Iowa State coach Gene Chizik does not think fourth ranked Kansas will be looking ahead when the teams meet in Lawrence this weekend. The Jayhawks are 10-0 and after their matchup with the Cyclones will play Missouri for the Big-12 North division title. Chizik says when you’re a great football team, you are able to manage all those things and are able to focus.
Chizik says the coach and older players are telling the younger players not to look ahead to anything, and Chizik says he doesn’t believe they will look ahead. Chizik says you can’t get to 10-0 with the ability to concentrate on the next game. He says when you are a championship caliber club, you find a way to focus on the task at hand.
Chizik says the Cyclones improved play over the last month is proof of how important fundamentals are. He says you can trace poor play back to not being fundamentally sound, not tackling well, making poor decisions.
Chizik says Kansas is the feel good story of this season. Prior to this year the Jayhawks had never won more than three conferences game in a season since the Big-12 was formed. Chizik says no one would have thought a few years ago that Kansas would be where they are now. He says Kansas is like Rutgers was in turning things around, and he says there’s a way to get it done.
Iowa State has won two straight games and Chizik says the Cyclones are more confident as they prepare for the Jayhawks. He says the win streak lets the team know that if they do the things on Saturday that make you successful, they can play the best teams in the country and be in the game. And he says if you stay close, you have a chance to win. The Cyclones are 3-8 overall.