Ahhh, it never fails does it? Once you get the slightest bit of confidence in our beloved Cyclones life kicks you in your walnut sac. Talk about a major letdown...confidence riding high coming off a solid mid-schedule run, looking for bowl eligibility and then Boulder happens. I wasn't really going into this game thinking Iowa State would wipe the field with Colorado, in fact I thought it would be a pretty close game with the winner being the team that had the ball last. But alas, we were the ones having our asses wiped like my son after a blowout (that's when the child shits and it goes everywhere for you non-parents out there). We gave Colorado their first conference victory for Christ's sake!! Our only saving grace this weekend was 2 pretty easy wins from our basketball team. I think we all owe Fred Hoiberg and company a round of shots for saving us from submerging our own heads in water for too long.
IOWA STATE VS. COLORADO - NOVEMBER 13TH 12:30 PM
FINAL SCORE: IOWA STATE (5-6, 3-4) 14 - COLORADO (4-6, 1-5) 34
OFFENSIVE WRNL HELMET STICKER:
This week's offensive helmet sticker is pretty obvious. In an effort to point out how obvious...The Cyclones managed to run the ball 26 times for a whopping -6 yards. Yes that's a negative sign in front of the 6, as if 6 total yards rushing would be any better. Collin was the only one out there that looked like he was trying. He certainly was the lone bright spot this weekend, but that's not to say he was the best of the worst. Actually he did put up some great numbers in 11 receptions for 118 yards and a touchdown. Collin is going to be missed next year for sure but I've got this distinct feeling he will be playing on Sundays.
DEFENSIVE WRNL HELMET STICKER:
On the defensive side of the ball it didn't get much better and, in fact, was very similar to the offensive side of the ball...INEPT! There was, again, only one man that stood out. Jake Knott takes home the bacon again this week after another solid performance. It seemed his name was the only name being called throughout that broadcast, which is great for him, but bad for the collective defense as a whole. Jake totaled 16 total tackles, one of them a tackle for a loss, a forced fumble and 3 pass breakups. As if that 16 total tackles wasn't impressive enough...only one of them was assisted, meaning 15 of those 16 tackles were solo tackles. That's a man showing up for work right there.
SURPRISE WRNL HELMET STICKER:
Finally, I actually had to think about who got this week's surprise sticker. It came down to two names, one of which is pictured to the left. The other is Matt Tau'fo'ou. So this week's surprise sticker goes to Jerome Tiller for coming in, late in the 2nd half to somewhat stop the bleeding. Tiller's performance isn't necessarily a surprise but the fact he had to come in after the unfortunate season ending injury to Austen Arnaud and carry a team that hadn't done anything all game was surprising in my eyes. He didn't have jaw dropping numbers but he played within himself and at least didn't screw the pooch. He went 12-19 for 99 yards and a touchdown. That touchdown was really the only highlight of the day considering how he escaped the pressure to find Franklin in the endzone.
COMMEMORATIVE GENE CHIZIK COIN:
Dan Hawkins, how do you feel right now? You get shit-canned after a horrendous coaching stint at Colorado and then your team responds with a blowout victory over a surging Cyclone team. That's got to put oneself into a depressive state forcing him to lock himself in his wine cellar for days on end. I mean...it just proves how terrible you are as a coach...YIKES! I'm sure there are plenty of car-dealerships looking for help. Good luck with that dude.