Cykron

Did you see who was playing QB for Buffalo in the second half last Saturday against NIU? Kyle Vantrease, a true freshman from Stow, OH (who just happens to be my wife's nephew). The first two QBs are injured, but both are likely to be back this season, so I don't know if we will see him in your game or not. If so, I guess I will be cheering against you twice this season. It was pretty wild to get a text on the way home from the Iowa State/Kansas game telling me to get home quickly because Kyle was on TV! He did pretty well for a true freshman in a tough situation. His first three drives each started inside his own 10! That probably didn't happen in his entire career at Stow.

It has been fun to watch you guys improve. And us too (Iowa State). Who would have thought at the time that our game would likely have bowl implications for both teams? At any rate, I hope both of us keep doing well and improving week to week. Now let's get into a couple of decent bowls. Or maybe even a rematch?

Kyle Kempt, a walk-on from Massillon, OH, is now our starting QB. He is a redshirt senior who had an offer out of high school from Matt Campbell at Toledo. He went to Oregon State instead and it didn't work out. He went to a JUCO and it didn't work out. When Iowa State hired Matt Campbell, he called almost immediately and said he would walk-on. Apparently, you Ohio guys really trust each other!

Attendance at football games is a mindset. And once it is lost, it is hard to recover. They are experiencing that in Iowa City. They went 12-0 in the regular season, but still aren't selling out, partly because they wrapped the undefeated season with 5 losses (at the end of that season and the previous season). A 12-5 record that includes losing all the important games has really taken a toll on their fans. On the other hand, humble brag, we will have at least 40,000 butts in seats in the rain tomorrow in Ames as we play a bottom-feeder Kansas team. And not just because we beat Oklahoma last week. Going to home games is just what we do. No matter what, we will have a great tailgate and stadium atmosphere when you come to town next year.

Interesting. Didn't know that, but not really surprised. Liberty goes for what it wants.

Got it. I was responding to a post about Sagarin ratings of MAC teams. I should have stayed on topic. According to Sagarin, Iowa State is #45.

I suppose you probably are well qualified to make judgments on dumb things. Just kidding. I couldn't pass that one up. Or maybe you are just a sore loser Suckeye fan. Again, just kidding. The jokes on the low branches must be picked. If you think this is the dumbest, then it is clear that you haven't been paying attention to my other posts. There, we can leave it at that one.

Segments of parity in the Sagarin ratings: 60. Toledo 62. Western 71. Northern 101. Eastern 108. Buffalo 116. Akron 117. Miami 128. BG 130. Central P.S. Iowa State actually got more votes than TAM (even after playing well against Alabama) in this week's AP poll.

Does it really work this way? If so, then anybody with a 20k stadium could claim to have sellouts every week, just by buying the tickets themselves, and thus maintain their FBS qualification. I thought they had to be actual ticket sales, albeit perhaps at a significant discount to a corporation or donor. And obviously, they don't have to be butts in the seats.

Here is a current map of the imperialism of college football. The season started with every school owning the counties closest to them. When they beat another school, they get all the counties owned by that school. Bottom line. We own the state of Ohio!

Iowa State > Oklahoma (in Norman, OK) > Ohio State (in Columbus, OH) Suckeyes, indeed. I love the transitive property of sports.

And a walk-on!

We had a few from ZNO join us in Lot 4 for the Iowa State game! One even put up Zips flags and tents in the midst of Cyclone Country. We are such a cordial bunch.

Oh yeah. I know who these guys are. I've spent three decades needling Ohio in-laws about sports. Pretending not to know is part of my schtick!

Who are these guys?

Incorrect. This week is second best. The one game to come and tailgate would have been Sept 16th in Lot 4!

Seems like you have a better chance of a bowl than Iowa State right now.

I sit in the front row of the upper deck corner with a pretty good view of our sideline, but didn't see it until I watched the replay on TV. Campbell was saying good things about Park after the game and even making light of Park's personality. However, it seems that it continued through the week. And a backup took most of the snaps during practice. Personally, I really like Park and his somewhat of an SOB attitude. I'm hoping that Campbell's "trust the process" schtick takes Park to the next level. He has enormous talent, but he needs keep himself under control and remember who the coach is.

Warren Ball > Bri'onte Dunn

Our season has taken an interesting twist. It seems that our starting QB did not make the trip to Oklahoma and has "taken leave" of the team for "personal medical reasons." Reliable sources are saying there is an issue between him and the head coach. And there are other less reliable sources adding other thoughts. 700+ posts today about it. Again, further proof that there is nothing else to do in Iowa.

I was watching your game with Bowling Green. I'm so sorry to see you lose a player of his caliber. He is an awesome athlete.

Which came first? Taylor dissing you or you dissing Taylor? Regardless, based on the fan non-reaction during the tribute, I may understand why he wouldn't prioritize coming to Akron. Too bad. Strange things happen sometimes in relationships with celebrity alumni. Hope you catch patch it up. We finally brought back Troy Davis, our Heisman runner-up (yes, you read it correctly, look it up) last season who was not exactly a Rhodes Scholar. And then he proceeds to spend a week in campustown bars, get cited for public intoxication, and be unapologetic ("hey, the fans want to buy me drinks").

Hope you guys are watching on Thursday night as we host Texas in the Big 12 imitation of MAC-tion. Seriously, we have had some fun games on weeknights. In 2013, the refs took the Texas game away from us after calling a play back when we stripped the ball at the goal line and were heading for a TD with no whistles blowing until very, very, very late. In 2011, we ended the BCS era by knocking Oklahoma State out of the national championship game and putting Alabama in by a statistical thread (but try to get a Tide fan to admit it, never happen). In 2015, though not on a weeknight, it was Halloween and we shut out the Smallhorns. The crowd was going nuts as Texas desperately tried to score at the end . . . and failed. We won't have a sellout because of Thursday night, but we will still have 55k fans (providing further proof that there isn't much to do in Iowa ). And Thursday night games are killers for tailgating. Hope your game next season gets scheduled for a Saturday afternoon or evening, so you can maximize your experience in Ames.

Maybe it just shows my maturity level, but this made me laugh. It may be an old one for you guys, but it is new to me. And I have a brother in law who got a masters degree from Cant State. I "can't" wait to use this one on him. P.S. Buffalo is a 7 point favorite this week against Cant State and without their starting QB. Wow!

I haven't read all the posts here, but one of the early ones talked about firing him after his contract runs out. Generally, I think it would be very bad to let a coach''s contract run out. If he doesn't have a year or two on his contract, then you are telling recruits to have no confidence that he will be there. So, not only are you firing the coach, but you are sacrificing a few recruiting years prior to firing him.