Schoffner

What one second can do for you

It doesn't matter how old you might be, you can always learn something new.

Take last night, for instance. Who knew Sully's Irish Pub in West Des Moines attracted so many Texas fans? We're there toasting a Drake basketball victory, friendship and any other excuse we can dream up for drinking Irish coffee and Guinness. The Nebraska-Texas game is on television and a huge cheer erupts when Texas kicks its game-winning field goal as time expires.

Funny thing, there's not a hint of burnt orange or Longhorns' gear in sight, yet a lot of people are really excited. Hook 'em Horns, right?

Well, not quite.

We're being facetious about all of this, of course. Those weren't Texas fans celebrating. They were Iowa fans -- and there no doubt were whoops and hollers in bars across the state when Hunter Lawrence's field goal sailed through the uprights. Because the Texas victory improved the Hawkeyes' chances of landing a berth in a BCS bowl.

But Iowa fans everywhere had to be squirming as Texas quarterback Colt McCoy rolled to his right with the final seconds ticking away. When he finally threw the ball away, the clocked showed zeros and the Nebraska players rushed the field, thinking they had won the game 12-10 and clinched the Big 12's BCS berth. But the play was reviewed, one second was put back on the clock and Lawrence came through.

And that one second has made all the difference. What if the Longhorns had committed one of the biggest blunders ever and really let time run out? What if the official review determined time had indeed expired?

Oh my.

A Nebraska victory would have sent shock waves rippling through the entire bowl scenario. It would have put the Cornhuskers in the Fiesta Bowl and dropped Texas into the at-large pool, from where the Longhorns might have bumped Iowa from a BCS game.

With two Big 12 teams in BCS bowls, Iowa State would have moved up in the pecking order and the conference wouldn't have had enough teams to fill its bowl commitments, which would have affected other bowls. If no Big Ten team got into a BCS game, everyone in the league would have moved down a notch and that also would have impacted other bowls.

Imagine the hand-wringing that would have ensued, not to mention the fact that TCU or maybe Cincinnati would have ended up in the BCS championship game against Alabama.

But one measly second and a calm, accurate kicker kept the BCS house in order. So Iowa fans, you might want to try to get Lawrence's cell phone number and send him some congratulatory text messages. And maybe a thank-you note to that replay official.

As for Texas, one touchdown and 13 points isn't going to strike any fear in Alabama hearts. After the way Nebraska manhandled McCoy and the Longhorns, the Tide defense has to be licking its chops.

Mack Brown and his offensive coaches had best be getting to work soon. They've got a lot to figure out between now and Jan. 7.

Let's go bowling

Be wary of what lurks within, Iowa football fans.

Within your own conference.

As the Dec. 6 bowl selection date approaches, Hawkeye fans are justifiably excited about the possibility of their team landing an at-large invitation to a BCS bowl. Iowa has finished its regular season at 10-2 and is 11th in the BCS rankings, so the Hawkeyes are eligible for one of the four at-large spots in the big-money bowls.

The Florida-Alabama loser in the SEC championship game will get one. That leaves three. TCU will be guaranteed a spot if it  finishes unbeaten, which is almost certain to happen. That leaves two. If Boise State goes unbeaten, the Broncos will be hard to ignore. So we could be talking about just one at-large berth remaining.

At first glance, Oklahoma State appears to be Iowa's main competitor, if the Cowboys beat Oklahoma in their Bedlam Series game on Saturday. Okie State is 12th in the BCS standings now and would finish 10-2 with a victory over the Sooners.

But Penn State, 13th in the BCS standings and also 10-2, is really the team to be concerned about. Yes,  the Hawkeyes beat Penn State in Happy Valley and were more competitive against Ohio State than the Nittany Lions. But the Iowa loss was a long time ago, back in September. Plus, Penn State has more national cache than Iowa, has a better offense than the Hawkeyes (just about every decent team does) and they have Joe Paterno, who's certainly more colorful and a better draw than Kirk Ferentz (With no offense intended to Kirk. That's just the way it is).

In Iowa's favor: The Hawkeyes did beat Penn State, they find a way to hang around no matter the opponent or circumstances and, most importantly to the bowl folks, they'll put a lot of butts in the seats and spend a lot of money in the hotels and restaurants.

