16 BIG 12
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OWA STATE CYCLONES
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Cyclones prepare for rivalry game
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
lowa State's Marquis Hamilton catches a touchdown pass in front of North Dakota State's Richard Bowman during the fourth quarter in Ames, Iowa. Iowa State won 34-17.
By Jake Lovett Iowa State Daily
AMES, Iowa — After opening the season with a 34-17 victory against North Dakota State, Iowa State head coach Paul Rhoads and the Cyclones football team are now preparing for their annual matchup against archrival Iowa this Saturday at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames. The game kicks off at 11:05 a.m.
Drop from the Poll
Iowa had to survive to beat Northern Iowa 17-16 last Saturday, and its struggles were reflected in the most recent Associated Press poll released Monday.
The previously 22nd-ranked Hawkeye fell completely from the top 25, and only received 24 total votes, meaning that for the third-straight season, neither Iowa State nor Iowa will be ranked in the AP's top 25 for the game.
In Monday's press conference, Rhoads mentioned several times that the Hawkeyes were a "well-deserving nationally ranked team, but the voters were clearly unimpressed by the onepoint victory at home to the Panthers of the FCS. Rhoads insisted, however, that the Hawkeye's national status wouldn't affect the outcome of the game.
"These kids play them every year, they know how physical Iowa is, they know Iowa's tradition of winning," Rhoads said. "The fact the Northern
lowa- Iowa game was so close in score will have no effect on what they expect coming into this football game."
Ground Game
Last week, Iowa State compiled 217 yards between quarterback Austen Arnaud and running backs Alexander Robinson and Jeremiah Schwartz. Robinson had 77 yards in the first half on 13 carries (5.2 yards per carry), but he only had eight yards in the second half on three carries.
"[The flow of the offense] was part of it, but at the same time, North Dakota State made some great adjustments to stop the run at halftime," Robinson said. "We just tried to take what they gave us and not try to do anything spectacular or anything like that."
Rhoads said he expects to see Robinson, a Junior from Minneapolis, be more aggressive in the coming weeks than he was against the Bison.
This week's opponent, Iowa, only gave up 84 yards on the ground last week against Northern Iowa, though.
"I'll get the ball here and there; whenever it calls for it, I'll run the ball," Robinson said. "I was just trying to execute what was called and trying to not make a mistake, and I'm going to try and do that better than I did in week one."
On the defensive side of the ball, the Cyclones gave up 210 rushing yards to the Bison, including a career-high 146
yards to NDSU's Pat Paschall.
The Hawkeyes struggled running the ball against Northern Iowa in the wake of losing pre-season starter Jewel Hampton, but will likely try to establish the run this week with redshirt freshman Adam Robinson and junior Paki O'Meara.
"Anytime a team gives you two guys in the backfield, you've got to pack an extra guy in the box, as coaches like to say," said Rhoads. "The dangerous item with all of that is play-action pass and misdirection pass and the opportunity to give up the big play."
Welcome Back
Rhoads will be the head coach against his school's archrival for the first time, but this is far from his first trip around the block.
While coaching under Dan McCarney, Rhoads faced Iowa five times and helped the Cyclones win twice in 1998 and 1999.
The coach isn't the only one with experience against the Hawkeyes, as Robinson will be one of many players facing the rivals from the east again.
Robinson has 75 yards on the ground in his two previous matchups with Iowa, as well as getting 42 yards through the air in last season's loss.
"It's just a great atmosphere," Robinson said. "It's definitely a big game with the emotions that go through you when you get out there."
TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS
Bears could surprise teams in Big 12
By Landry Locker The Daily Toreador
LUBBOCK, Texas — Week 1 of the college football season is a chance to separate the overrated from the underrated,a chance for teams to make statements and an opportunity for people like me to analyze the statements these teams make.
A Big 12 Conference South team made a statement in Week 1 of the college football season, and I am not talking about Oklahoma State, who defeated Georgia by 14 points in Stillwater, Okla.
No, the biggest statement of the week in the Big 12 was made by the Baylor Bears.
Football fans tend to overanalyze their
teams early in the season and while a lot of people are overreacting to Tech's unimpressive win against North Dakota, it cannot be understated how impressive Baylor's road victory against Wake Forest was.
Briles — the former Texas Tech running backs coach — has taken Baylor from the laughingstock of the Big 12 to a dangerous team that no longer is a decorated scrimmage for opponents.
Wake Forest is by no means a powerhouse, but just three years ago, Baylor would've had no chance at beating an ACC team on the road, or even in Waco.
What second-year coach Art Briles has done at Baylor in such a short time is nothing short of phenomenal.
I am not saying that the Bears will compete for a national championship or even a conference title, but just the fact that the Bears are making noise in the Big 12 and have a realistic chance to make their first bowl game in 15 years is beyond impressive.
Some of the cynical people in Big 12 country find it hard to be impressed by a team that will merely compete for an appearance in a bowl game, but you have to understand just how bad Baylor was before Briles arrived in Waco.
Last season, Briles inherited an unaltered, three-win team that didn't win a single game in Big 12 play in 2007 and a program with 13 losing seasons since 1992.
In just his second season as coach of the Bears, Briles has transformed Baylor into an exciting and competitive football team.
The Bears are lead by sophomore dualthreat quarterback Robert Griffin a freshman All-American last season and another huge reason for the program's turnaround.
Griffin originally committed to Houston to play for Briles but followed him to Waco when he was named the Bears' coach.
Some skeptics might call it luck that Briles lured Griffin to Waco, but Briles never has had a problem getting top-level talent at mid-level programs dating back to his days at Houston.
Teams in the Big 12 need to make note of this team, because as long as Briles is in Waco, the Bears are going to compete every week and the days of the Baylor scrimmage are a thing of the past.
THE WAVE SEPTEMBER 11,2009
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN