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KU vs. ISU
Audio clips
2008 KU-ISU football
Podcast episode
Spodcasters
Spodcasters Postgame: Iowa State
The guys (Tom Keegan and Eric Sorrentino) discuss KU's scare of a victory on Saturday at Iowa State. How big a concern was that first half for the future of KU's season? Who was the MVP of the game after the completely different second half? Other topics include the switch ...
Ames, Iowa — Second-year Iowa State coach Gene Chizik wasn't in the mood to take any positives Saturday out of Iowa State's 35-33 loss to Kansas University at Jack Trice Stadium. Not after the Cyclones blew a 20-point lead in the second half.
"No excuse," Chizik said. "We have to learn to slam the door when we've got a chance like that."
What kept them from doing so?
"The urgency for us to win the game was not as high as Kansas', of that I can assure you," Chizik said. "That's the Orange Bowl champions. You've got a chance to beat them, and you're up 20-0, you've got to put it to sleep, and we didn't do that. We put ourselves in a position to win it, and we couldn't do it. Dropped passes and knocked-down balls. It was a debacle."
In its previous game, Iowa State (2-3) fell way behind UNLV and staged a comeback only to lose in overtime, 34-31.
This time it was a 20-0 lead at the half followed by a meltdown.
"The third quarter looks about like the first half of the UNLV game. They came out with more energy, more excitement to play," Chizik said. "Obviously, we had an assignment coverage blown right out of the gate (on Jake Sharp's touchdown), and that started the snowball effect. They outplayed us for most of the second half, and they're a really good football team, and we played very poorly in my opinion."
Once Kansas turned the momentum on Sharp's touchdown, the Cyclones couldn't reverse it.
"A team like that with a quarterback like that with receivers like that : it's really difficult (to get the momentum back)," Chizik said. "They were 12-1 last year for a reason. They're a very good football team. But my expectations at Iowa State are to beat a very good football team."
Chizik didn't view his players' performance as half good, rather half bad.
"The bottom line is everybody talks about playing 60 minutes, and we haven't done that yet," Chizik said. "It's really disappointing to me. We played 30 minutes, then took a quarter off and then tried to rally at the end. It's really disappointing. ... "
But not a mystery.
"Basically, it's really simple," Chizik said. "You play consistently all the way through on offense and defense, and you don't turn the ball over. Did any of that happen? No."
That certainly didn't happen for Kansas, either, but in the end the Jayhawks had more explosive playmakers on offense.
KU vs. ISU: Postgame
- Miraculous recovery (10-05-08)
- Keegan: Sharp rejoins playmaker ranks (10-05-08)
- Meier rises to occasion (10-05-08)
- KU vs. ISU notebook (10-05-08)
- Dugan Arnett's quick hits (10-05-08)
- Game balls & Gassers (10-05-08)
- Keegan Ratings: Sharp crashes list (10-05-08)
- KU-ISU Box Score
- 2008-09 Schedule
- 2008-09 Roster
- 2008-09 Depth Chart
- More football coverage »
Spring game highlights April 28, 2012
Charlie Weis Jr. helps lead the KU running backs in drills April 19, 2012
D.J. Beshears makes tough catch on deep pass from Dayne Crist April 19, 2012
Highlights from Charlie Weis press conference April 10, 2012
KU football's first spring practice under Charlie Weis March 28, 2012
Comments
mvjayhawk (anonymous) says…
Welcome to head coaching in a major conference Mr. Chizik. The Big 12 North is about 10 times better overall than it was 4 years ago....so the bar is raised a lot higher than it was when ISU was contending for the North, just a generation of players ago. The Cyclones are improving...but it will probably take another year or two to make a real judgment. ISU's measuring stick this year will come against NU and KSU.
eastcoasthawk (anonymous) says…
What a great comeback! Seems to me the lessons learned in the USF game might have helped us a bit in this one. Except this time the roles were reversed.
FlaHawk (anonymous) says…
ISU just wore down. They played a perfect 1st half and could not match it in the 2n half. KU was very lucjy.I can not wait for TTech to take on KU pass defense :-)! It will make or break the bowl chances for this year.Go Hawks!
bringheatwavewheat (anonymous) says…
Fla, KU is going to a bowl game this year regardless of the TTech game.. Even worse case scenario at 6-6 from a strong Big12, as the reigning OB champs they will get an invite. KU is better than CO & KSU, and should definitely win those home games. There's your 6 wins right there. They will add a few more and finish with a respectable 8-4. Take that to vegas. :)