It is not easy to write a feature about interesting statistics when you are playing Iowa State.  This is a very bad football team.  Nontheless, here we go:

3 – Each of the last three games between these teams in Ames have been decided by 7 points or fewer.  The best thing I can say about Ames is that Kate Austen, the fictional character on the TV drama Lost, is from Ames.  I wish she was going to be the sideline reporter for the game rather than that damned Emily Jones.

5 – ISU Coach Gene Chizik has five wins to his credit during his first two seasons with the Cyclones.  Chizik has an impressive resume, which includes coaching dominating defenses at Auburn and Texas that won 29 consecutive games in 2004 and 2005, including a national title.  He was the 2004 Broyles Trophy winner, which goes to the assistant coach judged to be the best in the country.  He picked up a lot of the principles of his defense by watching Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith school players in the fine art of the “Tampa 2 defense” at Buccaneers’ practices while he coached at Central Florida from 1998 through 2001.  Coach Dungy also happens to be one of Coach Pinkel’s defensive gurus.  Pinkel and his staff regularly spend time with Dungy and his coaches during the off-season.

5 – Iowa State starts only five seniors total on offense and defense.  They also start nine freshmen and sophomores. 

5 – The Tigers lead the nation in fewest fumbles with five.

7 – The Tigers have won seven consecutive games in the month of November dating back to 2006.  “Those who win in November are remembered” according to Coach Pinkel.  True that.

8 – The Clones have lost 8 games in a row since beating South Dakota State and Kent State to start the season.  However, they lost by three in overtime at UNLV, by two against Kansas,  and by four points at Colorado last week.  The Clones were stopped at the goal line as time expired against the Buffaloes.  These guys could easily be 5-5 with a chance of becoming bowl eligible.

11 – ISU has had 11 true freshmen and five redshirt freshmen see game action this season.

16 – Derrick Washington’s 16 touchdowns are just three shy of the MU record. 

24 – ISU has forced 24 turnovers this season, which is 10th in the nation.

40 – If the greatest college tight end to ever walk the Earth, Chase Coffman, recovers enough from his turf toe to play, he will bring his MU record of 40 consecutive games with a reception to the game with him.

92 – Iowa State has placed 92 players in the NFL in its history.  Recent success stories include Sage Rosenfels and Seneca Wallace.

100 – Tigers QB Chase Daniel has now accounted for 100 touchdowns in his career and stands just three shy of breaking Brad Smith’s MU record.  I predict that he breaks the record, in the first half.

1923 – The Cyclones play in Jack Trice stadium.  Jack Trice was the first African-American athlete at Iowa State playing both football and track.  He died tragically in his first game for the Cyclones, which was played against Minnesota in 1923.   The son of a former slave and Buffalo Soldier, Trice excelled in athletics and followed his high school coach and five of his teammates to Ames.   The night before his first colllege football game, Trice wrote the following letter on stationery at a racially segregated hotel in Minneapolis (the letter was later found in Trice’s suit just before his funeral):

“

My thoughts just before the first real college game of my life: The honor of my race, family & self is at stake. Everyone is expecting me to do big things. I will. My whole body and soul are to be thrown recklessly about the field tomorrow. Every time the ball is snapped, I will be trying to do more than my part. On all defensive plays I must break through the opponents’ line and stop the play in their territory. Beware of mass interference. Fight low, with your eyes open and toward the play. Watch out for crossbacks and reverse end runs. Be on your toes every minute if you expect to make good. Jack.

”

On October 6, 1923, Trice and his teammates played against the University of Minnesota.  It was ISU’s third game that season; St. Louis refused to play against a black player. On the night of the game, Trice had to stay at a different Minneapolis hotel than his teammates.

During the second play of the game, Trice’s collarbone was broken. Trice insisted he was all right and returned to the game. In the third quarter, while attempting to tackle a ball carrier by throwing a roll block, Trice was trampled by three Minnesota players. Although he claimed to be fine, Trice was removed from the game and sent to a hospital. The doctors declared him fit to travel and he returned by train to Ames with his teammates. On October 8, 1923, Trice died from hemorrhaged lungs and internal bleeding as a result of the injuries sustained during the game.

As a result of his death, ISU did not renew their contract to play against Minnesota after the 1924 game. They would not play again until 1989.

1959 – Before the 1959 matchup between the two schools, which took place in Ames, field testing showed that the telephones the two schools used to communicate with their coaches in the coaches box were wired so that either school could hear what was going on on the other sideline.  The problem was fixed before the game, but neither of the two coaches knew that.  Northwestern Bell Telephone Company of Ames then decided to have a trophy made to commemorate the incident, and thus the Telephone Trophy was born.  The trophy is literally an old rotary telephone that sits on top of a wooden base.  This may be the lamest trophy in the country.

2006 – ISU won the last meeting in Ames against the Tigers 21-16 in 2006.  The Cyclones were 0-7 in league play before that victory sent outgoing coach Dan McCarney out a winner. 

Good luck Tigers!