AWE COME-UHWN COACH!

This was the rally cry on the hillsides last night. 

Problem is, no way Chizik heard them. Didn't stop them though.

Sometimes I really enjoy being on the hillsides for the football games. Being a year removed from being in the student section, I have no problem with standing at the top of the hill for the whole game. It is a good vantage point, and being in the hillsides exposes me to the casual fan - someone who either spends little money compared to others, or someone who goes to just a couple of games a year.

These casual fans/hardcore broke fans were calling for Chizik's and Wayne Bolt's head.  I understand that some of it may be warranted, but a "AWE COME-UHWN COACH!" or an "AWE COME-UHWN WAYNE" after every A&M first down gets a little old fast.

Here are some of my general observations about the game:

• Wildcat Formation: ever since the Dolphins ran all over the Pats several weeks ago, more and more teams are putting this in their offense. I was OK with a direct snap once to catch their D offguard, but doing it a couple more times wasn't very effective. In order to run this, you need a superior athlete at RB who can throw the ball occasionally to keep the Defense honest.  Nothing against A-Rob, but he doesn't exactly fit the profile
• With the above said, I do like A-Robs game. I think he reads the holes well and what he lacks with speed, he makes up with gap recognition. Plus, he's from Minneapolis. How can you NOT love a guy from the best city in the Midwest???
• ISU Offense: I think we looked a lot better compared to the last 3 games. We got first downs, we drove down the field, and we put up points. I'm not too excited though as A&M's defense is pretty bad.
• ISU's Defense: It was bad.  We allowed A&M to convert on 3rd and longs, and it was frustrating to watch. A game like this shows how important a pass rush was. There were breakdowns in our coverage, but at the same time their QB had plenty of time to make the correct read. Having a consistent pass rush, takes a way a lot of those 3rd and long conversions.
• Jamie McCoy: After the first several catches and TD pass, you'd think we'd stick an extra DB on him. It was clear our LBs were not fast enough to cover him. There were several other plays where he was WIDE open, but he wasn't the primary receiver.
• The onside kick: I joined in with the fans who booed the refs hardcore. I was frustrated that the refs didn't explain the call on the field. This caused me to boo louder. After a few minutes of boo-ing, I started to think: what's worse, getting hosed on the call OR the fact we need to onside kick midway through the 4th quarter against A&M?

Overall, I'm dissapointed we lost. The remainder of the schedule doesn't favor us well, but I hope they are able to improve and pick up a couple of conference wins.

"AWE COME-UHWN COACH!"  Let's get the troops improved and ready to play for the remainder of the season.

Let's put in a good gameplan and pickup some Ws and end the season on a positive note!