gridiron

Iowa State vs. Northern Illinois7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010

46

A look at NIU:A break down of the Cyclone’s opponent

Gameday breakdown:A closer look at both teams before they play at Jack Trice

Big 12 roundup:A quick peek at the rest of the Big 12 conference

11Daily Staff picks:Follow the staff as they predict games across the country

8

Ames native returns for his final season

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2 | GRIDIRON | Iowa State Daily | Thursday, September 2, 2010 Editor: Jake Lovett | sports iowastatedaily.com | 515.294.3148

There are plenty of available titles:Hometown hero, native son, senior co-cap-

tain, starting quarterback, oldest son, fiance, grown man; he just wants to be called a winner.

Austen Arnaud has grown up in the public eye in Ames, literally and figuratively. There isn’t much about his composure, physique, media relations or even facial hair that suggest he’s the same kid recruited his freshman year at Ames High by former ISU coach Dan McCarney in 2002.

“We knew he could really play when McCarney started to recruit him. It didn’t seem like there was any other choice besides Iowa State,” said John Arnaud, the senior quarter-back’s father.

A majority of the university’s student body hadn’t received acceptance letters to Iowa State when Arnaud began playing quarterback, as it was with the record-setting Bret Meyer before him.

He’s living a balancing act of a life, as getting Iowa State to another bowl game isn’t his only focus. Arnaud wants to improve his grades after

learning offensive coordinator Tom Herman’s offense cramped his study time in 2009. There’s talk of improving his throwing motion, which, statistically, would improve him on the field. A graduation in December and marriage in June don’t necessarily open up his calendar.

“I’m really taking it step-by-step,” said the tired signal-caller after a rough practice.

He might have to ice his ankles tonight be-fore he takes that next step.

Bowl victories can sweeten up the off-season, make winners relax and put their feet up. That isn’t current ISU coach Paul Rhoads’ forte, but with the starting job locked up and his last season in cardinal and gold approaching, Arnaud hit the film room and refined his throw-ing motion.

All No. 4 talked about this off-season was im-proving his completion percentage. He’s already got the highest completion percentage in ISU football history.

“It’s got to be a lot higher for us to win more games. Last year it was 57.9 and that’s not good enough for what we want to do,” Arnaud said. “I want to be at 65 or above.”

It’s the second year under Rhoads, and the

continuity of Herman’s offense is beginning to make the spread a comfortable topic. Once de-scribed as one of the toughest things he’s ever had to do, learning the spread offense made Arnaud’s head spin and caused a drop in passing yards and a rise in interceptions.

Not this year. Its been a long off-season, and he didn’t spend his summer cooped up just to throw it away by casually phoning in his se-nior season. And for the record, Iowa State’s stat sheets actually show him at 58.7 percent in 2009.

“I stand there and I watch him turn around and ask coach Herman questions, student to teacher, in a very instructional manner,” Rhoads said. “He’s got great grasp and knowledge of what we’re doing, and he craves even more and that’s very positive.”

Arnaud feels comfortable. The game has slowed down for him in this offense. That may not seem like much for a guy that didn’t leave his hometown to play at the next level. But recruited by McCarney, put into action by Gene Chizik and now being appreciated by Rhoads means he’s seen a lot of faces come and go in this pro-gram. He’s still here.

“Ames is my home, and I never could see myself going. Iowa State is right here in town, I could never see myself going to play anywhere else,” Arnaud said.

Never leaving meant splitting snaps with Meyer in 2007, when Arnaud showed promise but only threw 37 passes in game time and didn’t put the ball in the end zone. He had to split snaps with the since-transferred Phillip Bates in 2008, but once he took over the job he put a choke hold on it.