I think Iowa's going to get that at-large spot, in the Fiesta Bowl. But if that's your hope, it wouldn't hurt to be pulling for Oklahoma this weekend, just in case. And you better hope that Nebraska doesn't upset Texas in the Big 12 championship game.

If that happens, all bets are off.

Now, what about Iowa State?

The Big 12 has eight guaranteed bowl slots, including a BCS game, and right now, eight teams are eligible. It could be nine if Kansas beat Missouri on Saturday.

Should that happen, I look for Iowa State still to get the nod over Kansas for a Big 12 bowl, even though the Jayhawks beat the Cyclones. Iowa State fans will travel, the Jayhawks have gone in the tank since beating ISU on Oct. 10 -- they've lost six straight -- and things are generally a mess in Lawrence with coach Mark Mangino being investigated for verbal and emotional abuse.

So, if you're a bowl, do you want Kansas and all that baggage or do you want an Iowa State team with a new coach who's invigorating the program and would be excited just to be there, wherever it may be. Of course, this all could be moot if Kansas loses to Missouri, which is likely to happen.

It could be the Insight Bowl in Phoenix. It could be the Independence Bowl in Shreveport. But the Cyclones are going bowling. And I say good for them.

Credit where credit's due

Why has it become so hard in sports to give the other team credit for something?

Your team loses and it's because the players gave the game away. Or your team had some bad luck. Or there were some fluky plays. And, of course, the refs/officials/umps screwed us.

This comes up in the wake of the narrow but significant victories the Iowa State and Iowa football teams posted over the weekend.

Iowa State came up with eight turnovers in a 9-7 victory at Nebraska -- the Cyclones' first win in Lincoln in 32 years. If Florida or Alabama or even Nebraska had eight takeaways, fans and pundits would be slobbering all over themselves about the great defense they played.

Case in point: Alabama defensive lineman Terrence Cody -- who has all of 17 tackles this year (and no sacks) -- blocked two kicks to help preserve the Tide's 12-10 win over Tennessee and now he's being talked about in some circles as a Heisman Trophy candidate.

Iowa State gets eight turnovers and it's a fluke. The Cyclones got lucky. Nebraska shot itself in the foot. One NU fan said the Cornhuskers had to give Iowa State the game for the Cyclones to win it.

OK, when Nebraska receiver Miles Paul loses the ball as he headed to the end zone, maybe that's a fluke. But ISU safety James Smith never gave up on the play and that's why he was in position to recover the ball when it squirted from Paul's grasp like a wet trout.

As for the other turnovers, it sure looked like the Cyclones created them. They punched the ball away or simply wrested it from Nebraska runners. Say what you want about interceptions off tipped balls, but somebody on the defense has to be in position to tip it. And how about the hops 6-foot, 234-pound linebacker Jesse Smith showed when he jumped to make that last interception? He got it because he was in the right place.

One Nebraska player lamented, ``Luck's not going our way right now.'' But just who was the unlucky team? Iowa State played without its starting quarterback and running back, several players were puking in buckets because they were sick and defensive back Ter'ran Benton went out in the first half with a broken leg. Now that's bad luck.

You've got to hand it to Nebraska coach Bo Pelini, though, because he made no excuses. He told reporters he didn't want to say the Cornhuskers beat themselves because that would discredit what Iowa State did.

Still, the Huskers might want to put in just a wee bit more time on ball security drills.

As for Iowa's 15-13 win at Michigan State, Ricky Stanzi's last-play touchdown pass to Marvin McNutt made all the highlight shows and deservedly so.

But if Florida's Tim Tebow had done that, oh my gosh. It would have been his Heisman moment. Touchdown Timmy does it again. We would have heard about it from now until the ceremony.

Iowa pulls it off and well, the Hawkeyes are barely scraping by. That was a bad call when the MSU defensive back was flagged for holding just before intercepting a pass on the final drive. The Spartans weren't in the right kind of defense. And so and so on.

Check the replay and yes, Michigan State had no defenders in the middle of the end zone. Once McNutt got inside position, his defender was toast. But how about giving McNutt credit for getting in that position and some kudos to Stanzi for his quick read in recognizing the situation.

What's wrong with saying, ``You know, those other guys made some great plays. That's why they won.''

Is that so hard to admit?

