MAILBAG: David Montgomery Hype, Uber, and Selling Your Soul For a Title

Alright, Cyclone fans. We’re dead in the middle of the most boring sports season of the year, and our “100 Things” series is killing people’s hopes and dreams, so it’s time to answer some mailbag questions.

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To me, this depends on the filling, specifically the meat. If you’re filling your taco, burrito, quesdilla, etc. with steak, ground beef, or pork, corn is the right answer. However, if you’re rolling with chicken or fish, flour is the way to go. It’s all about texture. Beef and pork is better equipped to counter the texture of a corn tortilla, while chicken and fish are generally too light.

I don’t think so. I’ve never been a big fan of these because I think they make the jersey look like a cheap Wal-Mart knock-off.

This is a simple question with an increasingly complex answer. For the larger part of history, Kansas State has been a terrible football program on a level far worse than even Iowa State. It’s been so bad that Iowa State still holds the series, even while in the midst of a ten-year losing streak to the Wildcats. Our mutual football-related misery, combined with the schools’ striking similarity in academics and culture, made them a natural buddy-rival. Even amongst this losing streak, I still felt that I could root for Kansas State whenever they weren’t playing Iowa State.

However, last fall, things changed. We all know what happened on that fateful November Saturday. While some K-State fans did seem to understand our anger and frustration, many of them chose to take the low road and mock Iowa State fans. Every fanbase has its share of bad apples (yes, including our own), but it was previously easy to distinguish the average K-State fan from their bad apples. The game last fall blurred that line a bit, and I was disappointed to see that.

I don’t think we’re to the point where we consider Farmageddon to be more similar to the CyHawk or Nebraska rivalries rather than the friendly contest it’s generally been. That said, I hope we beat them by a thousand this fall.

Excellent question. One answer reflects our past, one reflects where we’re headed. In the past, being able to say we had a better recruiting class than Iowa would be the second best thing to actually beating them, because that game largely defined the season. Now, the Iowa State football program is shooting much higher. We’re not only looking to be competitive in the Big 12, but Matt Campbell is on an absolute war path to getting the program to a point where it can compete for a conference championship game berth year in and year out.

To do that, you have to recruit, and recruit better than the rest of your conference opponents. Beyond the fact that Iowa and Iowa State don’t generally compete for the same out-of-state recruits (save for Jirehl Brock), the Cyclones have bigger fish to fry nowadays.

Woo boy. The only hype train barreling down the tracks at a more furious pace than the football team’s is that of David Montgomery. Cyclone fans saw plenty of glimpses in his freshman season, but Montgomery broke on to the national scene in a big way last season, grading out as Pro Football Focus’ third-best running back.

The hype around David Montgomery is the highest we’ve seen around an individual player in a long time. The first player you could reasonably look at was Seneca Wallace heading into his senior season. However, I would argue that DM’s hype exceeds that. Thus, we go back just a few years to Troy Davis’ junior season. After a 2,000 yard season and a fifth place finish in Heisman voting, Davis’ hype was sky high. Obviously, he backed it up with another 2,000 yard season before being absolutely ROBBED of the Heisman Trophy by voters in the Deep South that wanted to keep the trophy in the SEC.

If David does anything close to that, Iowa State could be knocking on the door of a Big 12 Championship Game appearance.

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What is the best marching band in the Big 12 and why is it the ISUCF’V’MB? - C. Donnelly

Mr. Donnelly, you are correct in your assertion that the ISUCF’V’MB is indeed the best marching band in the Big 12. In 2017, they won the prestigious Sudler Trophy, which is essentially the Heisman trophy for marching bands.

Where is Jacob Park now? - J. Grodahl

Honestly, I have no clue. Last December, Park said he would be transferring, which Iowa State granted him a release to do. Since then, he’s been quiet and we haven’t heard anything about what he’s up to.

Would you hire anybody named Strauss? - M. Keller

Per my signed agreement with the Society of Levis, I’m obligated to hire anyone named Strauss.

Iowa state has a chance to have a first round pick in football and mens basketball this yr. Has that ever happened before and if not what was the closest we’ve been to that? - S. Bedford

It’s never happened, but we have gotten close once before. In 2012, Royce White was selected in the first round of the NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets, and Kelechi Osemele was selected in the second round by the Baltimore Ravens.

If I sold my soul for us to win the Big 12 and National Championship this year, would WRNL start a GoFundMe to buy it back when Campbell is poached by Bama? - A. Norton

Couple things to unpack here:

1. Thank you for selling your soul for our impending championships. Your sacrifice will not go unnoticed.
2. We would start a GoFundMe, but ultimately end up keeping the money for ourselves, because we all know that the devil can only be defeated in a battle of musical prowess.
3. Nick Saban isn’t retiring for a long time. Also, I think it’s unlikely Campbell would leave to go to an SEC school. I’ve personally never heard of a coach coming to a school (at least in large part) because of the fans, so that tells you what kind of person Matt is. He’s just a different breed of guy. It seems to me that he’d rather build his own legacy than follow in someone else’s footsteps. Do I think Matt Campbell is a “lifer?” Tough to stay, but I would lean no at this point. Just too many years of coaching in front of him to make that call.

That said, I think he would only leave if he felt like he accomplished his goals at Iowa State, AND the right job opened up. Fortunately for us, the main jobs I think Campbell would potentially consider leaving for, (Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, and Notre Dame) all have coaches with job security ranging from “good” to “completely untouchable,” and they all have a lot of years of coaching left in them. Brian Kelly and Jim Harbaugh are on the hottest seats, but they would both have to have two bad seasons in a row to be real candidates to move on. At 56, Kelly is the oldest of the group, so even he could have 20+ years of coaching left.

The main point here, is that as long as Jamie Pollard keeps making sure Matt Campbell gets the facility upgrades and resources he needs to be successful, and gets paid what he’s worth, Campbell could be in Ames for quite a while.

Can you provide a guide to properly use the Uber app? - D. Brockshus

For most people, you open the app on your phone and order a pickup. Then, you get into the vehicle when it arrives and it takes your drunk ass home.

If you’re an Iowa football player, you open the app on your phone and order a pickup. Then, you get into the first car you see and hope its your ride home.

What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow? B. Cumpston

What do you mean? African or European swallow?