A comeback drive and four touchdowns on the road against UNLV, then huge passing num-bers against Texas A&M, Missouri and 493 total yards against Kansas State to end the year made him the man — not untouchable, as no one is in college sports. But in his hometown, dealing

Austin Arnaud: Keep the light onBy Chris.Cuellar iowastatedaily.com

All-time passing leaders:

Yards

1. Brett Meyer 9,4992. Alex Espinoza 5,3073. Seneca Wallace 5,2894. Todd Bandhauer 5,2355. Austen Arnaud 5,074

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with change year in and year out, Arnaud put his hand on top of the bat and claimed the job.

Sometimes though, even the big fish in the small pond needs support. Chizik and his staff left town. All the faith put in him, all the sweat and off-season work he had put in and committed to under different coaches would have to be re-stored, and put in again. He was trusted to throw the ball 99 times in his last two games with Chizik.

Rhoads came in and wanted something different. Arnaud knew it was his time to lead, so he adapted. All par-ties involved think that was the best possible solution for the

entire program.“If a coach is to have one

returning guy on his football team, he’d want it to be his quarterback, and I’m glad for Austen’s sake that he’s in a position to be that guy in his senior year, with the same of-fense, with the same teacher,” Rhoads said.

2009 tested the quarter-back’s mettle, not tossing the ball around the lot like he did for Chizik, but leading the team to a 4–3 record be-fore he hurt his hand against Baylor and was forced to miss the Nebraska game. Backup Jerome Tiller would go on to lead the team to a historic win in Lincoln, and Arnaud would come back two games later to

lead the Cyclones to a pound-ing from Oklahoma State.

Rhoads started getting questions. Will you give Tiller a chance to start? Is Austen healthy enough to play?

Following an Insight Bowl victory after his first season as a co-captain, those questions stopped.

Its been nothing but work since then, and improving off of an improved season with an improved coach; you get the idea.

“I think he’s drastically improved where he’s at from a game management stand point heading into the season than where he was a year ago. But he’s gotta go out and do that under the lights, in games. He’s poised and in position to do exactly that,” Rhoads said.

If the quarterback of a col-lege football team isn’t known for being hyper-competitive; fans, bloggers, but most impor-tantly, other players may ques-tion who they’re dealing with. Austen Arnaud is the rule, not

the exception.“I remember when he was

about four or five, and we’d hang the plastic hoop on the backside of the door. We’d play HORSE and PIG and he was already getting competitive,” John Arnaud said.

“He was a better baseball player than anything ... but he was pretty good at just about everything growing up.”

The younger Arnaud de-scribes himself as a leader in most things he’s played com-petitively: Pitcher and cen-terfielder out on the baseball diamond, point guard on the

All-time touchdown passes

TD

1. Bret Meyer 502. Todd Bandhauer 403. Alex Espinoza 334. Austen Arnaud 295. Seneca Wallace 26

Austen Arnaud career passing stats

Passing G Comp Att TD Int Pct. Yds Effic.

2007 6 20 37 0 1 .541 267 109.262008 12 247 401 15 10 .616 2,792 127.442009 12 178 303 14 13 .587 2,015 121.27Career 30 445 741 29 24 .601 5,074 124.01

“I think he’s dras-tically improved where he’s at from a game manage-ment stand point heading into the season than where he was a year ago. But he’s gotta go out and do that under the lights, in games. He’s poised and in position to do exactly that,”

— ISU football coach Paul Rhoads

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4 | GRIDIRON | Iowa State Daily | Thursday, September 2, 2010 Editor: Jake Lovett | sports iowastatedaily.com | 515.294.3148

Northern Illinois University:The Quick Facts

Location: DeKalb, Ill.

Enrollment: 24,424 (Fall 2009)

Student to Faculty Ratio: 17 to 1

30 percent of student body are ethnic minorities.

Chartered in 1895

Athletic colors are red and black

Became the Huskies in 1940. Prior to that, Northern Illinois had been known as the Profs, the Cardinals, and the Evansmen.

Northern Illinois has one of the ten largest teacher preparation programs in the nation.

Member of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference since 1997.

The Huskies were Independent in Division I as recently as 1996.

Only division title for football was 2005,

Current coach Jerry Kill led team to Independence Bowl in his first season.

