Iowa State Trivia
– Iowa State won its first two games of 2008, proceeding to lose its last 10. The 2008 squad tied the 1994 and 2003 teams as the only teams in school history to have an in-season 10 game losing streak.
– With a 5-5 record to date in 2009, Iowa State has accumulated seven wins since the start of the 2008 season, the only school in the Big 12 with fewer victories than Colorado (with eight) over the past two seasons.
– Despite the fact that Iowa State has had a long history of coaches leaving with losing records, Gene Chizik gets the “bottom of the barrel” award, leaving for Auburn with a .208 winning percentage (5-19). He was also the first coach in 50 years not to coach at least four seasons in Ames.
– Hard as it may be to believe, Iowa State has actually won seven of the past 12 games in the Cy-Hawk Trophy rivalry game with Iowa.
– The Buffs have dominated the rivalry with the Cyclones more than they have against any other Big 12 rival. CU leads the all-time series, 48-14-1, including a run of 16 consecutive wins between 1985 and 2000, which ranks 21st on the all-time list of consecutive wins over an opponent. The Buffs have lost the last two trips to Ames, however, the first time the Buffs have suffered consecutive losses on the road in the series since losing three in a row in 1979, ‘81, and ‘83.
– The Cyclones are not known, like Miami (Ohio), as the “cradle of coaches”. At ISU, it is more like the “weigh station” of coaches. A number of famous names have spent a short time in Ames before moving on, starting with Glenn “Pop” Warner, who came to Iowa State in 1895, but that was only until Georgia offered more money. Other head coaches who went on to bigger and better results include Johnny Majors (four years at Ames) and Earle Bruce (six seasons). Assistants with ties to the Cyclones include Mack Brown, Pete Carroll, Jimmy Johnson, and Jackie Sherill.
– A measure of what Dan McCarney’s success in his 12 years at Ames (1995-2006) was his taking Iowa State to five of the nine bowl games the Cyclones have ever played. Still, McCarney’s overall record of 56-85 is indicative of how hard it is to win in Ames. Earl Bruce, with a 36-32 record (1973-78), is the only coach to leave ISU with a winning record since World War II.
– How to dress up a Cyclone mascot? That was the Iowa State dilemma. Unable to come up with a suitable mascot, Iowa State in 1954 reverted to the original team nickname, and dressed a Cardinal on the sidelines, nicknaming the bird “Cy”.
– The only conference championships won by Iowa State came in 1911 and 1912, when the Cyclones won the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association titles. In those seasons, ISU posted wins over such luminaries as Coe, Grinnell, Simpson, and Cornell College.
– To be fair, the Cyclones were a decent kicker away from winning the Big 12 North in 2004 and 2005. In each season, Iowa State lost their final regular season game. Both losses came in overtime; both losses the result of missed field goals. The benefactor of the Cyclones’ dismay on both occasions? Colorado.
– Famous alumni – football – With a lack of history of success, it is not surprising that there are few famous former players. Iowa State has produced only three consensus All-Americans (CU has had 25), and only one first-round NFL draft pick (CU has had 22). On both short lists for ISU is running back Troy Davis, who is the only player in Division 1-A to rush for over 2,000 yards in a season twice (1995 and 1996). Others: Matt Blair, Keith Sims, Mike Stensrud.
– Famous alumni – other – George Washington Carver (inventor), Henry A. Wallace (U.S. Vice-President.