Peterson: It’s time Iowa State wins some of those one-score games that it’s been losing
Iowa State’s football agenda the remainder of the season:
Make game-changing plays that have been missing in losing four consecutive Saturdays by an average of just 3.5 points, including the last three by differences of 3, 1 and 3 points.
Make field goals and/or boot kickoffs into the end zone and/or prevent long kick returns.
No more punts blocked.
Return a kickoff beyond the 50-yard line.
Eliminate annoying scrimmage penalties.
Figure out a Plan B if it’s apparent injuries will continue preventing a satisfactory running game.
Do all that, and let’s see how the remaining five games play out.
Seven weeks deep into the season, everyone’s pretty much a veteran by now, right? Losing a couple of one-score games is acceptable, but four in a row and seven of 10 over the past two seasons?
That’s about as wild as the way the standings look as we enter the last month and a half of the final round-robin Big 12 Conference football season we’ll ever see.
TCU is on top. Kansas started hot. Oklahoma hasn’t done so well. Iowa State loses close games.
I asked The Register’s Iowa State text group what questions they had heading into Saturday’s 11 a.m. game against Oklahoma at Jack Trice Stadium.
From the text group: Did fans and players make too big a deal of that victory in Iowa City?
ME: I don’t sense the players or coaches made a huge thing about the Cyclones’ 10-7 victory at Kinnick Stadium. They knew this wasn’t the toughest opponent on their schedule. They figured Jon Heacock’s defense would be the best position group on the field (minus the Hawkeye punter).
Iowa State’s 99-yard, third-quarter scoring drive was a thing of offensive beauty, a 21-play possession that we knew wouldn’t be matched the rest of the season. But they weren’t pounding chests about the victory. They knew where Iowa ranked in relation to what remained on the schedule.
Matt Campbell’s team responded with a 43-10 statement win against Ohio the following Saturday. An impressive 3-0 start for a team that lost many star players to the NFL, indeed, but did players get full of themselves?
No.
From the text group: Was the Texas game a confidence-builder for Hunter Dekkers?
ME: I’ve never noticed Dekkers lacking confidence, so I’ll start with that.
Did he grow up in that 24-21 loss before a crowd of 100,072 in Austin? It certainly was a big part of his maturation, that’s for sure. He completed 25 of 36 passes for 329 yards and two touchdowns.
Does he want the ball back that UT intercepted in the end zone? Absolutely.
He also lost the ball with about 4½ minutes left in the game. Say what you will about that call (and you have), but the bottom line is don’t leave play outcomes in hands of officials.
“I’m so proud of him,” Campbell said after the game. “I know it’s really hard. It’s hard to battle through the growth process as a quarterback when the ball is in your hands on every play.
“The character he’s shown, the commitment to growing and get better both on and off the field – he’s done everything we’ve asked, and even more.”
From the text group: A call for coaching change seems to be in the news lately. Will Campbell change up his staff after the season?
ME: Really, what’s the reason for Campbell to change his staff? Certainly, there’s no problem with the defensive staff, and as for offensive coordinator Tom Manning ... that’s not happening, nor should it.
Manning (and Campbell) called a perfect game against Texas. Was it their fault Xavier Hutchinson dropped what would have been a touchdown pass inside the 10-yard line with 3½ minutes left? Was it their fault that Dekkers lost the ball three plays later?
No and no.
Who made the play calls on the length-of-the-field drive against Iowa’s defense that’s now No. 6 nationally? Manning.
It’s no one’s fault the running game has been decimated with injuries. And don’t forget the Cyclones have three former running backs in the NFL – Kene Nwangwu, David Montgomery and Breece Hall.
Campbell doesn’t need to make changes for anything other than if a coach leaves for another job.
From the text group: Will Iowa State make a bowl game?
ME: I could have avoided this question, but I didn’t. I could have thrown the cliché “if this happens, then that.”
Cop-out.
Will the Cyclones play in a sixth bowl game in a row?
Yes.
Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson embarked on his 50th year of writing sports for the Des Moines Register in December 2021. Reach him at rpeterson@dmreg.com, 515-284-8132, and on Twitter @RandyPete.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State's one-score losses have become one gigantic problem
