Iowa State coach Gene Chizik says Monday was the final day he will talk about Phillip Bates’ decision to leave the team. ISU officials were notified late last week by Bates’ father that he was leaving the squad. The Omaha native had been sharing the duties at quarterback but did not get on the field in last week’s loss to Kansas and has decided to transfer.
"We wish Phillip Bates the best, and he is a great young man, and we are going to help him try achieve everything he wants to achieve in college football by giving him his release to whereever he wants to go, and we wish him the best," Chizik says, "I wish I would have had the chance to tell him that myself, but I didn’t.That was not by my choice."
Chizik says that ends the issue as he won’t talk any more about it as they are going to go with the guys they have. He says he’ll talk about any of the 70 or 80 guys who are on the team, but won’t talk about the guys that aren’t
True freshman Jerome Tiller will serve as Arnaud’s back-up but Chizik hopes to keep him on the sideline to preserve his redshirt. Chizik says it’s tough because they have to take baby steps with Tiller when it comes to the playbook. The Cyclones suffered their fourth straight loss with a 38-10 setback at Baylor and Chizik says they are suffering from inconsistencies on both sides of the ball.
Chizik says one side of the ball feeds on the other side of the ball and when one side is rolling the other side feels good. He says it’s a team thing right now. Chizik says the Cyclones can’t dwell on that performance and must focus on Nebraska. He says they have to move on, as it was their worst performance to date in his opinion.