DeKalb is 65 miles west of Chicago, and 45 miles south-east of Rockford.

Average class size for intro-ductory 100-level courses is 31.

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Editor: Jake Lovett | sports iowastatedaily.com | 515.294.3148 Thursday, September 2, 2010 | Iowa State Daily | GRIDIRON | 5

basketball court. But once he started focusing on just being a quarterback, he got his face all over the papers.

There are plenty of parts of his life that are similar to the average ISU student. His favorite football movie is “Remember the Titans,” he plays Xbox frequently and he thinks Missouri’s Faurot Field is the worst place to play in the Big 12.

He’s not alone thinking the cement patch in Columbia, Mo., is an unattractive location. He spends as much time as he can with his fam-ily and fiance, even though his father swears his 6-year-old sister is the best athlete in the family.

Balancing football life and college life while planning a wedding means Arnaud owes his fu-ture wife some major brownie points.

“My fiance is definitely better at this than me. She puts up with more stuff than I do. In that sense I really appreciate the way she handles herself and handles our relationship,” Arnaud said.

Is he finally conceding a loss, that he isn’t capable of being better than his fiance? Not a chance.

Arnaud just wants to be a winner. Besides, marriage is a joint venture anyway.

“He’s not an overly gifted athlete, he’d be the first to tell you that Jerome [Tiller] and several other players could beat him in this or that. And

then he’d fire back well I can beat them in that,” Rhoads said about the senior.

“That, in the end, is the competitive spirit you want in every player, that when the final horn blows I’m going to be able to beat him in enough things to win a football game. That’s the kind of attitude he has and the team appreciates that.”

Arnaud wants to take that spirit to the next level, where ever that may take him.

“I’m going to play football as long as I can. Then as far as that goes, who knows,” Arnaud said.

Coaching is a common consideration of for-mer football players, especially quarterbacks, and again, Arnaud is the rule, not the exception. He’s definitely considering it.

“He wants to go to the next level, and I hope he does well with that. I’m an old football player myself, it takes a toll on the bones,” John Arnaud said.

“So I’d rather he went into coaching or some-

thing like that, I think he’d like to coach, more than anything else.”

That’s still in the future though. Northern Illinois hasn’t even hit the field at Jack Trice to begin game one of his last year in Ames. There’s plenty to look back on, plenty to be content with in the here and now.

“I feel like I’ve been building up my whole life for this,” Austen said. “But in the same sense, when it’s over it’s over, and we’ll see where I go.”

He’s unquestionably grown up. With the mix of self-awareness, confidence and responsibil-ity that makes him who he his, Austen Arnaud has got to be excited to walk through the tunnel at Jack Trice and have the crowd know of his arrival.

“I’ll have nerves on Thursday. I’m calm and even keel on the field, but the key for me is stay-ing calm before the game starts and not get too riled up,” Arnaud said.

His teammates will be looking for his ex-ample, just like his 12-year-old brother and little sister. Just like his coaches look for him to set the guide for the program.

“You’ve got a guy that’s a two-time captain. Speaks highly of what his teammates think of him,” Rhoads said.

“And if I put that vote to a total team vote, he’d be elected by offensive and defensive players, not just the guys that are on his side of the ball.”

“He competes, he’s well respected because

of that. He comes to practice and to work everyday.”

Arnaud lists being named a two-time captain as his proudest accomplishment as a Cyclone. That came about because he stuck it out through the storm, through major losing seasons and re-gime changes and the life-changing events that happens to every college student.

He did it because he’s a winner.“He’s worked on his skills a little bit, and he’s

fresh and confident. I think he’s ready to go,” said the quarterback’s father.

The lights will be on Thursday night, just like they will be all season. Not just the lamps be-cause it’s a night game. Not the lights a kid can see when he’s 19 and gets hit by a 270-pound linebacker on a sweep play.

They’re the lights that let Austen Arnaud know he’s in the spotlight, and everyone’s watching. So he knows its time to play ball.

