Today, the Iowa State football coach got rave reviews from Mack Brown.

Can Beano Cook be far away?

Brown coaches the Texas team that’s ranked second nationally with a 4-0 record, and he knows what coaching at Iowa State is all about. He was on Donnie Duncan’s staff in 1979, 1980 and 1981 when the Cyclones had records of 3-8, 6-5 and 5-5-1.

Obviously, he didn’t stay long. And neither did Duncan. He was gone after a 4-6-1 record in 1982.

"Dan McCarney is a great football coach,’’ Brown said. "And he is sending a message to administrators across the country that you ought to leave guys alone if you think they’re the right guys regardless of what pressure you have to (make a) change.

"Iowa State has done a smart thing, letting Dan stay because they’re really good. They may be as good as anybody in this league.’’

When he mentioned the words "sending a message to administrators,’’ Brown was referring to how Iowa State didn’t fire McCarney after his 3-8, 2-9, 1-10, 3-8 and 4-7 records in the first five years.

Martin Jischke, then the president, and Gene Smith, then the athletic director, didn’t panic. And now McCarney, whose team is ranked 15^th with a 5-1 record, is Coach of the Year material.

And not just Big 12 Coach of the Year. If the right things happen later this season, McCarney could be a strong candidate to receive some National Coach of the Year votes.

The trouble is, they give out those awards in December and not September. And a brutal schedule still awaits McCarney and his team—road assignments at Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas State and Colorado in a five-week period.

And, yes, that includes the Oct. 26 game at Michigan. Iowa can win in The Big House, too.

Unless the bottom falls out, Ferentz will be a legitimate candidate to be named the Big Ten’s Coach of the Year.

Among the people who called Ferentz yesterday to offer congratulations for Iowa’s 42-35 overtime victory at Penn State was McCarney.

"I wished him well and I hope the Hawkeyes have a lot of success, too, along with Iowa State,’’ McCarney said. "Kirk has an excellent team. It didn’t surprise me that they went out and beat Penn State. I told you when we beat them in Iowa City that we beat an excellent Iowa team.’’

Asked his thoughts on the Iowa and Iowa State victories that came just hours apart Sunday, McCarney said, "We have both put ourselves in position to have a solid year. We (coaches) live in our own football world, but it sounds like there was a lot of positive recognition for both Iowa State and Iowa (around the nation).

"I’m an Iowa native and I’m proud of being from this state. It’s nice that some more people around the country recognize that we play good football here in the state of Iowa.’’

"I’m not going to get up on any soapboxes or anything," he said, "but I know that if an athletic director has the right person and the right staff, every situation can be different, with (such things as) the history, the tradition, the lack of it, facilities, the town, the proximity to recruits....there are a lot of things involved.

"I was allowed time to continue to build what we started. The athletic director and the president—both of whom are gone now—saw that the right things were being done. They let us keep doing our thing. I hope it’s a good example to other administrators.

"A lot of coaches around the country may not get all the time I’ve gotten, and I hate to see that—I really do. If you have the right people and right staff in place, patience is sometimes a great virtue.’’

McCarney had 9-3 and 7-5 records the past two seasons, and his team is one blown referee’s call in the Eddie Robinson Classic from being 6-0 this year. He was on ESPN so often the last few days that he should start asking for a talent fee and hiw own dressing room.

The victories Iowa State has been reeling off and the attention McCarney and his players are suddenly receiving nationally is wonderful for the Cyclones, but it serves as another alert that school administrators had better address ways soon of keeping of McCarney and his assistants.

McCarney is no longer a football secret. Athletic directors at other high-profile institutions around the country are noticing. Count on it that he’s going to get some job offers.

ESPN was even waiting for him in his home to do another interview Saturday night when he returned from the victory over Nebraska.

"I didn’t plan any (celebration) at home that night,’’ McCarney said. "When you do that, you can have a major disappointment. But I gradually made my way home after the game, and there were lots of people there. ESPN was there to do the interview.

