Role Reversal

Forgive me if I’m giddy. It’s not a normal Saturday in the state of Iowa. In fact, it’s a complete role reversal, for one day anyway. Iowa, playing on its home turf found just about every way possible to lose a game. Iowa State, playing at perennial power Texas, did the unthinkable—they won against the Longhorns for the first time ever, this after back-to-back rear-end kicking’s against Oklahoma and Utah. Seriously, who saw this coming? If you had told 100 people on Friday that one team in the state would win and one would lose on Saturday, 99 would have picked Iowa as the winner.

For the Cyclones, this is the second straight season a Paul Rhoads led squad has won on the road against a top 25 team. I don’t know if that has ever happened in back-to-back seasons in ISU history, and for Rhoads to do it the way he has in both of those victories is down right amazing. Last year, it was with a backup quarterback and a backup running back on the road in Lincoln. This year, it was at the end of a merciless three-game stretch, a game most people chalked up as a loss well before the season even started. Texas was rated in the top 5 in many preseason polls.

Hawkeye fans, we’re familiar with your pain. A missed extra point, a blocked field goal, a fake-punt, and a mismanaged clock in the final 65 seconds—all can be pointed to as the difference in a 31-30 loss. Heartbreaking isn’t it? Been there, done that as a Cyclone fan about 5 million times in the last 10 years. But for one night, the Iowa State Cyclones are the talk of the college football world. And for one night, I’m really going to enjoy it.