“I’m just excited to be here in Ames and get a chance to be successful,” Arnaud said.

All-time completion percentage Comp. Att. Pct.

1. Austen Arnaud 445 741 .6012. Bret Oberg 251 424 .5923. Bret Meyer 810 1414 .5804. Seneca Wallace 411 712 .5775. David Archer 359 647 .555

All-time total offense Plays Yards

1. Bret Meyer 1,923 10,4222. Seneca Wallace 949 6,2013. Austen Arnaud 1,014 6,0544. Alex Espinoza 1,079 5,0185. Sage Rosenfels 751 4,824

>>ARNAUD.p3

6 | GRIDIRON | Iowa State Daily | Thursday, September 2, 2010 Editor: Jake Lovett | news iowa

88 Collin Franklin

6’5” 253 lbs Sr. TE

72 Kelechi Osemele

6’5” 335 lbs Jr. LT

77 Alex Alvarez

6’2” 305 lbs Sr. LG

68 Ben Lamaak

6’4” 320 lbs Sr. C

12 Sedrick Johnson

6’3” 209 lbs Jr. WR1

33 Alexander Robinson

5’9” 191 lbs Sr. TB

4 Austen Arnaud

6’3” 230 lbs Sr. QB

79 Brayden Burris

6’6” 290 lbs So. RT

75 Hayworth Hicks

6’3” 330 lbs Jr. RG

6 Darius Darks

6’1” 189 lbs Jr. WR3

83 Jake Williams

6’2” 203 lbs Sr. WR2

36 Tyrone Clark

5’11” 214 lbs So. WLB

23 Kiaree Daniels

5’10” 196 lbs Sr. RCB

5 Chris Smith

5’10” 286 lbs Sr. LCB

25 Tracy Wilson

6’2” 203 lbs Jr. SS

20 Tommy Davis

5’11” 201 lbs So. FS

9 Devon Butler

5’11” 224 lbs So. MLB

37 Alex Kube

6’0” 228 lbs Sr. SLB

95 Sean Progar

6’3” 255 lbs So. RE

98 D.J. Pirkle

6’0” 283 lbs Sr. DT

58 Mike Krause

6’4” 266 lbs Sr. LG

54 Jake Coffman

6’5” 255 lbs Sr. LE

NIU Defense ISU Offense

Passing Cmp Att Pct Yds Td Int

Arnaud, A. 178 303 58.7 2015 14 13

Rushing Car Yds Avg Long Td

Robinson, A. 232 1195 5.2 68 6Arnaud, A. 147 561 3.8 22 8

Receiving Rec Yds Avg Long Td

Williams, J. 36 403 11.2 47 5Darks, D. 28 303 10.8 45 2Lenz, J. 20 186 9.3 22 0 Franklin, C. 18 192 10.7 23 0Robinson, A. 17 261 15.4 54 3

Tackles

Defense Solo Ast Total Sacks

Sims, D. 44 44 88Johnson, L. 47 17 64O’Connell, M. 20 23 43Benton, T. 21 20 41 2.0Neal, P. 12 15 27 1.0Knott, J. 18 5 23Johnson, B. 12 10 22Ruempolhamer, S. 8 12 20 1.0

Returning 2009 Leaders

Iowa State @ IowaSept. 11 Iowa City

Iowa State vs. Kansas StateSept. 18

Kansas City, Mo.

Iowa State vs. Northern IowaSept. 25

Jack Trice Stadium

Iowa State vs. Texas TechOct.2

Jack Trice Stadium

Iowa State vs. UtahOct. 9

Jack Trice Stadium

Iowa State vs. N7 p.m. Thurs

Jack Trice

Thursday, September 2, 2010 | Iowa State Daily | GRIDIRON | 7astatedaily.com | 515.294.3148

