In
his three years of being a head coach, Paul Rhodes has guided Iowa State to two
bowl games.
That
may not sound extremely impressive, but for a school that had only been to
eight bowl games and won only two of them since its first season in 1892, it’s
a welcomed accomplishment.
Rhodes
has been known to beat teams with superior talent since arriving in Ames, Iowa
just three years ago. In 2010, his
squad upset the No. 22 Texas Longhorns in Austin. This trend of upsetting ranked teams
continued in 2011 when the Cyclones beat the No. 22 Texas Tech Red Raiders and
then shocked the world two weeks later by beating No. 2 Oklahoma State in Ames.
Despite
these upsets, the Cyclones still have trouble winning in streaks and have not
been ranked in the top 25 themselves since 2002.
Last
year’s record of 6-7 after a Pinstripe bowl loss to Rutgers showed signs of
improvement, but still leaves much to be desired.
The
good news for the Cyclones is that they don’t lose much talent on offense or
defense.
Senior
Tackle Kelechi Osemele was
drafted by the Baltimore Ravens as the 60th overall selection and
will be tough to replace. Osemele was a second team all-Big 12 selection in 2009 and
had started 30 consecutive games entering his senior year.
Senior
wide receiver Darius Reynolds led the Cyclones with 695 yards receiving on 65
receptions and seven touchdowns.
The
Cyclones return several key players for the 2012 season on offense and defense which could pay off down the stretch.
Sophomore
running back James White rushed for a team leading 743 yards and eight
touchdowns. White looks to improve
on his numbers and help the Cyclones running game next year.
Standout
junior linebacker Jake Knott had an impressive 69 solo tackles and two
interceptions for the Cyclones last year and is a leader for their
defense. Knott earned first team
all-Big 12 honors in 2011 and was a 2011 honorable mention All-American. Knott should be one of the best
linebackers in the Big 12 next year and will help the Cyclones defense out
tremendously.
Freshman
dual-threat quarterback Jared Barnett will look to build off of his rookie
campaign where he threw for 1201 yards with six touchdowns and rushed for 437
yards and one touchdown in eight games in 2011.
Highlights
from the Cyclones 2012 recruiting class includes three star offensive tackle Duaron Williams (Orlando, FL), three star safety Charles Rogers (Iowa City, IA) and three star quarterback Grant Rohach
(Moorpark, CA).
Despite
losing a few key players for the 2012 football season, the Cyclones seem to
have enough talent coming back to be able to improve on their 2011 campaign and
possibly make some noise in the Big 12.
2012 season record predictions:
Given wins: Western Illinois
Tossups: Iowa, Texas Tech, Baylor,
Kansas, Tulsa, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Texas
Probable losses: Texas Christian, Oklahoma, West Virginia
Best case scenario: 8-4
Worst case scenario: 3-9
My prediction: 6-6