This was the game that me and my family attended, and its a great tradition for us. The fans are always at their craziest and the players at their most intense and focused, and no matter what the cyclones record is, when they play iowa they always play them like the national title is on the line. Playing at Kinnick just made this game more special, the history and the passion in the air can be felt, i know i sound cheesy and cliche but in historic college stadiums, especially sold-out historic college stadiums, you have to be there to experience the fantastic air you breathe when your in one. the players also have a tradition of gathering outside the kinnick statue at the front of the stadium after games and the hometown feel you get when you just see the players out there with their families casually talking to fans personfies what iowa is all about. but back to the game. iowa came in 2-0 after whupping d-1AA montana and surviving a scary encounter with an overacheiving syracuse team, who was playing with a level of energy that was way over their heads for most of the game. luckily we survived that one in double overtime thanks to that now-famous goal line stand and syracuse extended their nation-long losing streak to one more week, but even though our talent advantage was huge (and we did have the excuse of not having drew tate, whose mere presence seems to inspire the team to play on another level) we were lucky to win. iowa state had barely survived their 1st two games against relatively easy opponents, todd blythe's receiving heroics and just plain freakish ability and chemistry with brett myer allowed the 'clones to scrape out a triple overtime victory over toledo and they beat unlv pretty easily the next week even though they let them hang around and only took them out 16-10. but like i've said, nothing matters when iowa state plays iowa because this interstate rivalry is always close and always so intense, with the cyclones almost-always playing their best game. the memory of last year's game was still fresh on my mind, that brutal 23-3 destroying when tate went down with a concussion and jason mansen choked horribly in his 1st collegiate start. we were lucky to have tate back from that abdominal strain injury, he not only helps with his experience, leadership, big arm, and elusive speed, but his presence and confidence inspires the rest of the team and makes them play better. for evidence just watch last weeks game, when mansen, who didn't look THAT bad, threw 4 picks and just couldn't get the offense or that confident attitude that tate musters up.

well the fans were pumped and drinking early, and i was up in all the action sitting just a couple rows up from the isu bench, along with being witness (and participant) in all sorts of taunts and wars of words with isu fans and injured players who had walked over to jaw-jack with us. emotions and tensions were running high and i couldn't wait for kickoff. some funny notes were todd blythe's interaction with the crowd, as he carefully and slowly took down his pants, stretched, and did all his pregame business while exchanging shit-talking with the crowd and letting us know that our hard-hitting star safety marcus paschal would not be playing, much to the surprise of me and my pops. you just can't get this feel at home, and you sure as hell can't get this emotion at an nfl game.

important players for us on offense obviously starts with drew tate, our stud QB and heart and soul of the team. he can will us to win on any given saturday and just has that leadership quality prevalent in all the legends yet impossible to define. for his small size he has a big arm and is very elusive and hard to bring down, even without a star wideout this year he has spread the ball around and found a go-to target in big and sure-handed tight end scott chandler. if tate came back healthy and hungry today i knew we would win and could have a chance to win every game we play this season. chandler would have to put up a big day, or else one of the receivers would have to rise above the pack and prove to be a go-to target, as we can already rely on our corn-fed offensive line and star-studded running game to do their part. albert young is a versatile scoring threat with reggie bush-like ability, damien simms has a super-quick burst up the hole, sean green is an underrated bruiser with surprising speed, and then fullback tom busch is the perfect blue collar player with his blocking and reliable running and solid hands. our defense has a great and maturing defensive line that should be one of the best in the nation this year or next, with physical-phenom and stud pass rusher kenny iwebema on one end and workhorse bryan mattison on the other. the defensive tackles matt kroul and mitch king are both massive run stuffers and tacklers, while our linebacker corp has been solidified by vet ed miles and new star mike klinkenborg, who had lost his father 3 days before the game. we actually sat by his brother and you could see the sadness and the focus on his face, and an inspired performance from mike would be needed. the only problem with our defense is the secondary, which is fantastic at the safety spots but very suspect with the corners. even without paschal and his game-changing hits that struck fear into the hearts of wideouts crossing the middle everywhere, miguel merrick would hold the spot down with his hard-hitting and physical coverage. the problems with the corners are their height, both adam shada and charles godfrey are undersized and it shows often, and i was afraid blythe and his height of 6 "5 would tear us apart. shada gets a lot of pass interference calls on him and grabs too much, but he is a good hitter and hard worker, but without the height these boys may be in trouble. the iowa state offense is one of the most prolific in the nation, with QB brett myer as one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the nation and he has great chemistry with star blythe, a must. you can basically throw it up anywhere and blythe will catch it anyway. austin flynn is another talented wideout, strong and a good athlete who is a solid number 2. running back stevie hicks battled injuries last season but when healthy is one of the best backs in the big 12, great combo of power and speed and could be dangerous, i know he ripped us up last year. the cyclones defense isn't that good because they lost a lot last year, especially in the linebacker unit, but they got some good size up front so we'll see how that works.

well the story of this game at the start was our inability to stop them, run or pass, period. it was definitly a disturbing start and we were lucky to rebound (hint, hint). meyer was just running right up the middle and advancing down the field with ease, and they capped of an amazingly quick 1st drive with an easy fade td pass to blythe. ok, a little disturbing but with tate i knew we could rebound from anything, so at this point i was still very confident. penalties, botched plays, and a plain inability to get yards prevented us from scoring any tds in the 1st quarter, but luckily we got an easy field goal from the consistent kyle schlicher. lots of missed chances though, and the cyclones would score again off a meyer QB sneak to take a commanding 14-3 lead. this is when the game looked like it was falling out our grasp and we all started getting worried, but all the momentum changed with the amazing reception by scott chander, who had made some penalties and drops on the previous plays, who rebounded in an amazing way to keep tate's confidence up and advance the ball by catching the pass using his hand to tip it over the defender and then catch it over his head, definitly sportscenter worthy. tate capped it off with a nice pass to andy brodell, who fought for the score. as we would find out by the end of the game, our wideouts don't have any stars or big names but as a unit we can hang with anybody. iowa state tried to hand us the game in the 2nd half, i mean the whole 1st half they advanced the ball with ease and meyer looked great, but that momentum we got on that before-half play really changed the game and carried into the 3rd quarter. freshmen dominic douglas suddenly became a stud wideout and top target for tate, as did albert young off variou screen passes. brodell was still a part of the offense as well as grigsby and chandler, and tate, heres the word again, willed his team to an eventual 27-17 victory and moved the ball with stunning ease throughout the second half. the iowa state offense came to an odd standstill, as hicks advanced the ball well on the ground but meyer couldn't find his targets through the air. he seemed to give up on blythe in the 2nd half, a confusing decision and key reason they lost. he only threw to him once i think, and it was a horrible pass. flynn was getting banged up and had a hard time holding on to anything, and their offense just collapsed and bowed down to their master tate in the 2nd half. drew would have 2 more td passes before he was finished, a 1st one for tight end tony moeaki and another one for tom busch, who you don't think of when you think of TD. key plays in the 2nd half were a memorable block on a reverse by the big hometown offensive lineman marshal yanda, who pancaked a defender incredibly hard and sent a deafening BOOM throughout the stadium, as well as tate's passing. one disturbing note was the lack of a running game, not that they needed one with tate at the helm but young only had 53 yards, not what you want out of your elite back and i'll expect better against illinois next week. the illini are the big-ten opener for iowa, and even though no team in the big-ten is easy illinois is horrible this year and with their lack of talent i would be surprised if they stayed in the game with us. i did get to talk to drew tate after the game and get his autograph, he may look small on tv but he's lookin big-swole in person.