23 Leonard Johnson 5’10” 195 lbs Jr. RCB

3 Zac Sandvig

5’10” 193 lbs Sr. SS

37 Michael O’Connell

5’11” 208 lbs Sr. FS

22 Ter’Ran Benton

6’ 197 lbs Jr. LCB

20 Jake Knott

6’2” 240 lbs So. WLB

45 Matt Tau’fo’ou

5’11” 239 lbs Jr. MLB

47 A.J. Klein

6’1” 240 lbs So. SLB

29 Rashawn Parker 6’ 250 lbs Sr. RE

97 Stephen Ruempolhamer

6’3” 280 lbs Jr. NG

85 Bailey Johnson

6’2” 278 lbs Sr. DT

91 Patrick Neal

6’ 235 lbs Jr. LE

1 Martel Moore

6’2” 182 lbs So. WR1

28 Chad Spann

5’9” 198 lbs Sr. TB

87 Jason Schepler

6’3” 265 lbs Jr. TE

34 Kyle Skarb

6’2” 226 lbs Sr. FB

80 Landon Cox

6’3” 220 lbs Sr. WR2

71 Scott Wedige

6’4” 300 lbs Jr. C

70 Logan Pegram

6’3” 312 lbs So. LG

62 Trevor Olson

6’6” 306 lbs Jr. LT

3 DeMarcus Grady

6’1” 203 lbs Jr. QB

68 Keith Otis

6’4” 324 lbs Jr. RT

72 Joe Pawlak

6’5” 253 lbs Sr. RG

ISU DefenseNIU Offense

Graphic: Moriah Smith/Iowa State Daily

Passing Cmp Att Yds Cmp Td Int

Grady, D. 25 43 280 58.1 3 2

Rushing Car Yds Avg Long Td

Spann, C. 179 1038 5.8 79 19Grady, D. 59 330 5.6 61 1Crider, R. 10 37 3.7 8 0

Receiving Rec Yds Avg Long Td

Cox, L. 45 535 11.9 45 4Clark, W. 19 220 11.6 45 1Moore, M. 16 189 11.8 32 0Spann, S. 10 122 12.2 27 1Ashford, P. 10 83 8.3 21 0

Tackles Defense Solo Ast Total Sacks Wilson, T. 46 47 93 2.0 Schiller, P. 28 54 82 5.5Smith, C. 43 27 70Kube, A. 18 42 60 6.0Sobol, M. 24 29 53 0.5George, P. 32 14 46 1.0Coffman, J. 21 18 39 13.5Progar, S. 18 12 30 8.0

Returning 2009 leaders

Iowa State @ OklahomaOct. 16

Norman, Okla.

Iowa State @ TexasOct. 23

Austin, Texas

Iowa State vs. KansasOct. 30

Jack Trice Stadium

Iowa State vs. Nebraska

Nov. 6Jack Trice Stadium

Iowa State @ ColoradoNov. 13

Boulder, Colo.

Iowa State vs. MissouriNov. 20

Jack Trice Stadium

Northern Illinoissday, Sept. 2 e Stadium

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8 | GRIDIRON | Iowa State Daily | Thursday, September 2, 2010

Nebraska2009: 10-4 (6-2) This week: vs. Western Kentucky

Kansas2009: 5-7 (1-7) This week: vs. North Dakota State

Kansas State2009: 6-6 (4-4) This Week: vs. UCLA

Texas2009: 13-1 (8-0) This Week: vs. Rice

Texas A&M2009: 6-7 (3-5)

This Week: vs. Stephen F. Austin

The Aggies became rightfully known for high-scoring shootouts last season, but for all the talk quarterback Jerrod Johnson has gotten this offseason, the defense in College Station will need to stop someone.

Allowing 30 points eight times in 2009, Johnson can only run and pass for so many points before coach Mike Sherman’s prowess gets questioned.

The season starts inconspicuously for this squad, but the Big 12 South hasn’t been kind to A&M in the last few years, and No. 17 Arkansas blew their doors off last season.

Johnson’s hype should put some pre-game fear into defenses, as the 6-foot-5, 245 pound thoroughbred runner will look to top the 38 trips to the endzone he found last year.

