Cykron

I don't think this can be taken too seriously, but it is certainly interesting to us in Ames. Believe it or not, Iowa State is #22! https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2018/05/01/re-ranking-college-football-top-25-after-spring-practice/568834002/

Here are a few podcasts about our upcoming season. https://cyclonefanatic.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Jay-Pod-4-17-18_mixdown.mp3. Heavy-duty stuff that coach-types will love. https://cyclonefanatic.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/CFTV-Live-4-17-18_mixdown.mp3. From a former player (who scored the winning TD in our game with #2 Oklahoma State in 2011).

You are cordially invited to our tailgate in Ames before your game with Iowa State. We tailgate in the RV lot, so we will be set up on Friday. More details to come.

Nice for doing some off-season scouting! Thanks. Getting pumped for you guys coming to Ames.

Nice. I especially like the group photos. If only I knew who they were! Still, I enjoy seeing the faces and interactions, not just football plays. Thanks for the helmet-less photos.

Stayed up until midnight last night watching a cable replay of our best game ever (Nov 2011 Iowa State 28 point underdog against #2 Oklahoma State and won in 2OT). There is no way that the "comforts" of home compare in any way to being at the game that broke the BCS system (put Alabama in the national championship game). I go to every game expecting it will be a "had to be there" experience. Including our game at Akron! And it happened. Reserved an entire lot. Had a great tailgate. And I won the 50/50 raffle. Can't do that at home!

Overall, I'm impressed with the OOC schedule for the MAC. Lots of Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC represented. Good paydays for the teams. And good early opportunities to make some noise nationally.

Interesting. Another important reason why the defense tends to be "ahead" of the offense in Spring scrimmages.

Generally speaking, I expect the defense to do better than the offense in these Spring scrimmages, particularly because turnovers are often so instinctive and can be caused by an individual. Whereas the offense tends to need everyone being in sync to be effective and teams usually aren't there in the Spring. However, I like it when an offense is bold enough in Spring to try some aggressive plays. It shows they are going to be opening up the playbook for the season. Alas, picks on bubble screens in the Spring are often just blips because of missed blocking assignments because so many are new to their positions. Definitely an advantage for a cornerback in those situations.

Thoughts about the miscues? Good for the offense to learn how to push its limits? Bad for the offense because those mistakes shouldn't have happened? Good for the defense as they stepped up? Bad for the defense in that it may make them feel like they are farther along than they are? Just mistakes that don't really tell us much? Those who were there, how are you spinning it?

Way to be ahead of the trend! Great foresight by the coaches!

Yeah, I know I'm being pretty simplistic about it. However, it seems that when a QB and WR are "in sync," they can be almost unstoppable. In my imaginary world, I like to think of QBs and WRs playing catch for a few hours per day, not unlike basketball players taking hundreds of shots per day.

I would think that college players could get together even more often as they live on campus (or near campus) and may not have the most demanding class load. Seems like they could take some of their Madden football time and use it on the practice field for some real throws and catches. Do coaches discourage this at all? For instance, might they be concerned about players developing bad habits in throwing motion or route running?

Do these guys work out together and practice these throws? I would like to think that QBs and WRs would have a mutual interest in doing so, but don't actually know how much of it they do during the off-season.

Curious as to whether you expect any of them to be major contributors right off the bat this season?

Sister Jean has brought new significance to team prayers!

Wishing the best for you guys.

"Granted, I didn’t get yelled at nearly as much by Akron fans last year as I did by Hawkeye fans in 2015, but consider Akron the Iowa of the MAC East." This is a vulgar slam in reference to the Iowa team that Colin Cowherd correctly called "the fake ID of college football." Their 12-0 season was book-ended with 5 losses!

Wow, that is a cool story. And it wasn't just talk because he did it.

It is testing the fan's trust of Matt Campbell who want to give him the benefit of the doubt, but it is just doesn't seem right at first glance. Apparently, the GA has been working closely with Manning for many years so he is well-known for his ability to understand and run the offense. Plus these Mount Union guys just seem to connect at an alternative level of reality than the rest of us. It is also likely that Campbell himself will be working closely with the offense and maybe even calling plays for himself.

Big news for Iowa State. Tom Manning, OC, is leaving to coach tight ends for the Indianapolis Colts. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me except that he must have really wanted to be in the NFL and got a chance with Frank Reich (a fellow member of the Mount Union cult). I don't think his value can be overestimated, so I'm really sorry to see him go. Sounds like we are going to promote Manning's GA (Jeff Myers, yet another member of the Mount Union cult).

Seriously, nice scheduling to get an SEC team that you can beat. And in your core recruiting footprint.

You are welcome. Signed, Iowa State fans who made the trip. Seriously, a 9000 increase. That is huge. Congrats.

This article says, "As a season ticket holder, fans have the ability to purchase tickets for road games at Nebraska, Northwestern, and Iowa State." I'll probably have a few extra tickets in a very nice location that I would consider selling under market-value to a Zips fan who is making the trip. Let me know if you are interested.

People need to be offered a $25 deposit for a $60 season ticket? Does that actually increase sales? Hope it works for you. You guys deserve to have more fans coming out.