With a new coach and a new system, it was expected this team would struggle. But did we seriously just lose to our little brother, Northern Iowa? I don’t care that UNI has an experienced team – Iowa State should have won even if half the team came down with the flu during warm-ups. Big 12 teams do not lose at home to a team in the Gateway Football Conference.

The good:

Receivers not named Blythe

R.J. Sumrall and Marquis Hamilton quietly had good games. Both caught seven passes and accounted for 168 of Iowa State’s 270 passing yards, Hamilton with a career-high 97 and Sumrall with 71.

The crowd

The largest crowd in ISU history witnessed Saturday night’s game. Congrats to those of the 56,795 fans who stayed the entire game.

Penalties

Iowa State only had one penalty all game – a false start penalty in the first quarter.

The bad:

Run defense

The Cyclones’ front seven let Corey Lewis run wild. Lewis had 130 yards on 19 carries along with 44 yards receiving.

Bret Meyer’s arm

Meyer did throw for a respectable 255 yards, but most of it was in garbage time. He also threw two more interceptions, doubling his season total to four.

The ugly:

Special teams

Even when Iowa State took a 6-3 lead, it found a way to suck the momentum out of Jack Trice Stadium with a muffed extra point. Back by popular demand were the missed field goal and fumbled punt return.

Rest of season

There are still 10 games left on the schedule this season and Iowa State’s first two opponents were arguably the easiest games. Will Oklahoma score 80 on the Cyclones? Will Texas Tech throw an incomplete pass? If the team bus fails to show up for the final game of the season against Kansas, would anybody notice? Here’s to an 0-12 season. Basketball season tips off Nov. 1.