A repeat of 6-7 would be a disap-point with this roster.

Kansas State’s Brandon Banks evades a tackle by Iowa State’s James Smith in Arrowhead Stadium last season. File photo: Manfred Brugger/Iowa State Daily

Big 12 team previews at a glance

Two things Wildcat fans could count on going into this 2010 campaign: coach Bill Snyder handling the reins and running back Daniel Thomas getting plenty of carries. In a quarterback competition best described as precarious, Thomas will be the constant after rushing

for 1,265 yards and 11 TD’s in 2009. A playmaker would be handy for this squad, as do-it-all speedster Brandon Banks has moved to the next level, but the Wildcats should remain a team that is difficult to put points on, and that will keep them competitive.

Teams from the Big 12 conference gear up for 2010 football season

New head coach Turner Gil’s job is to turn the football culture at Kansas around. This will be a tough task as Todd Reesing, who passed for 3,616 yards last year has moved on along with receivers Kerry Meier and Dezmon Briscoe who combined

for 17 touchdowns last season. The Jayhawks do return running back Toben Opurum, who tallied nine TD’s for the Jayhawks last season. The KU defense was ranked eighth against the rush and ninth against the pass last season.

The Cornhuskers are coming off a successful 10-4 season under head coach Bo Pelini. With defensive monster Ndamukong Suh off to the NFL, the Huskers will now look to junior defensive tackle Jared Crick to anchor the defense. Pelini has

been silent on the quarterback battle, but Zach Lee appears to be the overall leading candidate. Sophomore Rex Burkehead and senior Roy Helu Jr. will make up a two-headed monster at running back.

Garrett Gilbert’s shoes are only as big as he wants them to be.

The Longhorns’ heir apparent quarterback got a scary taste of the Alabama defense in the National

Championship loss.

However he recuperated and gave the rest of the Big 12 a scary taste of the arm strength and passing IQ they’ll be facing all season.

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Thursday, September 2, 2010 | Iowa State Daily | GRIDIRON | 9

Colorado2009: 3-9 (2-6) This week: @ Colorado State

Missouri2009: 8-5 (4-4)

This week: vs. Illinois(in St. Louis)

If Missouri wanted to bounce back from its up-and-down 8-5 campaign in 2009, the Tigers sure picked a good non-conference schedule to do it. The Tigers’ annual matchup with Big Ten rival Illinois kicks off the season, then they play McNeese State, San Diego State and Miami (OH), all at home.

The big news from the offseason in Columbia, though, was the indefi-nite suspension of running back Derrick Washington. Washington, the Tigers’ leading rusher in 2009, was charged with felony sexual as-sault and is absent from Missouri’s preseason depth chart.

Returning to the team, though, is the head of the Big 12’s fourth-best pass offense, quarterback Blaine Gabbert. Gabbert was the under-study of Chase Daniel for a season before taking over the offense last season and he piled up 3,593 yards and 24 touchdowns in his first sea-son as Missouri’s starter. Gabbert will be without wideout Denario Alexander who accounted for 1,700 yards through the air last season.

Missouri plays just two ranked teams — No. 7 Oklahoma and No. 8 Nebraska — on their schedule this season.

No. 7 Oklahoma2009: 8-5 (5-3) This week: vs. Utah State

Patrick Neal, linebacker, and Christopher Lyle, defensive end, go after Colorado’s Tyler Hansen last season. File photo: Time Reuter/Iowa State Daily

Iowa State’s Rashawn Parker stares down Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford on Oct. 20, 2007. The Cyclones fell to the Sooners 17-7. File photo: Iowa State Daily

PREVIEW.p12 >>

The Oklahoma offense finished the 2009 season 11th in passing and scored 30.1 points per game. With then-freshman Landry Jones at quarterback after Sam Bradford went down with a shoulder injury. Jones is now a year older and is now the guy for coach Bob Stoops’ high-flying offense. Oh, and the Sooners return their second-lead-ing rusher — DeMarco Murray —

and their top three receivers from 2009. Yeah, the offense will be OK.

