Head Football Coach Dan McCarney has not forgotten last year. The game against Nebraska that ended in a 73-14 loss against the Cyclones.

“I don’t want them to forget about it. It was the most humiliating thing that I have ever been involved in athletics, and I don’t want them to forget it,” McCarney said.

“We’ve got to use that to motivate our players and coaches so hopefully that won’t happen this Saturday, and it won’t happen in the future. We’re going into [Nebraska] to win, and it’s going to be tough. Everybody knows it was 73-14 last year — the longest day I have ever spent on the sidelines as a player and a coach in my career in college athletics. It was a total mismatch.”

Despite last year’s drubbing, McCarney is going into the Nebraska game with one goal in mind. To win.

“It seemed like it lasted seven hours instead of the normal three. But we are going to do all that we can to close the gap and win a football game, not just hang in and play tough. I think that we have earned credibility despite the close losses that this season has had,” McCarney said.

Nebraska has lost only one game this season, against Arizona State in September.

“Nebraska is an outstanding football team. The only difference really as I see from a year ago to now is they have one defeat. Last year when we played them, they had zero defeats. They look like a defending National Championship team should look when you watch them on tape, with the exception of one game against Arizona State,” McCarney said. “They’re physical. They have great team speed.”

McCarney stressed the outstanding ability of Nebraska’s defense.

“Defensively, it’s as fine a defense that I have ever coached against or played against or tried to get ready for,” McCarney said. “Their defense has created 61 points. Either scored 61 points or set up 61 points in the last two games. That is unbelievable. They are really an outstanding football team, and we’ve really got our hands full.”

But McCarney is not intimidated by the dominance of the Nebraska football team.

“A man is not finished when he is defeated, he is finished when he quits, and we’re not about to quit around here. We are going to continue and try to improve,” McCarney said. “We are going to do all that we can to try to win, to try to come up with a big upset.”

Even with the losses, McCarney believes that much has been accomplished this season.

“There has been a lot of progress made in this program in a lot of ways, and we are very disappointed that we didn’t win some of these close games, but this program is moving forward, and we’re getting better, and we’re improving, and it’s a shame that we weren’t able to win a few of these close ballgames.”

A huge plus for the ISU football team, according to McCarney, is the lessons his players are learning about life.

“I think that the kids at Iowa State are learning some great lessons in life, some tough lessons to learn. The perseverance and getting back up when you are defeated and when you have had close losses like we have had, the tough situations that we have been through,” McCarney said.

“We have had some obstacles to overcome, and some setbacks, but we’ve got to comeback and get ready again, and I think that our kids are ready to do that.”

Saturday’s game is at Jack Trice Feild, and kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. It will be the last home game this season.

There are still approximately 1000 hillside tickets available.