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Week 6: Monday Iowa State Football Links

Mark Kieffer — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:00:54 -0000

It's Monday. The weekend is over, back at work, back at school, and the players are going back to work. Here is some Monday Football news:

The new depth chart was released. Alexander Robinson is listed as the #1 RB still, but that doesn't mean anything to me. Some media outlets are taking this as that he is expected to start, but I personally do not. It's hard to tell how the injury is, and it's one of those that can linger through a whole season if you do not let it heal. I wouldn't make any assumptions, and we will just have to see when the players suit up on Saturday. Other than that, not a whole lot is really new. Allen Bell and Devin McDowell are not listed on the depth chart, and Randy Peterson at the Des Moines Register reported on Saturday that both players have left the team.
The Homecoming game against Baylor on October 17th will kickoff at 6pm. No TV announcement at all, but the 6pm FSN game is taken by Colorado. It's either going to be on FCS, or not at all.
Our Defense was so bad last week, that Grant Gregory won Big 12 Offensive Player Of The Week. All I have go to say is f that. I mean the guy made some plays, and I gave him some props in my post game writeup, but Gregory is not the kind of guy who's going to contend for this award week in and week out. Our Defense just played poorley, especially on 3rd down, and he made us pay.
On the recruiting front, Iowa State picked up LB Cqulin Hubert out of Houston, Texas (Eisenhower HS). Kansas State, Louisiana-Monroe, New Mexico State, Tulsa, and Utah State were all in the mix. I do not think I ever mentioned it online, but about a week ago, ISU also picked up a commitment from OL Tom Farnoik out of Sioux Falls, South Dakota (Washington HS). He's listed as a 2 start right now on Rivals.
Lastly, ISU has opened as a 19 point dog against KU on Saturday. Playing on the road, against a good offense coming off a bye week doesn't fare well, and I don't think one can really argue with the line.

That's all I have right now. Paul Rhoads did his weekley teleconference today, and I hopefully will get to listen it tonight or tomorrow. If he says anything worthy of noting, I will recap. Admittedly, I am a big Minnesota Vikings fan, and apparently there is a game tonight.... Not sure if anyone heard about it...

Week 5: Kansas State - Late Tuesday Night Links

Mark Kieffer — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 04:36:58 -0000

Hey all,

I didn't have the chance to do the update I had been hoping for, but a significant amount of news has broke regarding the Cyclones that I needed to post something.

Rashawn Parker is out for the season. The Cyclones are going to apply for a medical redshirt for Rashawn. It's pretty sickening, when a 3 year starter has a season ending injury in his Senior Year. I hope he is able to get the redshirt, because that is not the way you want to end your football playing career.
Bobby La Gesse (the guy who's grandma has those infamous mashed potatoes!), is reporting that Darius Reynolds has a fractured fibula. It says in the article that the normal recovery time is 4-6 weeks, but there is no word yet. Obviously that stinks as well, but if we are going to have a major injury, it looks like we have enough guys at WR to step up.
The latest messageboard rumor is that Allen Bell and Devin McDowell have left the team. Bobby La Gesse (in the linked article above) states that Rhoads has not confirmed this, but has confirmed that the two did not practice on Tuesday. Obviously when you have guys just not show up for practice, it's not a good sign. I'm sure there will be more news on this in the next day or two.

All in all, a pretty down day for Cyclone news, but the team will be alright. From the human-side of things, it stinks to have good teammates have these types of injuries happen to them. Productivity-wise, I'm confident that our guys will step up and fill in the holes needed.

Football Depth Chart As of 8/31/2009

Mark Kieffer — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:35:32 -0000

Per Cyclones.com

The noteable change is in the Defensive Secondary. It appears that Michael O'Connell has beat out James Smith for the starting Free Safety job, and Allen Bell is now listed is #2 at Strong Safety instead of Free Safety. Also, Darius Reynolds finally makes an appearance on the depth chart as a returner.

Not exactly sure what the story is with Smith, but having O'Connell start can only be a good thing. Either he has beat out an established starter and the Cyclones will get better production at that spot, or both of these guys are equal and will give each other some good competition for playing time (in which case we will likely get better production at that spot as well).