Defensively, the Sooners will be try-ing to replicate their efforts in 2009, when they held opponents to just 14.5 per game. With Oklahoma’s non-conference schedule, though, that could challenge the defense with games against No. 20 Florida State and 2009 Big East Champion Cincinnati.

The Buffaloes’ offense has running back Rodney Stewart coming off of an 804-yard, nine-touchdown sophomore season. After that? The quarterback position was decided between two guys that combined for 18 touchdowns, 18 interceptions and 2,700 yards. The Buffaloes were minus-6 in turnover differen-tial. Year 2009 was a rough year in Boulder. But in 2010, Colorado fans can take heart in Stewart and top returning receiver Scotty McKnight

on an offense that was last in the Big 12 in 2009. Along with Stewart, McKnight and starting quarterback Tyler Hansen, the Buffaloes bring back nine starters from that same offense. The defense returns seven starters to a unit that was seventh in the Big 12. Eighteen of Colorado’s 22 starters are juniors or seniors, meaning that the Buffaloes are one of the most experienced teams in the Big 12.

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Texas Tech2009: 9-4 (5-3) This week: vs. SMU

Oklahoma State2009: 9-4 (6-2) This week: vs. Washington State

Baylor2009: 4-8 (1-7) This Week: vs. Sam Houston State

10 | GRIDIRON | Iowa State Daily | Thursday, September 2, 2010

>>PREVIEW.p12

ISU linebacker Jesse Smith tackles Baylor’s Ernest Smith during the Cyclone Homecoming game against Baylor last season. The Cyclones defeated the Bears 24-10. File photo: Iowa State Daily

Defensive back Michael O’Connell attempts to cover quarterback Zac Robinson during last season’s game against Oklahoma State. File photo: Iowa State Daily

2008 could have been the year. Unfortunately the schedule was too tough and the youth hurt the Bears in the fourth quarter of games. Last season was supposed to be the year. Then quarterback/track star/super hero

Robert Griffin went down with a torn ACL, and the season rode waves to misery. Griffin is back, the defense over-achieved last season, and coach Art Briles is putting all his chips in on the blazing quarterback.

USA Today has picked Oklahoma State to finish second in the Big 12 South to once again go 9-4 and 6-2 in the conference. The Cowboys are under the direction of new of-fensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen. Running

back Kendall Hunter led the Big 12 in rushing in 2008 and will try to do that again after an injury plagued 2009 season. Junior Brandon Weeden is stepping into the starting quarter-back role.

With Tommy Tuberville now at the helm of one of the nation’s top passing attacks, Tuberville is working new quarterbacks in Seth Doege and Jacob Karam. Tuberville is instilling a no-huddle, fast-paced offense

that also features more than capable running backs in Baron Batch and Eric Stephens. The Red Raiders defense features returning linebacker Brian Duncantackle and defensive tackle Donald Langley.

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Editor: Jake Lovett | sports iowastatedaily.com | 515.294.3148 Thursday, September 2, 2010 | Iowa State Daily | NEWS | 11

PICKSvs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs.

Editor’s note: This is week one of the Daily’s season-long Gridiron challenge. Each week, the Daily’s three football reporters and the sports desk’s columnist will choose the winner from seven college football games around the country and provide com-mentary on each game. Each week we will feature one guest pick, with this week’s guest being Iowa State Daily Editor-in-Chief Jessie Opoien.

Jake Lovett,sports editor

Iowa State — Not everyone can start their season against powers like Eastern Illinois...ahem...

Pittsburgh — Utah is better than the pollsters give it credit for. I’m not sure about Pittsburgh. They’ll get game No. 1, though.

TCU — The only way the TCU defense could be scarier is if they wore their Nike Pro Combat uniforms (see: Below).

LSU — Les Miles might be in trouble if this season goes downhill. Seriously. I know he’s won 70 percent of his games. I didn’t say it made sense!

