You know, I really hate being right. In my column that ran on Friday, I said the Cyclones needed to prove three things:

One, that they could pass the ball. Two, that they could win in a tough environment. And three, that they could stop a top-notch running attack.

OK, that’s 0-3. And, as I predicted, a 49-14 loss. But the loss was even worse than the numbers indicated.

The passing game went a combined 18-32 for 185 yards and an interception. Fifty of the 185 yards went on one play, a connection between Derrick Walker and Damien Groce. Another 27 yards came on a halfback option from Darren Davis to Ennis Haywood. So, that leaves 108 yards on 16 completions, an average of less than seven yards per reception.

When you add in the fact that 87 of the yards were gained in the fourth quarter against Nebraska’s scout team, the passing game gets a failing grade.

Next, there was the tough environment. I was there, and I can tell you that it does not get any tougher than Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Neb. The Cyclones came out strong going from their own 20 to the Nebraska 19 in seven plays.

After a 2-yeard loss by Davis, a holding penalty and a short gain, Sage Rosenfels was blindsided by Joe Walker and fumbled the ball. Nebraska took over on its own 38, went 62 yards without resistance, got the crowd into the game, and the Cyclones never did recover.

What effect the throng of 77,746 had on the play on the field can be argued, but the fact is the air was let out of ISU very early.

Next on the agenda was the whole “stopping the run” thing. Yeah, that didn’t exactly go as planned. The Huskers ran over the Cyclones to the tune of 439 yards, and they had three players with at least 99 yards.

Remember the days when ISU was ranked in the top 10 defenses in the nation? Oh, for it to be last week again.

The Cyclones were completely outclassed by Nebraska, the same way they’ve been outclassed each and every year since Marv Seiler came out of nowhere to lead the Cyclones to a victory in 1992.

The teams’ speed, strength and tenacity were nowhere near even, and now ISU is forced to regroup.

So far this year, the Cyclones have beaten three awful football teams and lost to two very good ones. The next three games will be the most important games this program has seen in 20 years.

This Saturday, ISU will go on the road to face Missouri. The Tigers stand at 3-2, just like the Cyclones. And much like ISU, they have beaten some pretty bad teams and lost a heartbreaker.

The Cyclones have not won a Big 12 road game since they went to Columbia in 1991 and won a 23-22 decision over the Tigers.

A victory over a seemingly equal foe on the road would set up two winnable, albeit difficult, games at home very nicely.

Both Colorado and Texas have shown flashes of brilliance and shades of complete inadequacy. Same goes for the Cyclones.

ISU is still only three wins a way from a bowl game, and wins the next couple of weeks could send them to heights rarely seen in Ames.

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Josh Flickinger is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Rockford, Ill.