There is a song by Natalie Brown titled “You Gotta Believe.” Obviously, there is a locker room full of Cyclone football players, coaches and support staff who do believe.
Nearly all of the experts suggested the 2011 football schedule at Iowa State would be too challenging for success. The Cyclones were picked by nearly everyone to finish ninth or 10th in the Big 12. “I can’t find more than three wins on that schedule,” one said. In advance of Friday night’s game with Oklahoma State, all of the talk centered around the Cowboys’ possible trip to the BCS national championship game and what they would need to do to defeat Oklahoma in early December. I read a number of stories by the national experts and found only one that even noted OSU had to play in Ames before facing the Sooners. The Cyclones have been overlooked all year. That’s OK if the people doing the heavy lifting – players and coaches – are believers. “They believed, they kept fighting, they won,” Desmond Howard said on ESPN Game Day. “If you believe, you can do anything,” cornerback Jeremy Reeves said. “(We won) with a strong conviction that we could,” Coach Paul Rhoads said. The doubters will likely remain. So, the Cyclones will carry that lack of respect into its last two games and, eventually, the post-season. “You men are going bowling again,” Rhoads yelled to his team in the locker room. And, it’s not yet time to stop believing. Reader feedback is welcome at 2minutetimeout@iastate.edu. You can also follow me on Twitter at: twitter.com/SteveMalchow
2:00 Timeout 