Paul Rhoads
The Iowa State football team fell short of a winning record in losing the Liberty Bowl to Tulsa Monday, but after the game coach Paul Rhoads there are a lot of positive things that came out of this season.
“That does not change the success of the season — at the same time 6-7 doesn’t define success — but in four years we continue to progress, we continue to develop, and that’s exactly what we’ll do again in January when we start up on the 14th,” Rhoads says.
Rhoads has to say good-bye to the players in his first recruiting class after taking over the program.
“It just doesn’t seem like we’ve been here that long where those guys have reached full maturation and made their way through the program,” Rhoads says. He says the impact of the players will be felt for much longer than the time they spent in the program and he expects them to go on to have good careers beyond Iowa State.
The extra time practicing for a bowl game is expected to be a boost for the team heading into next season. Rhoads says the practices were excellent for those who played and for the guys on the team that people don’t even know yet. Like all loses, Rhoads says this one will be forgotten and they will keep moving ahead.
“As disappointing as this loss is, come January 14th, the ball that’s rolling is gonna get pushed faster and it’s gonna get pushed harder, and Cyclone Nation can remain energized at what this football program will be fast becoming,” Rhoads says.
Iowa State will open the 2013 season on August 31st against Northern Iowa. They will play Tulsa again in the third game of the 2013 season after playing Iowa.