MVP and other topics

Iowa football beat writer Andrew Logue posed a thought-provoking question in The Des Moines Register this week. Who's the Hawkeyes' most valuable player?

Hmmm.

That requires some deliberation because the Hawkeyes don't have a big star, which is one reason they haven't caught the nation's fancy despite their 7-0 record and conference-leading 3-0 mark in the Big Ten.

Tight end Tony Moeaki would have been a good choice had he been healthy all season. He's certainly been a big factor the last two games, but the Hawkeyes won all three games he missed. Other than Moeaki, the offense has been just good enough to keep the team from losing.

That leaves us with the defense, the strength of this team. Defensive end Adrian Clayborn would be a good choice. So would linebacker Pat Angerer, cornerback Amari Spievey and safety Tyler Sash.

I'll go with Sash. He's a sure tackler (third on the team with 52) and he's shown a nose for the ball with his five interceptions. Hardly anything or anyone has gotten past him this season.

And while we're at it, let's throw a few crumbs to punter Ryan Donahue. When a team relies on its defense as much as Iowa does, a solid punter can be a huge help and Donahue definitely has done his part. He's put 16 of his 32 punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line, giving his defense a big edge in field position. Thirteen of Donahue's punts have been returned, but for an average of just 3.5 yards, so he's getting good hang time. He might not spend much time on the field, but he's still a valuable cog.

As long as we're on the Hawkeyes, here's an admonishment: Stop it! Put a lid on that talk about playing in the national championship game -- at least for now.

Yeah, it's great that Iowa is undefeated and sixth in the BCS standings. But there's just too much football to be played to be dreaming about that Jan. 7 title game in Pasadena. OK, you can dream, but be realistic enough to understand that it might not happen.

Five games remain, including two tough ones on the road. The Hawkeyes play at Michigan State tomorrow night and they've lost to Sparty four straight times in East Lansing. A fifth straight loss there is entirely possible. If Iowa gets by that one -- it's also entirely possible the Hawkeyes could win -- they're still facing a Nov. 14 game at Ohio State. Iowa hasn't won in Columbus since 1991. So caution is advised.

Having said that, I think the worst the Hawkeyes will end up is 10-2. And that might still be good enough to claim a berth in a BCS bowl. Maybe.

The thing is, the polls might punish Iowa severely if it would lose a game. The Big Ten isn't held in such high esteem right now and there evidently are still a lot of Hawkeye skeptics out there just waiting to say, ``See, I told you so.'' After Iowa beat Penn State, it took the Hawkeyes three weeks to move ahead of the Nittany Lions in the coaches' poll. And even then, Iowa landed just one spot above Joe Pa's bunch, despite a convincing 21-10 victory on the Nittany Lions' home field.

It would be unfortunate if all the talk of an unbeaten season right now would result in 11-1 or 10-2 being viewed as a disappointment. Back in August, any Iowa fan would have celebrated that kind of record.

And now to our final topic, Marquis Gilstrap.

Gilstrap is the Iowa State basketball player who's getting a huge buildup. Though he's yet to play a minute for the Cyclones, he's seen as someone who can turn Iowa State into a team that finally makes some noise in the Big 12.

Gilstrap already has been voted the league's newcomer of the year. Texas Tech coach Pat Knight says he wishes he had recruited Gilstrap. Knight also says the 6-foot-7 forward is as good as any McDonald's All-American the Cyclones could have landed. Nebraska coach Doc Sadler says Gilstrap will be a ``great player.'' ISU coach Greg McDermott says Gilstrap is just what his team has been missing -- a versatile wing player who can shoot, rebound and take the ball to the hoop with authority.

Wow. You have to wonder if anyone could live up to that kind of hype. He sounds like the real deal, but how many times have we seen the next big thing turn out to be not quite as advertised?

On the other hand, there's something that tells me Cyclone fans have every right to be excited about Gilstrap. Mike Green, an associate director of athletic communications at ISU, is the eternal pessimist. If there's something to be down about, Beener will find it. But he's seen Gilstrap in action and says the guy can really play.

Hey, if Beener says that, I'm going with it. Keep the hype coming.

A plug for ISU's defense

Is that headline correct? Something positive to say about Iowa State's defense?

Believe it.

