As we head into the final game of the 1999 campaign, it seems this is a good time for reflection. This year’s edition of the Cyclones have certainly been interesting to watch, but a question remains: How much progress was actually made this season?

There is no refuting that the team will have the most victories this program has seen since 1992, and with a win Saturday, the five wins would be more than any season this decade.

But how did the Cyclones get to this point? It was a combination of “cupcake” scheduling, better talent and the ability of the team to pull together and win on the road.

But a different combination is responsible for the fact that ISU is not playing for the right to play in a bowl on Saturday. That combo is the poor coaching on game day, the sometimes abominable special teams and a defense that is still not quite ready for prime time.

We’ll start with the scheduling. The Cyclones opened up with a I-AA opponent, Indiana State. While they did play Northern Iowa in 1996, the past two years, the non-conference games have been played against teams such as Texas Christian and Wyoming in its place.

Next, ISU took on Iowa. There is no doubt that the Cyclones have benefited greatly, not only on the field, but off, by the demise of the Hawkeyes.

Simply put, Iowa is brutal this year, and the Cyclones 17-10 win was sufficient to send the home fans away happy.

Next was UNLV on the road. Again, the opponent was not up to par, as earlier years this spot was filled by opponents such as Minnesota, before McCarney decided that the MAC conference could be good for a win and selected Ball State as the victim.

So that’s three must-wins right there, and to its credit, ISU picked up all three, and in impressive fashion.

The next factor is the improving talent on the roster. When you compare this team with the one just two years ago, the differences are striking.

McCarney has done a very admirable job of collecting talented skill position players, and ISU has always been pretty solid on the offensive line.

There are also a lot of teams in Division I that would’ve fallen on their faces when their two starting cornerbacks went out with injuries, but the Cyclones stayed with it and played most teams down to the wire.

The final improvement was the wins that took place on the road. The first came against a rejuvenated UNLV team playing its first home game under John Robinson. The Cyclones dominated from the start and won 24-0.

The second came in a bit of a role reversal, as the Cyclones were actually outplayed by Missouri in Columbia, but ISU overcame that and won in a gritty effort, 24-21.

If they can pull off the win this week, it will mark the first time since 1989 that the team has won three games away from Jack Trice Stadium.

Now, to the negative. The Cyclones coaching staff has assembled the players to compete, and they should be commended for that. However, the decisions made in terms of play-calling and strategy have once again been horrible.

The decision to go for the field goal down four points with four minutes left against Colorado will go down in infamy, and Pete Hoener’s unimaginative play calling makes ISU a very easy team to prepare for.

It’s very telling that the Cyclones outscored their opponents by 17 in the first half then were blown away 121-82 in the second stanza.

The inability to make adjustments at half-time has been a consistent attribute of the ISU coaching staff for a number of seasons now.

Another reason ISU could be “closing the gap” all the way to 4-7 is because the special teams have been hardly special, led by the kicking game.

Mike McKnight has been unsteady at best and had critical misses in games against Colorado and Kansas State. The Cyclone kickers also have placed a number of kicks out of bounds, a mistake that can not be tolerated at this level.

Although J.J. Moses did provide some excitement on the return team, his penchant for fumbling was hurtful at times.

Finally, we get to the defense, which is improved but still not at the level it needs to be. Against Colorado and Texas, the squad had the chance to make one final stop to give the offense a chance to win, but the Cyclones couldn’t do it either time .

Only time will tell how good this team will be. With a strong nucleus on both sides of the ball returning, this team could challenge for a bowl next year.

Or it could be a carbon copy of this year’s almost-but-not-quite squad that broke hearts all year long.