Twenty-three seniors will play their final home game on Saturday when the Iowa State Cyclones host Colorado. The Cyclones are 5-5 overall after a 34-8 loss to Oklahoma State and they stand 2-4 in the Big-12. Linebacker Fred Garrin is one of those who will play his final game in Jack Trice Stadium.
Garrin says it hasn’t hit him yet, and he says it probably will once the game gets underway. Despite back-to-back subpar performances Garrin says there is still plenty to play for. He says they have to know if they play their best and do what the coaches have taught them, then things will take care of themselves.
Colorado is 3-6 after posting a surprising victory over Texas A@M. Garrin says you can’t count anyone out in the conference and he looks forward to a good game against Colorado.
After giving up more than 330 yards on the ground against Oklahoma State Garrin says the Cyclone defense is motivated to make a better showing this week. He says they will come out and be ready to play and get back to the fundamentals.
Head coach Paul Rhoads was out of town and offensive line coach Bill Bleil filled in at his weekly news conference. He says the Cyclones were disappointed in Saturday’s effort. Bleil says they probably played their poorest game of the season, and he says part of that is due to Oklahoma State’s defensive line.
Bleil says things looked better on tape than they did during the game, but it was still not a good performance overall.
Bleil says quarterback Austen Arnaud will see more time on the practice field this week. He returned against the Cowboys after missing the previous two games with an injured throwing hand.
He says they had to kind of keep a pitch count on Arnaud so his arm wouldn’t get tired after the layoff. The Cyclone offense has produced only one touchdown in each the last three games and that unit will need to be more productive this weekend. Bleil says the consistency of the group they put on the field has been in turmoil with sickness and injury, and he hopes they are over that part of it.
As he nears the end of his first season in the Big-12 Bleil says there is an obvious difference between the styles of play in the North and the South divisions. He says the north teams are a little more physical and the south teams have more skill players. Bleil says the Cyclones try to get physical linemen and stay on the field.