Virginia Tech — People always rag on Boise for playing a cupcake schedule. Well, maybe they went too big, too fast.

Purdue — Brian Kelly got NBC to shorten commercial breaks. Won’t make this season feel any shorter in South Bend. Long year head, Domers.

UCLA — UCLA might win this one, but only about six people outside of Los Angeles (see: population of Manhattan, Kan.) will notice. Or care.

Chris Cuellar,assistant sports editor

Iowa State — Cyclones may have dropped this two years ago. Not for this coach, not when the schedule only gets tougher.

Pittsburgh — Dave Wannstedt’s spitting and cursing if Pitt lost this one could create a tropical storm. We don’t want that.

Oregon State — Karma from not wearing last year’s Nike Pro Combat uniforms everywhere catches up to TCU. That, or the Rodgers brothers.

North Carolina — ESPN says Butch Davis has more NFL talent than anyone in college football. I just think UNC doesn’t have the holes LSU does now.

Virginia Tech — Gon-zaga’s football cousin has joined the big pond. The Hokies are big fish in said pond.

Notre Dame — As long the Irish don’t party at Panama City before kickoff, they should be able to knock off the freshly stocked Boiler-makers.

Kansas State — This one was a struggle last season, but I’ve got Bill Snyder over Neuheisel in an arm wrestling match, so K-State gets the W.

David Merrill,Daily sports writer

Iowa State — The Cyclones can’t sleep on this Huskie team that I think gives Iowa State a fight, but the Jack Trice crowd wills the home team to victory.

Utah — Upset alert. Utah’s high powered of-fense has enough to get this one done at home.

TCU — Fear The Frog. TCU over the Beavers. Big.

LSU — When you add together Les Miles, the crowd in Death Valley and the Tigers’ stronger finish in 2009, it equals an LSU win.

Virginia Tech — Its hard to pick against the Broncos, but I’m going to anyway. Beamer Ball bucks the Broncos off their high horse.

Notre Dame — The Brian Kelly Era begins in South Bend. While some of the golden dome luster has disap-peared, the Irish have too much pride to lose.

UCLA — Will anyone be paying attention to this one?

Jeremiah Davis,assistant sports editor

Iowa State — Coach Paul Rhoads will have the team ready to get off to a fast start, and I see A-Rob having a big game on the ground.

Utah — Pitt will over-look a talented Utah team. The Utes will start their season off the right way at home with a win.

TCU — A loss in the Fi-esta Bowl will give TCU the motivation to start the season out right. Not to mention they have more talent.

LSU — This will be a close game, but the talent and speed of the SEC will show through LSU, who will spoil UNC’s home opener.

Boise State — This likely being their tough-est game, Boise State’s high powered offense will outgun a talented Va. Tech team.

Notre Dame — The first game in the Brian Kelly era won’t leave the Irish faithful disappointed. An average Purdue de-fense will help ND get off to a good start.

UCLA — Two average teams will meet on UCLA’s home field, and that will give them the advantage.

Jessica Opoien,Daily editor in chief

Iowa State — A natural disaster versus a dog? Really? Cyclones beat Huskies, obviously.

Pittsburgh — Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is a Big East title — but I’ll look to defensive end Greg Romeus to start laying the foundation here.

TCU — What do you get when you throw Horned Frogs onto a field with a bunch of Beavers? I don’t want to know, but leave it to the Beavers to lose.

LSU — If the Tigers blow it, with North Carolina facing two misconduct investiga-tions, Les Miles can probably kiss his job goodbye. Just sayin’.

Boise State — Virginia Tech thinks they can pull one over on Kellen Moore? Hooookie then. Not gonna happen.

Notre Dame — Dayne Crist, almighty. With Crist as quarterback, plus generally kick ass coach Brian Kelly, the Fighting Irish should have this locked.

Kansas State — “Slick Rick” will have to pull from his bag of tricks — but he won’t get my pick, ‘cause I think the Bruins’ butts will get kicked.

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