’ve won 11 of our last 15 night games, so maybe we should schedule some more.’’ The last thing McCarney wants repeated is for his team to need to rally after falling behind in the first half. That’s what happened against both Florida State and Iowa. A frantic Cyclone rally in the final two quarters came up a foot short at the end in a 38-31 loss to Florida State. "We’re not trying to do that,’’ McCarney said of the early problems. "The quality of our opposition has something to do with it. We made some mistakes, but Florida State and Iowa did some great things from an execution standpoint.’’ McCarney used the word "pathetic’’ to describe how Iowa State was playing at times in the first half against Iowa. "We weren’t throwing up a white flag. We did some decent things, but Iowa dominated the line of scrimmage,’’ he said.
Here & There A very intelligent, well-informed Ames man who is enjoying the success of Iowa State football under McCarney e-mailed me with some interesting thoughts. In response to my Sunday column on Iowa State needing to make sure athletic director Bruce Van De Velde and other school officials keep McCarney happy, the man writes: "I agree Bruce has to find a more attractive financial package for Dan and the staff. But I think it is going to be a challenge given the university’s budget, and the obvious expected reaction from the academic side of the institution if he is given a lucrative contract. At the same time, I think Dan has really felt at home here, especially the past few years. That and the fact his parents are aging I think will be big factors in any decision he has to make. I think he wants to stay close to Iowa City (where his parents live). Given all that, if the Wisconsin job ever opens up, I think he will leave—if offered that position.’’....Another e-mailer writes: "Seneca to Hiawatha in the battle against Hawkeye? What was that? Football or the French and Indian War?’’....Iowa is a 19-point favorite to beat Utah State this week in Iowa City....Nebraska and Colorado were both walloped Saturday. Colorado, the preseason favorite to win the Big 12 North title, was beaten at home by Southern California, 40-3, and perennial power Nebraska was shelled at Penn State, 40-7. "But I’m not going to be misled by a couple of scores or things that have happened in the last couple of weeks,’’ McCarney said. "We know the Big 12 North is loaded and the conference is outstanding overall’’....That was a strange (actually, a better word is dumb) headline in today’s Register. It said "Cyclones rated, but Hawkeyes feel rosy’’....I guarantee you no Iowa coach, player or fan was feeling "rosy’’ after the last-half collapse against Iowa State. The headline was obviously a takeoff on a comment made by Iowa defensive player Colin Cole, who said, "I think we have a good enough team that we can make it to the good bowls, like the Rose Bowl....’’ The headline certainly did sportswriter Andrew Logue no favors. He based much of his story on some heartbreaking Iowa losses in recent years, yet the headline writer didn’t capture the true meaning of the Hawkeye mood. The paper owes it to its readers to portray the big picture instead of concentrating on some quote by a player that’s used deep in the story. A much better headline—and this is from a guy who knows more than a few things about writing them--would have been "Cyclones ranked No. 21, Hawks hurting’’....That would have made much more sense because Iowa defensive back Derek Pagel was quoted early in the story as saying, "This one hurts. This was the one I really wanted to get.’’[Ron Maly’s e-mail address is malyr@juno.com ] |