Usually when you include the word plug and ISU's defense in the same sentence, it's in the context of plugging holes in a unit riddled with them. But this year's group has been much more stout than what we've seen in the recent past.

All the buzz going into the season was over the new spread offense that was supposed to dazzle everyone with passing and light up the scoreboard. But that unit isn't yet running as smoothly as the coaches would like. Instead, it's the defense that deserves a lot of the credit for the Cyclones' 3-1 start. And who thought we'd be saying that?

In its three victories, Iowa State has given up 17, 14 and 10 points -- this from a unit that was torched for 35.8 points a game last season. Yes, the Cyclones gave up 35 points in their drubbing by Iowa, but a lot of that had to do with the offense's six turnovers.  Even the best defense can lose its will if it has to keep dragging itself back onto the field after a slew of  turnovers.

So far, the Cyclones' undersized defensive line has held up, though it hurts losing end Rashawn Parker for the rest of the season with his torn ACL. Jesse Smith is having a strong senior season at middle linebacker. Ditto for James Smith at free safety. JC transfer David Sims has been a nice addition at strong safety. His leaping one-handed interception against Iowa was highlight reel stuff.

For sure there are concerns heading into Big 12 play, starting with that smallish defensive line, a group that's now without one of its leaders. The linebackers aren't all that big, either, and heck, neither are the DBs. In the pass-happy Big 12, they're going to see more sophisticated offenses than what they've faced so far.

But for now, Cyclone fans should celebrate their team's 3-1 start. That's more games than ISU won last year and as many as the Cyclones won in 2007. And there's a good chance -- dare we say this? -- to be 4-1. The Cyclones get Kansas State in their opener at Arrowhead Stadium in KC and they're actually favored by three points. Any team that can lose to Louisiana-Lafayette, as KSU did, certainly can lose to Iowa State. Nebraska, by contrast, pounded Louisiana-Lafayette 55-0.

Later, ISU gets Baylor at home and the Bears won't be the same without quarterback Robert Griffin. Colorado visits later and Buffs have shown they can be had ...

Geez, I gotta stop before everyone starts thinking I'm drowning myself in Cardinal and Gold Kool-Aid, too.

It's Big Game week ...

... so excuse me while I yawn.

OK, I'm not that cynical about Saturday's Iowa-Iowa State football game in Ames. But the game just doesn't excite me that much -- this year or any year. Maybe it's because I didn't go to either school or develop a loyalty to one or the other. I can appreciate that a lot of people enjoy watching it, but it's just one more game for me.

Don't get me wrong. They should play each other. And I like to see both of them do well. It's always easier to write about winning teams. And the week they played, I always turned out a bunch of stories, just like everyone else. I just never got caught up in the emotion.

Plus, I never cared for the bickering that goes on this week. There's some good-natured back and forth to be sure. But there's also a lot of childish sniping that makes the debate over health care look downright cerebral. And I'm sick of hearing the argument that this is Iowa State's ``Super Bowl'' and the Cyclones don't care what happens the rest of the season as long as they beat Iowa.

Hey, if Iowa State's 2007 team had a choice between going 9-3 and losing to Iowa or 3-9 and beating the Hawkeyes (which is what actually happened), how could anyone in their right mind suggest the Cyclones would take the latter?

But I will say this. It's more important for Iowa State to win the game than for Iowa to win it. I'm not saying Iowa State makes the game more important than Iowa does. It's just more  important for Iowa State to win it.

That's because the Cyclones typically don't do as well in the Big 12 as Iowa does in the Big Ten. Since Iowa State broke its 15-game losing streak to Iowa in 1998, the Cyclones have finished above .500 in the league exactly once, a 5-3 mark in 2000.

Four times they've broken even at 4-4. They've also gone 1-7 three times, 0-8 twice and 2-6 once. So, if ISU is to build any kind of won-loss record, it has to win as many nonconference games as possible. And winning nonconference games means beating Iowa.

The Cyclones went to a bowl game five times from 2000-2005. In four of those bowl seasons, they strengthened their record by beating Iowa.

Iowa, on the other hand, can get by when it loses to Iowa State because the Hawkeyes have been finishing in the top half of the Big Ten. They've gone to a bowl seven times under coach Kirk Ferentz and have lost to Iowa State in three of those seasons. Heck, they lost to Iowa State in 2002 at home, then went 8-0 in the Big Ten and ended up in the Orange Bowl.