"It was nice to have fans, friends and family there. A lot of people I’d never met or seen were there. I think they heard it was an open party.’’

"I don’t think anybody was taking a negative shot or cheap shot at me,’’ he said. "It was in a mass of bodies out there. I wanted to make sure I got over to see (Nebraska coach) Frank Solich (after the game). He’s an excellent coach and a great person. I wanted to congratulate him on the effort, and it was hard getting to him.’’

Iowa State’s next game isn’t until Oct. 12 against Texas Tech at Jack Trice Stadium. Then, on Oct. 19, the Cyclones begin their Murderer’s Row schedule against Bob Stoops’ Oklahoma team at Norman, Okla. On Oct. 26, the Cyclones face Brown’s Texas team at Austin.

A Nov. 2 home game against Missouri will be followed by road trips to Kansas State and Colorado.

Asked if he called anyone at the Big 12 offices when he learned that Iowa State would have back-to-back road games against Big 12 giants Oklahoma and Texas, McCarney said, "I didn’t call anybody, but I didn’t send any thank-you notes.

"Basically, Bruce Van De Velde (Iowa State’s athletic director) told me that’s how the schedule was set up, and that there was nothing we could do about it. We’ve known about it for a long time, and we’ve tried to prepare that way.

"It’s an unbelievably challenging schedule, but those teams we play on the road this year come to Ames next year.’’

With the open date Saturday, McCarney is giving his players some time off from practice this week. Sunday is the normal off-day, and there will be no practice either today or Tuesday. However, there will be meetings.

Actually, I looked for him Sunday, but he was nowhere in sight. Unless that was him standing on a downtown street corner using crutches and wearing all those Band-Aids.

"The Football Gods smiled on Iowa over the weekend, with both teams winning,’’ Alive in Clive said in his e-mail. "Iowa almost let the game get away, though. Joe Paterno needs to lighten up after chasing down the ref to question calls made during the game.

"Nothing will happen because he is the "Dean of College Coaches.’’ Seems to me that another famous coach, Woody Hayes, went after an opposing player out of frustration toward the end of his career. Come on, Joe, you are responsible for your behavior, and don’t give me that intensity bullcrap.

"Now to the home state. The man has a problem. Not much of a football team. It is going to be a long season for the faithful. However, football is just a game and the fortunes can change. Solich has a problem. First, he doesn’t have much offense or defense. Now he can’t fire the offensive coordinator because, that’s him. My guess is that he will throw Bohl, the defensive coordinator, to the wolves. He may get through this year, but he will not survive another without a big turnaround.

"Here is my tip of the day for Frank Solich: Get off your tail and drive the back road recruiting. Quit trying to be head coach, call plays and be offensive coordinator. Bring in some help. Stop thinking you can use the same offense for many years and stay on top. Everyone from Iowa State to Nebraska at Peru knows how to stop it. Find a defensive guy who can cover the middle so that everybody stops throwing under the coverage.

"Enough already. But one more thing. I had an interesting thought the other day—the race for governor. Tom lost all of our money. Doug makes money from the big hog boys. Now who’s running for Lt. Governor? I am sure that the current Mrs. Peterson has some skeletons in her closet, and I have no idea who is running with Gross. I think this means they don’t do anything anyway. Pity. It would be fun to watch the girls take the heat.

"Last but not least, when Harkin got caught with his hands on the tape, he said, ‘It was a Dennis the Menace prank.’ Is Tom getting an age on him?’’

The paper, which somehow figured out that the NFL played games on Sundays, sent reporters out to cover a couple of them in the first two weeks of the season.

Pretty impressive start.

I was about ready to give Paul Anger a rose instead of the thistle he usually deserves.

But, alas, now the "Local Paper Covers the Pros’’ policy has stopped. There were NFL games at Kansas City and St. Louis yesterday, and nobody from the paper fewer and fewer are depending upon was there.

Not unless "From Register Wire Services’’ and Carl Kotala of Florida Today are new staff writers.