Monday, October 15 By Chris Varney
Observations from the football action this past weekend
— Its hard not to root for Iowa State’s Brock Purdy. The freshman has taken over the spotlight on the Cylcone football team after back to back wins over a ranked opponent. That has not happened since 1973. Yeah sure, the ISU was great. Yeah sure, David Montgomery came back and he was great. But its Purdy who is story. The cameras went to him after the game and he went to see his parents, getting a hug from his Mom and Dad and then everybody in the joint wanted to take a selfie with him. Purdy looks like he is 5 years old but he is playing like an old vet. Iowa State added Incarnate Word to their football schedule to replace the South Dakota State game which was rained out. It was clear the ISU personnel were worried that the Cyclones would not get enough wins to become bowl eligible. Now, they are 3-3 and will be favorites against Texas Tech, Baylor and Kansas in the next three weeks. If I were Texas, I would be shaking in my boots on November 23. Even if the Longhorns beat the Clones, Iowa State could be in line for a 8-3 record and a major bowl game. And think about how many players will want to play with Purdy the next couple of years — this Iowa State team could be good for a long time. If they replayed the ISU — Iowa game today, I think the Cyclones would win.
— UNI had a huge win on the road on Saturday 42-28 over South Dakota. Eli Dunne had another big game — 23 for 32 for 253 yards and 4 TD and had a rushing touchdown as well. Dunne was named the Missouri Valley Offensive Player of the Week. The former Grinnell Tiger has shaken off his early game blues against Montana and has looked strong the last two weeks. Northern Iowa will be the favorite in every game left this season but there will still be some tough ones. This week, the Panthers play South Dakota State who topped UNI in last year’s playoffs
— Local teams that look good for the High School Football playoffs: Benton, BGM, Iowa Valley, Lynnville Sully, and Williamsburg. The Bobcats got a huge win against West Marshall on Friday night. The Trojans will now have to beat Union to set up a 3 way tie for the dsitrict title in 2A District 7 otherwise they might be on the outside looking in. BGM lost to Durant last week but a win over Cardinal this week should get them in. Lynnville Sully and Williamsburg both struggled early with some losses in non-district action but both teams are rolling through their district and will clinch playoff spots with wins this week — the Hawks play winless Martensdale St. Mary’s and the Raiders face Eddyville. In 8 man football, Iowa Valley is assured of a spot but HLV is not. The Warriors play the Tigers this week — its our Energy game of the week and its do or die for HLV.