That doesn't mean I think Iowa puts any less emphasis on the Iowa State game. It just means that generally, Iowa is better able to handle the rest of its schedule than Iowa State. The Hawkeyes can compete in the Big Ten. The Cyclones struggle to do that in the Big 12.

I did enjoy the Iowa-Iowa State game in 2001. It was the last game of the regular season and both teams were eligible for bowls, so the game wasn't going to wreck either's year. Iowa State won, so the Cyclones could hang their hats on that. But Iowa got the better bowl (Alamo vs. Independence), so the Hawkyes had that going for them.

The downer, of course, is that the game was played at the end of the season because it had been postponed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

I'll be at Saturday's game, of course, and I'll write about it. Unless someone really messes up with a lot of turnovers or special teams breakdowns, it should be close. Either team could win it, so there's at least some suspense.

What would make it interesting for me is if someone who usually doesn't get a lot of attention or has dealt with some adversity steps into the limelight and plays a significant role. Exhibit A: Bret Culbertson beating Iowa with those five field goals in 2007 after muffing critical kicks each of the two previous years with the Big 12 North title on the line. 

Give me a new star or a bounce-back guy. Those are the kind of stories I like.

What about that defense?

Like everyone else, I'm eager to see what Iowa State can do with its new spread offense. I'm also curious about the defense. Because the defense, not the offense, will determine if the Cyclones can better last year's 2-10 record.

It could be that Austen Arnaud completes passes all over the field, Alexander Robinson finds big holes to run through and the offense lights up the scoreboard. That would be entertaining and Cyclone fans would be delighted. But if the defense can't keep the other team from doing the same, all those yards and points rung up by the offense won't mean a darn thing.

And last season, the defense couldn't stop anyone. In their 10 losses, the Cyclones gave up an average of 38.5 points and 467.4 yards. Two teams put up more than 50 points on the Cyclones. Another scored 49. Iowa State scored enough points to win at least four other games, but the soft defense negated whatever the offense accomplished in those contests.

I'm thinking new coach Paul Rhoads brought in a good hand to run the defense. For sure Wally Burnham is an experienced hand. He's coached for 40 years, including stops at Florida State, South Carolina and, most recently, South Florida. His South Florida units consistently ranked among the nation's top 30 in total defense.

Burnham is old enough to be his players' grandfather. But he's still feisty. "He mixes it up with us," linebacker Derec Schmidgall said. "He's out there running around. We can't get him stopped most of the time. He's out there moving more than we are."

Let's hope Schmidgall is exaggerating to make a point. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to think a coach old enough to get Medicare is moving around more than my linebackers.

Burnham coaches an aggressive, attacking style that the players seem to like. With all the spread offenses the Cyclones see in the Big 12, they'll have to be aggressive or risk getting blown up. They might get ripped anyway.

There's some talent and skill in the secondary, Nate Frere has the ability and mentality for the nose guard job and I think Christopher Lyle can have a big year at defensive end. We'll have to see about the rest.

ISU's spread offense features a hurry-up, no-huddle component. If the defense isn't any better, Cyclone fans might not want that group to hurry too much. Because that would mean the defense gets back on the field that much sooner.

Embracing the spread

Talking to Iowa State's new offensive coordinator is both elightening and refreshing.

Enlightening because Tom Herman knows the ins and outs of the spread offense, which he's installing under new head coach Paul Rhoads. Refreshing because Herman acknowledges something that should have been said long ago about coaching at Iowa State.

Herman says there's no way the Cyclones can line up against the heavyweights of the Big 12 and play head-to-head, smash-mouth football. As Herman puts it, you can't play Texas and Oklahoma in a phone booth. The Cyclones simply don't -- and won't ever -- have the athletes to match what the Longhorns and Sooners and others of their ilk can put on the field.

So forget the two-back set and power running game. Go another direction. I say amen to that and this is where the spread comes in.

Herman used the spread to put up some big numbers at Rice and jokes that the Owls did it with a bunch of doctors and lawyers. They also won -- 10-3 last season with a victory over Western Michigan in the Texas Bowl while averaging 471 yards and 41 points a game. Sure beats the heck out of 2-10.

