After two near misses on the road in the Big-12 the Iowa State Cyclones have another chance to get a big victory this weekend when they visit Texas A@M. The Cyclones are 4-3 overall and 1-3 in conference play after rolling past Oklahoma State 37-10.
Cyclone coach Dan McCarney says he’s proud of the resiliency of his team and says they’ve gotten better in the last few weeks. McCarney says his team has maintained a great attitude all season the victory over Oklahoma State lifted everyone’s spirits. He says it’s always easy to go back to practice after a victory. He says so far no one in the Big Twelve has been eliminated from bowl game contention.
The Aggies are especially tough to beat at Kyle Field. McCarney says their tradition and student involvement is pretty unique and he says it’s just as loud as any stadium he’s been in. McCarney says they’ll be practicing with crowd noise again this week. Two weeks ago the Cyclone defense did a good job of bottling up Missouri quarterback Brad Smith. They will need a similar effort against A@M’s Reggie McNeal. McCarney says McNeal is dangerous because he can get you running or passing.
After back-to-back victories Texcas A@M is 5-2 heading into Saturday’s game. Aggies coach Dennis Franchione expects the Cyclones to give them a battle. He says the Cyclones are a solid football team that’s just seven points away from being 7-0. Franchione says the confidence level of his team has risen after a victory last weekend at Kansas State. He says it’s been a good boost to play well the last two weeks, and especially to go on the road and get a victory in a tough place.
A@M has a big game next week against Texas Tech but Franchione says the Aggies won’t get caught looking ahead. He says they have tremendous respect for Iowa State and he says his older players are pretty grounded and have done a good job of keeping the younger players on track in getting ready every week.