Tom Herman showed Monday everything many other people knew or suspected, there’s no doubt about it, said Texas coach, that 2020 Iowa State is the most productive edition of Cyclones football he’s ever seen.
“They have wonderful players in defense,” Herman said at the conference’s weekly conference. “They’re two very, very difficult players to handle in defense. “
But more.
“You know deep Greg Eisworth and what he has done with his career,” Herman continued, “as well as supporter Mike Rose and the season he is leading. “
I do not finish.
“Offensively, you have the most productive runner in the country, you have Brock Purdy and the NFL draft picks as a closed wing,” he added. “They’re the most productive I’ve noticed in the Iowa State chart in a long time. long time. “
Herman talks about a little experience. He was an assistant to the state of Iowa between 2009 and 2011, has faced the Cyclones three times as head coach of the Longhorns, saw them in a cross-film while watching opponents.
Herman knows all about this Cyclones team – they beat their Longhorns last season at Ames and he also knows that the state of Iowa will arrive on Friday at 11 a. m. with ramifications as large as the huge stadium video board.
Here’s the deal:
If he wins Iowa State, which ranks fifth, Campbell’s team remains the team of the top 12 with a convention defeat before the December 5 home final against West Virginia.
If Texas No. 21 wins, Herman’s team prepares for the possibility of a definitive four-way draw 7-2 for the top.
Translated: If you don’t think this game is incredibly important, you’re wrong. Impact players abound on both sides, adding the quarterback, where Texas’ Sam Ehlinger and Iowa State’s Brock Purdy are considered the two most sensitive in the Big 12.
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“The respect I have for Sam Ehlinger is the same respect as any quarterback in the country,” Campbell said.
Conversation coach? Not in this case. Campbell said the same thing before and after the Iowa game opposite Texas last season at Jack Trice Stadium. He even made an exaggerated point to look at Ehlinger after that game.
“What you see of him is that he has the offense,” Campbell said last season about Ehlinger. “He knows where to go with football. It’s hard to disguise things and lie to him, because he owns the offense. “
“When you see a lot of quarterbacks betting at a very high rate, you see guys who have the offense. “
This season, Ehlinger not only owns the Longhorns offensive, it’s also the Longhorns’ offense. It’s the most productive runner. It passed for 1,834 yards and 22 touchdowns as opposed to just five interceptions.
And by the way, Friday is his last home game. Nearly 17,000 enthusiasts will be divided into the 100,000-seat stadium.
“He’s been here longer than me,” Herman said, in his fourth season in Texas. “We’ve been through a lot together. Statistically it will rank as one of two or three quarters that has ever worn the burnt orange and white. “
You will face a program that plays as before, which gives even more intrigue to this game broadcast on ABC. Cyclones will face a list of at least five former five-star recruits, according to the 247sports website.
And the state of Iowa, you wonder? No.
Although Texas once leaned more toward classical national force than it is today, the state of Iowa is a matter of progression, and that’s not a bad thing.
“Where we are, and who we are, there will be a bit of a game, we’re going to be a football progression program,” Campbell said.
As long as you have a staff that can locate and expand primarily three-star talents, there is nothing wrong with being a progression program. Not what Bill Snyder did at Kansas State, for example. Not all of the victories your organizations have achieved come from hiring a player organization with five stars next to their names.
“When we got hit here, we were promoting a vision,” Campbell said. “In a way, we have given this vision a sure truth. “
A sure reality?
How about a lot of reality, given what your program can achieve?
Iowa state columnist Randy Peterson has been writing for The Des Moines Register for six decades. Contact him at rpeterson@dmreg. com, 515-284-8132, and on Twitter at @RandyPete.