The WRNL Round Table: February 4, 2015

Another week, another round table from the WRNL staff.  You guys gave us the feedback to end all feedback last week and we responded in kind with some more sunshine.  This week we move on to the Super Bowl and talk about Monday night's loss in Lawrence and what it means for the immediate and distant future.  Sunshine potentially included.

On to the discussion.

KnowDan

Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell was an offensive graduate assistant under Dan McCarney in 1997. In a horrible twist of fate he pulled something only seen at Iowa State and passed late in the game and effectively cost the Seahawks another Super Bowl title.

With all of that said, does Courtney Messingham run in that situation?

CyPike

Darrell Bevell might be the most hated man in all of sports today (and for the foreseeable future). Courtney Messingham was bad, and I'm talking really bad, but I would like to think that even he would not hesitate to call on Marshawn Lynch to get it into the end zone. At that point in the game, Marshawn had pretty much been dominating, and there is no way in hell that he doesn't get the ball into the end zone. That was one of, if not the worst play call I have ever seen in a Super Bowl and Darrell Bevell deserves all the hate he is getting, however we do have to remember that Pete Carroll had veto power, and didn't use it, so the blame cannot all be placed on Bevell's shoulders.

austinnarber

Courtney Messingham punts in that situation. Backwards. The opposite direction.

CanAzn

Who's Seattle's backup punter? How's his arm? Asking for a friend.

KFitzy87

It's a trick question.The correct answer is yes, Mess would would have ran... BUT, it would have been a pitch to Jeff Woody on the outside for a loss of five yards.

FiftyShadesofGray

Having not thought about Courtney Messingham in nearly a year until this morning, I just want to say how thankful I am that Rhodes fired him and our offense has improved, thus vaulting us to the top of the Big XII.

*checks football record*

Fuck.

As I see it, this is what Mess does on 2nd down at the 1 yard line:
Checks Patriot's defensive formation, running the play clock down before calling the second timeout
Draws up a reverse to Percy Harvin, forgetting they shipped him out months ago
Uses the last timeout in an attempt to draw up a new play
Kneels the ball 3 times to end the game, a triumphant smile on his face because he knows there's no way to defend against the Victory formation

KnowDan

Seeing as how we all agree that Mess probably would have definitely fucked the play up, do we agree that Herman gets it right by running Jeff Woody through the middle, albeit from the shotgun?

Cyclone Scholar

I'm just having difficulties envisioning a scenario where ISU is on the 1 yard line with chance to win or take the lead in a game, unless it's the spring game. Ohhh, it's a hypothetical situation, I see. Yup, still not seeing it, even in my wildest dreams.....

[Kansas Happens]

KnowDan

Kansas is shaping in to a defensive juggernaut heading in to the stretch run of the season. With Iowa State needing help from the rest of the conference to even sniff a championship, what would you consider a success for this conference season?

Vegas CyClown

With or without the loss to Texas Tech last month, Iowa State needs help from the rest of the conference to win the regular season title. Nobody besides the Cyclones, to date, has stepped up and challenged Kansas' position at the top. Yes, this loss hurts our pride, but we lost to a top 10 team in one of the most hostile atmospheres in all of college basketball extracting from them their best game in the process. There is no shame in that and no reason for me to believe any less in our team. Iowa State still has work in front of it with four tough road games (Norman, Stillwater, Austin and Manhattan). Only one of those (Norman), I feel, is almost un-winnable.

Kansas still has games in Stillwater, Morgantown, Manhattan and Norman.

It is time to make the push. Use this loss as the motivational springboard to close out the season with a purpose. Iowa State cannot control the outcome of Kansas' remaining schedule but they can control theirs. Regardless of if the Cyclones finish first or second, if they finish strong (no more than one road loss and protect home court) I feel the season will be a remarkable success.

If they lose more than two of those remaining road games, I cannot honestly say they met my expectations, but still feel they can be a threat in March. UCONN finished 3rd in the AAC last season with a 12-6 conference record before going on a six game winning streak to win the National Championship. It is still all about when you get hot.

FiftyShadesofGray

As Vanilla Ice would say, "Anything less than the best is a felony."

That being said, a successful conference season right now would be 2nd place. We still have a home matchup with West Virginia left, which bodes well for us in terms of a tiebreaker with them, and two potentially troublesome away games at Oklahoma and Texas. The plan always was to protect home court and pick up as many road wins as possible, and I don't see that changing at all. The only difference is now there's more pressure to win away games, which for this team might help the focus issues we've seen in recent weeks.

We also can't forget that we are still only halfway through the conference season, and anything can happen. Kansas is coming together now, but just like us, they've shown inconsistency at times this season. Things will change, injuries will happen, and upsets will occur. It's hard to predict how the conference will shape up, especially since the Big XII is so deep.

austinnarber

1. Run the table at home. If you're going to be a liability on defense and a liability on the road, at least do one thing right and defend your home floor. Give the rest of the Big 12 a reason to worry about something.
2. Prove the winning in Stillwater last season wasn't just a passing fancy. This Oklahoma State team is as beatable as they've been in 3-4 years. Win there, and you've strung together at least three of four heading into Austin.
3. Don't dare fucking lose to #ribbit.

All that said, if the Cyclones can right the ship and go 7-2 the rest of the way, that's a raging success to me. That's 13-5 -- a career best for Hoiberg -- and easily second place in the Big 12. Simply, the stars didn't align for a regular season conference title this year (barring the juiciest and most epic KU collapse in recent memory). All ISU can do at this point is clearly define itself as "the most likely heir to the throne" and give Kansas something to squirm about in 2015-16. For my money, that will be the best team Iowa State has ever put on a basketball court.

KnowDan

Let's talk about that 2015-16 team. I've felt they might be the ones who will be deserving to ascend to the throne, but why? Is it experience? Maturity? The right mix of transfers and home grown talent? Is Cheick Diallo that important to taking the next step?

KFitzy87

This is where I tell the readers that we're going to win it all next year and go undefeated in the process, right? Georges will average a gazillion points per game, a trillion assists per game, and two rebounds per game en route to becoming the 2015-16 Wooden Award recipient. Monte Morris will announce he's returning for his senior year, despite recording an impossible zero turnovers all year and ESPN projecting him as the unanimous #1 pick overall in the NBA draft. Fred Hoiberg will run for the actual mayor of Ames, but will continue to coach the basketball team while improving on the town's already impeccable water quality. The Pope will also see Fred on TV during the championship game and conclude that he is, in fact, the second coming of Jesus. That fine Ames water will soon become fine Ames wine. The Mayor? Nah... The Messiah.

#Positive #DropsMic

There you have it.  We're not winning the Big XII this year but we're saving the world in 2016.