It was just a matter of time.

Well, here it is. The Official ISU Football Predictions, as compiled by Iowa State’s very own expert on the subject, myself.

Yeah, I know what some of you people are thinking, what do I know about the game of football?

Well, as it turns out, I have been working pretty hard lately, spending late nights learning the game, mostly by playing Sega.

Head Coach Dan McCarney says that he sees it being possible that the Cyclones will have the same record as last year, even though they are a much better team than last year.

I was hoping for an 11-0 record this year, but let’s be serious. I believe Iowa State has more in them than three wins. I’m thinking about six wins.

I’ll lightly brush over the obvious three, along with my projected scores, and then I’ll get to the two big upsets.

Northern Iowa. The final time we’ll play them will be sweet revenge, with a final score 21-7. No more discussion is necessary.

Missouri. You got lucky last year, but it won’t happen again. I do see a close one here, 21-20.

Oklahoma State. Another gimme —you make my job too easy. If we were to beat you as bad as we did last year, I would have to guess the final score would be 51-20.

Nebraska. Final score: ISU 26, Nebraska 13. Oops, typo – got those numbers mixed around – but Jack Trice Field does have a curse on them. Remember 1992?

I don’t think Nebraska has near the quality team they had last year, but they still have what it takes to win.

But – drum roll please – the three games we shall win that most people aren’t considering.

Wyoming. Last time we played you, we were hurting, experiencing a zero-win season.

They’re our first opponent this season, at home, and on the fresh new natural turf.

Marcus Harris, you don’t stand a chance, final score 28-21, an all touchdown game. Harris has a good game with two touchdowns, but Davis prevails with three.

Baylor. They’re the bottom of the big four Texas schools joining the Big 12.

An away game in a hostile environment could mean trouble, but we shall still pull through it. Another close on—14-10.

Iowa, yes, you read it right, Iowa. Because of my loyalty to ISU, I will not say that Iowa will smear us. I think we have a good chance. For real.

We’ll march over to Iowa City and break a thirteen-year losing streak against our arch nemesis. Final score 13-10.

Pretty much all of the games that we lost last year could not be considered close calls, and to be frank, they were blow-outs. How do you explain a 7-49 loss against Kansas State, or a 14-73 loss against Nebraska.

But we shouldn’t dwell on these numbers too much, they’re in the past, and even though our record might not change from last year, we have a much improved team and can’t do any worse.

One thing fans will notice from our men on the gridiron is the continuing improvement they will show.

Rory J. Flaherty is a junior in construction engineering from LeMars.