Paul Rhoads
Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads says he appreciates the support of his boss. Cyclone athletic director Jamie Pollard went on a post game tirade following ISU’s 37-20 loss at Oklahoma State and blasted not only the officiating but the Big 12 Conference.
“I am privileged to have a boss who is that passionate about this athletic department about this university that he is willing to stand up and say the things that he did. I benefit from that as the leader of this program, certainly our coaching staff does as well,” Rhoads says “All of our student athletes in the athletic department know what kind of man they have leading ’em and certainly the fans, boosters and alumni of this university are represented as well. I’m appreciative of that.”
Rhoads refused the clarify what Pollard was referring to when he mentioned a recent nine to one vote that went against Iowa State and that the Cyclones have been getting “the short end of the stick” since that vote. The Cyclones take a 1-4 record into this week’s matchup against Toledo. Rhoads says the Cyclones are making progress despite the record but badly need a win right now.
“One-four is one-in-four, and so keeping a team focused, keeping a team motivated, keeping a team confident and pushing forward to get the work done that you needs to take place before you play a game is certainly the challenge that we face this week,” Rhoads says. Rhoads says the Cyclones are better than their record.
“We feel we’re a good 1-4 football team. And the reason I state that is, we’ve improved every week,” Rhoads says. He says the level of competition is highest in college football and their opponents have the highest win percentage of all the FBS schools this year.
Rhoads says while the Cyclones are not full of confidence they are not a fragile team. He says it is hard to be confident when you are 1-4, but he says they do understand the level of teams they have played.
The Cyclones had several special teams blunders at Oklahoma State and Rhoads says they need to get that fixed. He says a lot of it is communication and executing their responsibilities.
Rhoads does not feel the Cyclones will have a letdown because this week’s game against Toledo is nonconfidence. “Every game is extremely important..every game is critical,”Rhoads says. He says he doesn’t believe his team looks at the game any differently since it is a non-league game.
Toledo is 4-2 overall and coach Matt Campbell’s team is 3-0 in the MAC.