THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY AUGUST 28
MONDAY, AUGUST 25, 2008
SPORTS
3B
Jon Gpering/KANSAN
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
Young squad brings hope, worries for Cyclones
*Tail Gunting KXSSA Iowa State Wide Receiver R.J. Sumrall lunges at a pass during Iowa State's 45-7 loss against Kansas last November, Iowa State 3-9 in 2007, but coach Gene Chizik hopes to turn things around in 2008.*
BY TAYLOR BERN tbern@kansan.com
At Big 12 media days in July, Gene Chizik used one word over and over to describe his players and his team: solid.
Perhaps he was looking at a different roster or is just overly optimistic, but Chizik's rebuilding process in Ames is far from complete. Things can't get much worse than last season's 3-9 display, but they can stay at the same pitiful level.
There's young talent to work with and reason for hope from the Cyclone faithful. However, with youth comes youthful mistakes and right now Iowa State is not on the same level as their Big 12 North counterparts.
OFFENSE
Last year Iowa State tied with Air Force, Maryland and Navy for the fewest touchdown passes in the NCAA. Brei Meyer threw nine touchdowns and now he's gone, which means Chizik doesn't have a single player on his roster that has thrown a D-I touchdown.
Recently sophomore Austen Arnaud was named quarterback. Arnaud saw a little action in '07, completing 20-of-37 passes for 267 yards. Chizik may decide to platoon Arnaud with sophomore Phillip Bates, a converted wide receiver.
Bates is too athletic to leave on the bench and a two-quarterback system could help alleviate pressure from each plaver.
Wide receivers R.J. Sumrall and Marquis Hamilton each bring some experience back to the position, but the Cyclones will live or die with the running game.
Chizik has a stable of able backs, led by sophomore Alexander Robinson. Robinson emerged late in the year, rushing for 391 yards and six touchdowns in the final four games. Iowa State won two of those contests. Also in the backfield are seniors lion Scales and J.L. Bass.
"I don't think that one running
back that I will talk about means any more to our football team than another," Chizik said. "We've got to take a collection of running backs that we feel good about."
Scales is a punishing runner while Bass is lightning quick, at least when he's not in Chizik's doghouse. Bass was suspended in the spring for failing to meet team requirements and only recently earned his way back onto the roster.
DEFENSE
The strength of the Cyclone defense is in their secondary, where they return all four starters.
Cornerback Chris Singleton and free safety James Smith lead the unit and Singleton led the team last year with four interceptions.
Iowa State lost a lot of production with the graduation of linebacker Alvin Bowen, but the strength of the secondary and the emergence of defensive end Kurtis Taylor should make up for it. Taylor notched a team-leading 6.5 sacks last year and is a brutally
physical pass rusher.
Junior Rashawn Parker is a solid starter at the other defensive end position. Chizik's problem is that he has no experience up the middle. That's bad news for a team that relied on stopping the run to keep it in games.
Sophomore Bailey Johnson and junior Nat Frere seem to have a leg up in the defensive tackle battle, but the position may remain fluid.
SEASON OUTLOOK
Iowa State starts the season with very winnable games at home against South Dakota State and Kent State, but last year it had a similar situation and lost its first two games to Kent State and Northern Iowa. While they should start 2-0, the Cyclones could drop one of those contests.
If so, Chizik may not get a legit shot to improve on his team's three-win campaign. The Big 12 is arguably the best conference in the country and Iowa State is arguably its worst team.
"We feel like the foundation has been laid for what we're trying to do down the road." Chizik said. "But in a certain degree, that's a lot of window dressing, a lot of feel-good stuff. Because at the end of the day, you have to look back and say you had a 3-9 season."
The only conference games the Cyclones could be favored in are both on the road (at Baylor, at Kansas State), as is their intrastate match with the Hawkeyes. Chizik said despite the struggles he can see a positive future for his squad.
4-8, chilling in Iowa for the winter.
As a member of the coaching staff at Texas, Chizik became accustomed to winning games. Now as the man in Ames, he's got to learn humility and how to cope with losing. Either that, or he can keep pretending his team is solid until they actually start playing like it.
PREDICTION
— Edited by Adam Mowder
our first game and we need every practice, I don't think we're a finished product by any stretch. We have a lot of work to do and a lot of areas to improve. We're moving in the right direction."
FOOTBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
Players have been waiting for Saturday's game to come since the end of last season. But add in hot
two-a-day practices and a four-week training camp, and kickoff can't come any sooner.
"We're ready," said defensive tackle Jamal Greene. "We're just waiting and counting down the days."
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
— Edited by Adam Mowder
Ohio State's Wells a Heisman favorite
BY RUSTY MILLER ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State fans would love to have tailback Chris "Beanie" Wells win the Heisman Trophy this season. For two reasons.
First, what fans wouldn't want one of their favorite players to win the top individual honor in college football? But more importantly, they want to see Wells win it so that 2007 winner Florida quarterback Tim Tebow does not repeat.
That would preserve the distinction of Ohio State's Archie Griffin as the only two-time winner of the award.
Griffin remains an iconic figure in Ohio's heartland, a smallish guy with a big heart who slashed and dashed for 5,589 yards from 1972 to 1975, capturing the Heisman his final two seasons.
"I'm sure they're rooting for me for both reasons," Wells said with a laugh on Friday.
"I've heard that quite a bit, actually," he said. "But as I've said for a long time, records are meant to be broken. I certainly thought that by this time someone would have won it twice."
Griffin admires Tebow — just a junior, so a threat to become the first three-time winner — and considers him a very worthy recipient. At the same time, he doesn't try to hide his
He remains above the fray when it comes to denying Tebow a second Heisman.
allegiance to his alma mater, admitting that he'd like to see an Ohio State running back bring the award back to Columbus for a record-setting eighth time.
"He certainly is a viable candidate," Griffin said of Wells, a 6-foot-1, 237-pound junior who rushed for 1,609 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2007. "I thought that the way he ran a year ago was extremely impressive. I thought maybe he should have gotten some consideration even last year."
Wells is awed by the fact his name is even brought up when the conversation turns to the Heisman.
"It's an honor and a blessing to even be mentioned in the same sentence with the Heisman Trophy," he said. "For guys like Archie to say something like that, that's incredible."
Griffin said he won't be upset if Tebow wins it again. He said his unofficial title will just have to be changed a little.
"You know what? You can always say you're the first (to win two)," he said with a laugh.
Griffin, now president and CEO of Ohio State's alumni association, says he has faith that the Heisman voters will get it right.
"If Tim Tebow has the kind of season that's deserving of another Heisman, then let him have it. He's an outstanding young man and he's done some tremendous things on the football field and in the community," Griffin said. "But what it's boils down to: the best man wins."