Now, running an offense against Tulane, UTEP and Tulsa isn't quite the same as trying to make yards against Oklahoma State, Missouri and Nebraska. And the Cyclones will still face a lot of superior athletes on the other side of the field no matter how they line up.

But if they can spread those athletes out and create some space in which to maneuver, they might have a chance to do some damage. It's a lot easier to beat one defender than three. And if a guy can make that one defender miss, he's likely off on a big gainer. Herman and the Cyclones aren't going to be greedy, though. "We're going to celebrate four yards,'' he said. "If we make four yards on every snap, last time I checked, we'd be scoring touchdowns on every single drive.''

When you add a hurry-up, no-huddle component to the equation, that puts even more stress on a defense because it doesn't have time to substitute and adjust. And if you keep coming at a defense, maybe it'll wear down late in the game. As Herman sees it, "A tired great athlete isn't as good as our fresh good athlete.''

It'll be awhile before we see how this all shakes out, but at least the Cyclones are trying something different.

It's about time.

Lucca's coming back -- will it matter?

Good for Lucca.

By deciding to return to the Iowa State basketball team next season, Lucca Staiger is doing himself a favor. First, he'll have another year of classes toward a college degree. There's no guarantee he'll stick around long enough to actually get that degree, of course. But he'll be closer to it than if he had left school to play professionally in Europe. A little extra education can't hurt, no matter what you plan to do with your life.

Second, he'll have another year of seasoning in one of the nation's most competitive conferences. No, he won't be the star. Craig Brackins has that role all to himself. But you don't have to be a star to make yourself better. Staiger at least will have that chance.

Whatever Staiger decided, it wasn't going to make or break the Cyclones' season. He was inconsistent last season, struggled on defense and was strictly a one-dimensional player. And even when he shot it well, it didn't necessarily lead to a victory.  In his best game, Staiger knocked down eight 3-pointers against Drake. The Cyclones still lost.

Now, I'll cut him some slack. After the widely publicized battle with the NCAA over his eligibility, the expectations on him were over the top. It was asking too much for him to live up to all that hype. Plus, he wasn't healthy, which triggered the frustration that led him to think about staying closer to his family in Germany. So I'm willing to give him a chance to show what he can do, to see if he can make that jump you expect between Season One and Season Two. If he can expand his game a little, he could give the team a nice lift.

Brackins, for one, should be pulling for Staiger. The better the Cyclones shoot from the perimeter, the fewer double- and triple-teams he'll see.

After watching the team's leading scorer depart for one reason or another in each of his first three seasons, coach Greg McDermott finally has seen his luck change with Brackins and Staiger returning. Now the onus is on McDermott to produce.

Barcelona memories

Iowa State's hiring of Kevin Jackson as wrestling coach takes me back to 1992. I was in Barcelona, covering the final couple of days of wrestling, and saw Jackson win his gold medal amid chaos that looked more like something out of WWE than the Olympics.

He beat Elmadi Jabraijlov of the Unified Team -- that's what they called the former Soviet republics back then -- 1-0 in a sudden-death overtime match. The Unified coaches and non-U.S. fans went bonkers when the officials did not award Jabraijlov a point as Jackson slid across the mat on his butt to get out of bounds while Jabraijlov held his leg.  One of the coaches threw his sandals onto the mat as he and his cohort stormed to the scorer's table.

Later, when Jackson took Jabraijlov down for the winning point, the ruckus started again. The coaches went back to the scorer's table to scream some more, Jabraijlov joined them and the crowd hooted and whistled while Jackson stood alone at the center of the mat. One coach slid across the mat, looking like someone trying to douse a fire in his pants, to imitate what Jackson had done. When the wrestlers returned for the medal ceremony, Jackson stood at attention while the national anthem was played, the gold medal draped around his neck, but the hooting crowd almost drowned out the music. At his proudest moment, he was jeered as a villain even though he had done nothing wrong. 

To his credit, Jackson shrugged it off and never lashed back. ``I don't know how long I'll smile, but I'll walk around with a smile I'm sure until I leave Barcelona,'' he said at the time. ``Once I hit the States, it'll appear again.''

A gold medal in any endeavor is something to treasure.  I hope he's still smiling about it. I'm sure he's smiling about being Iowa State's coach.