Early season comparisons abound between this year’s ISU football team and the squad fielded in 2002.

Both teams started hot, beating Iowa and climbing into the top 25.

Both teams had a mobile quarterback who could hurt opponents with not only his arm, but also his legs.

Both had a defense that was capable of shutting down an opponent for an entire 60 minutes.

Both teams had Nebraska as their first Big 12 game, with the 2002 squad taking down the Huskers in Jack Trice Stadium.

That’s where the similarities need to end.

After a disputed seven-point loss to No. 3 Florida State in their 2002 season opener, the Cyclones won their next six games and climbed to No. 9 in the nation.

Then, boom.

The team imploded, losing five of its last six, including a 37-20 loss at home to Connecticut. The Cyclones fell, both from the rankings and in the Humanitarian Bowl to Boise State on its blue Smurf Turf.

The 2002 season is fresh in the memory of Cyclone fans, with Seneca Wallace’s amazing runs easy to recall. But Cyclone Nation should put all memory of that season out of their collective mind.

If anything, this year’s Cyclones should look at the 2000 ISU team for a guideline.

In 2000, Iowa State went 9-3, beating Pittsburgh in the Insight.com Bowl in Phoenix. The team’s three losses came to No. 2 Nebraska, No. 19 Kansas State and Texas A&M.

All three losses were games the Cyclones were projected to fall in, while they won the games they should have.

A four-game win streak started the season, with a three-game run to close their schedule.

That’s the example the 2005 version of the Cyclone football team needs to follow.

Consistent play carried Iowa State through the 2000 season, something it must demonstrate early in this one. If the Cyclones can play the rest of their season the way they played against Iowa, there isn’t a game on their schedule they can’t win.

Games against Army, Baylor, Missouri, Kansas State, Colorado and Kansas are all wins for the Cyclones, with the Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M contests leaning in Iowa State’s favor.

It’s early in the season, but already the Cyclones have shown signs of the dominating play that could lead them to run the tables in the Big 12 North.

Kansas and Kansas State are down, Nebraska has no offense, Colorado is hurting and Missouri is coached by the only man who can waste Brad Smith’s talent.

That must be Iowa State’s mentality as it goes through the season. This is the division to win. The invitation to the Big 12 Championship game is in the mail – it’s up to the Cyclones to accept.

Strong starts marked both the 2000 and 2002 seasons. In 2000 the momentum was capitalized on, but in 2002, Iowa State let it fall to the wayside.

The task in 2005 is to move forward, marching through a door that could lead to the best season in school history.

– Grant Wall is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Fort Dodge. He is the sports editor of the Daily.