Iowa State coach Gene Chizik says he is not in to "moral victories." The Cyclones will take a 2-3 record on the road to Baylor this weekend after a near miss against nationally ranked Kansas. Iowa State jumped out to a 20-0 lead before the Jayhawks rallied for a 35-33 win.
Chizik says he doesn’t like "feeling like the little boy at the grocery store when they pat you on the head and say ‘nice job you know, you almost did it’." Chizik says he knows the intentions are well, but he says he’s not at ISU for moral victories, "I expect to win games like that, and the day that I don’t expect to win games like that, I need to quit."
Chizik says he is never happy with a close loss. He says he doesn’t get any type of warm and fuzzy feeling over a game like Saturday’s. Chizik says he’s proud of the effort his team put forward, but not with the final result.
After rallying from a big halftime deficit at UNLv, the Cyclones let a big first half advantage slip away against Kansas. Chizik says the Cyclones need to find a way to win close games. He says they’ve found about every way to try and come back and win, and they haven’t done that yet and need to learn how to do it on the field.
Chizik says he is pleased with the direction of the program and says he sees Iowa State as a "sleeping giant" and says he thinks they have a chance to be "really good," otherwise he wouldn’t have taken the job.
Chizik says Phillip Bates will remain a quarterback. Austen Arnaud went the distance against Kansas, but he says they’re not moving Bates to tailback or wideout and he will still see some snaps at quarterback.
Baylor is also 2-3.