In coach Paul Rhoads first year at ISU, he beat Nebraska; in his second year his Cyclones beat Texas Tech, Texas, and lost to Nebraska in OT, 30-31; in 2011, he upset Iowa, UConn, Texas Tech, and in the season's finalist for game of the year, his Ames, Iowa squad posted this still unbelievable score: ISU: 37 Oklahoma St. 31!
Rhoads had a nice 8-yr. run at Pitt as a defensive coordinator. He got the job at ISU in 2009, and, in my opinion is pointing his Big 12 program in the right direction.
Rhoads lost some key starters from '11, including two all-league performers in the offensive line, two very efficient defensive ends, and two, all-league performers in the defensive backfield. Those losses will be costly, but, because I have developed a like for Rhoads and his staff, I do believe he can get something out of the players that are returning from '11.
He has his two-headed combo back at QB, he has three offensive-line starters back, three junior RBs back after all three split starting time as sophs, and quite possibly, one of the strongest linebacking crews in the Big12. Their two all-league stars combined for 230 tackles in '11!
I'm not going to fall crazy in love with coach Paul Rhoads just yet. He has a lot of question marks on his ISU team and this team could go south very quickly, but, I am mostly optimistic about this team, and you and I will find out a lot about the 'Clones after two tough opening games vs. Tulsa and Iowa.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
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