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Iowa State Head Coach Paul Rhoads met with the media ahead of the Cyclones Thursday night tilt with the Texas Longhorns. The following are excerpts and quotes obtained via Cyclone Report.
Can you talk about the Big 12 being wild and unpredictable this year?
Rhoads: I think a lot of people accurately said this was going to be wide-open league as the season approached. I think it’s holding true. There’s a lot of talent in this league. There’s a lot of great coaching in this league. Certainly a high rate of competitive people in the league. So you’re going to have upsets, you’re going to have that play out and every now and then you’re going to have lopsided games as well. This is a league that’s as good as it gets in the country that’s showing a little bit of its youth and inexperience with a number of the programs this particular season.
Can you analyze the progression of some of the younger guys on the offensive line?
Rhoads: Oni’s [Omoile] really come on and given us an opportunity to rotate some guys at the guard position. Once we lost Jamison [Lalk] to center, we needed a little bit more exposure with some of those guys and reps and they’ve taken advantage of it. Oni, specifically. So you’ve got Tuftee, Burton and Oni that can roll a little bit. The ability to do that keeps guys fresher as the game goes along. Usually that O line is a position where five guys play 100 percent of the snaps and that’s just their life and they know it. But the freshness that can come from playing three possibly can give us an advantage. The rotation at center with Ben [Loth] and Tom [Farniok] was as much out of necessity as it was anything else. Tom was not in a position to play a full game, conditioning-wise and the strength of the leg, the knee. So we rotated them. The plan would be for Tom to play more snaps, but really proud of Ben and the admirable job, better than admirable job, that he’s done in helping this football team out through games one, two and three.
How important was it to get the running game going against Tulsa?
Rhoads: Very important. There’s a number of things that you can’t do without successful run plays. And I’ll say this – it might sound silly to you – but there were a number of successful three- and four-yard runs in that game. And what they did over time for our football team chipping away at it that created 36-yard runs down the line and play-action pass and open holes in the passing game because of it. You cannot be one-dimensional and be successful unless you’ve got a world of talent at the O line to protect the quarterback and receivers that are going to get open and a drop back first-round draft pick back there flinging it around. We don’t have any of that so we’ve got to be multi-dimensional and we’ve got to be successful in all those areas, at least somewhat, to keep all of it open.
What can a win do for turning a season around and the psyche of your football team?
Rhoads: It’s different for sure. It was different on Saturday when we came in and different yesterday on the practice field. In Tulsa preparation, there was a high amount of enthusiasm, especially by our defensive kids, in the actual game week. You’re trying to create something. Now with a victory and the credibility that goes with it of what we’re doing are the right things, now it’s more back to business. And really learning about the Texas Longhorns, their formations, their plays, their tendencies, and I saw that kind of business approach from our kids yesterday as again this week’s moving fast with it already being Wednesday (for game prep purposes).
What’s Mack Brown’s reputation among Big 12 coaches and do you feel sympathy for him with some of the difficulties he’s having this year?
Rhoads: I don’t think sympathy’s right word as far as how you look at the situation. We all know the profession; we understand the profession. But the first part of that, Mack Brown is held in the highest esteem by the coaches in this league, by all his peers across the country. This is a guy that’s been there, done that with high character, high integrity, the respect for his program and what he’s accomplished.
One of the decisions Mack Brown makes every morning is what championship ring that he puts on his hand as he goes to work. There’s not a lot of folks that can say that or that have to make that decision. He knows how to coach the game, he knows how to win in the game. He led our Big 12 panel of coaches discussions this past off-season and we got more done than we’ve ever accomplished in the past because he’s a get it done guy. He has great vision for the game of college football and his leadership is apparent there as well.
What are your thoughts on Texas and preparing for them, and on any difference between Ash and McCoy are quarterback?
Rhoads: No, their offense will be their offense and there’s things that quarterbacks or individual players do with other players out at other positions that you become more aware of more tuned into. But their offense will be their offense so there’s not a change in preparation in that regard. They’re a very talented football team. They’re fast, they’re big, they’re strong. They’re Texas. And they might have woke up a little bit, if you will.
To me, the TV game and watching it, that was more apparent than what you get out of film. Coaches film with its silence and all that, sometimes you can get just locked up in what’s taking place there. But there was great life to that Texas team against Kansas State a couple of weeks ago and this is a team that was picked by a lot to be right at the top of the league and they have the talent to do it. They’re probably hitting stride right now and with 12 days of preparation they’re a very scary outfit for us to prepare (for) and play.
What’s the difference in Texas’ offense this year compared to years past?
Rhoads: They’ll still go fast, for sure they’ll go fast. There was more misdirection in the past that was associated with that and it was really hard to keep up with. Who’s one, who’s two, where do I fit, where’s that guy fit? That’s not as big a component as it was the last couple of years.
What differences have you seen if any in Texas’ defense from the time it switch coordinators?
Rhoads: Good bit of difference. Greg’s [Robinson] a great, great coach and Duane Akina’s a great, great coach. Their whole staff is. Two completely different offenses they’ve seen in that time and you saw a change in that just like we’ll see a change as we go forward. They’re less risk-taking, less gambling if you will, not as many people coming from different spots and they’re aligned where they’re supposed to be with great consistency.
How hard is it to prepare for Texas’ running game, and do you have to get ready for three different quarterbacks this week?
Rhoads: It’s always something you’ve got to consider when there’s an injury at the position if there’s a distinct difference in what the team would do. If you’ve got a player that, boy, he really struggles to pass the ball, then there’s a change. Now we might get more of this or more of that with a certain guy under center but they’re still going to run the plays that are in Texas’ playbook that we’ve seen. So you’re preparing for the whole gamut and then you adjust on the sideline if the switch occurs.
Their running backs are very talented players that could play for anybody in the country. And when they’re given any kind of space, they hit it, they hit it hard, they take advantage of it, they gain yards fast. We’re going to have to gang tackle, we’re going to have to limit the spacing in holes to make single tackles easier for our kids. But we’re really to have to be hard charging with all 11 guys to be successful against their run game.
Can you still draw anything from the win at Texas to help this year?
Rhoads: Any kid in our program knows that we’re capable of winning on any given Thursday, any given Saturday, any given et cetera. And they also know that a lot of hard work and preparation goes into that to lead to game day execution. Those aren’t fairy tale victories, those aren’t games that are won just because it was time a Cinderella team to do it. Those are games that were won because we played well and we prepared well and that’s what were in the middle of doing.
Do you point to games against Texas teams on national television in your Texas recruiting?
Rhoads: Two things, there. One, you come to play in the Big 12, you’re going to play on national television. So I don’t think this game necessarily is a big recruiting splash as far as it goes because we use it all the time that you’re going to play on national television. The fact that we go to play in the state of Texas twice a year is very important in the recruiting process. And they know they’re always going to get to go home and play in front of mom and dad and family and so forth.
Is this as difficult an offense as you’ve had here for someone else to prepare for?
Rhoads: I think we’re getting there, yeah, I think we’re getting there. The uniqueness of some of the plays; the uniqueness of the pistol offense. As big a piece in that is the tight end. If teams can forget about a tight end, they’ve got a leg up. Now with the tight end being back involved in the offense and receivers on both sides of the ball and the emergence of, oh yeah, they can run the ball, yeah I think we’ve become a little more dangerous. I don’t know if harder to prepare for is the right phrase, but I think we’ve become a little bit more dangerous.
Texas (2-2, 1-0) faces Iowa State (1-2) tomorrow night. Kickoff is set for 6:30pm on ESPN.
