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…. May the time pass quickly!

So Bill Who won?

Maybe it's been posted but what's the word on Freyler? Just hated seeing him get hurt in his last game.

What's the word on his chances at the next level?

McLaughlin played well today, causing a fumble and a big pressure late in the game. This young man came back from injury and really helped settle the young LB corp late in the season.... Here's to all the Cyclone faithful and this team's "Tougher for Longer" attitude. This video is reserved for extra special wins, and especially our home grown LB!
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Thanks for the great job. What a great year.

Could the announcers be more pro Miami? Seriously! It's sickening!

... or do we seem to play much better when not much is expected of us? Everyone and their dog had Miami winning this game. Not a single picker on Game Day thought we would win this game. When expectations get high, like the conference championship game, we trip over our own male appendages, it seems. I don't know. Maybe it's just the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon rearing its head.

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I have two tickets for the Baylor MBB game Saturday, January 4 for sale. Section 240, Row 5, Seats 1 and 2 on the aisle. Text (319)631-2705

Has anyone heard why he didn't suit up yesterday after playing in the CCG?

Anyone know who’s returning for another year?

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I was impressed with Ward. His throws seemed effortless, on target and he has great escapability. He looked like a prototypical NFL QB. However, I have a suspicion he will be a bust in the NFL. The reason? One stat they put on the screen during the game.

Now I can't remember the exact stats, but they showed what he did when he was under pressure and how his efficiency went down dramatically. He only completed 50 percent of his pass under pressure and most of his INTs came under pressure.

Compare that to someone like Brock Purdy. During one of Purdy's college games, the color announcer was marveling at how often Purdy completed passes when he was being blitzed. The percentage of completions under blitz for that game was somewhere north of 80 percent.

Ward is going to get pressured in the NFL. We couldn't pressure him a lick. If he can't improve in that area, he might have a short NFL career.

ESPN is now showing "Catholics vs. Convicts"...right now.

Finally set up in the media hotel in Orlando following a marathon day that started with a 3:30 am alarm to catch a 5:30 am flight from Des Moines to St. Louis. Spent six hours on a layover there.

Arrive on time to Orlando around 4:00 pm and no luggage. I find out that it didn’t make my first flight and was routed to Denver and then Orlando. So after the six hour layover in St Louis, I spent three hours in Orlando waiting for my luggage to arrive!

Ready for a good nights sleep and coaches press conferences bright and early at 8:30 eastern time tomorrow morning.

ESPN:
Takeaway: The "It was a tale of two halves" cliché is tired and dreadfully overused, but the Pop-Tarts Bowl was literally a tale of two halves. The first was a track meet in which the teams combined for 625 total yards, Cam Wardthrew for 190 yards and three touchdowns and Miami outscored Iowa State 31-28.

The second, with Ward having arranged to play only one half in his final collegiate game, was a rock fight in which ISU topped the Hurricanes 14-10 thanks to a late 15-play touchdown drive and a scoring plunge by quarterback Rocco Becht. Add the two halves up, and the Cyclones won by a cumulative 42-41. Miami's Damien Martinez and Mark Fletcher Jr. combined for 241 rushing yards and two scores to nearly fend off the Cyclones. But in the end Matt Campbell's Cyclones made a late defensive stop, lifted the glorious Pop-Tarts Trophy and, of course, cannibalized the giant, cinnamon roll-flavored pastry.

MVP: Becht earned easy player-of-the-game honors with 270 passing yards -- 117 of those went to wideout Jaylin Noel -- plus three passing downs, a number of key scrambles and the game-winning touchdown run. -- Bill Connelly

In the post-game interview with ESPN, Campbell, whose team had just won on a final drive that went 85 yards in 15 plays and took 5:38, said, “Hard to find teams still in college football, but we’ve still got one in Ames, Iowa.”

I'm not a gambler, but I followed them a bit during the game. The opening O/U was 61.5. At one point in the first half, the live O/U was up to 101.5. ISU had moved from a 6.5 underdog to being a 1.5 favorite.

Also, the win probability graph in the end looked very similar to the Iowa game at Gimmick Stadium. At 8:11 in the 4th quarter, it was 81.4% Miami.