BEVO BEAT
As Texas prepares for Iowa State, ‘there will be zero taking of this football team lightly’
Posted September 25th, 2017
Since it reached the 2012 Liberty Bowl, Iowa State has managed just a 13-38 record. On Monday, though, Texas coach Tom Herman insisted that this week’s trip to Jack Trice Stadium won’t be a vacation.
In his weekly conference call with Big 12 reporters, Herman pointed out that plenty of his players were on UT’s roster during a 24-0 loss at Iowa State in 2015. Herman also noted that the combined score of the last two meetings in Ames, Iowa – Texas won 31-30 in 2013 – favors the Cyclones.
“By my math, they’re winning the point differential in Ames 55-30,” Herman said. “There will be zero taking of this football team lightly. I don’t know why we would be with the history they have against us and against any big opponent that comes into Ames.”
Read more: Winning in ‘Siberia,’ knocking off the Longhorns for Tom Herman
Herman was also asked to give his scouting report on the Cyclones. Herman, who was Iowa State’s offensive coordinator from 2009-11, was complimentary of receiver Allen Lazard. A 6-5 senior who Herman recruited while he was an assistant coach at Ohio State, Lazard currently leads Iowa State with his 19 receptions.
“That’s just a premier recruit coming out of high school,” Herman said. “Since his freshman year there, he’s been kind of their go-to guy. We’ve got to make sure that he doesn’t beat us.”
Among the other things that Herman touched on during his 10-minute phone call:
- Herman echoed defensive coordinator Todd Orlando’s comments last week about learning to put players like defensive tackle Poona Ford in positions to succeed. Herman defended how his team practices but added that “there’s nothing that can quite replicate game day.” For a coaching staff with zero holdovers from Charlie Strong’s regime, there has been “trial and error involved” as it gets to know its players.
- When discussing the run game, Herman intimated that it may tough to “be who we want to be” with offensive lineman Connor Williams and Elijah Rodriguez and tight end Andrew Beck sidelined by serious injuries. Of UT’s back-ups, Herman said: “We’ve got to figure out ways to do things that they’re able to do and not ask them to do too much because they’re not Connor Williams and they’re not Andrew Beck, not right now.”
- Herman stopped short of calling his running backs “specialized.” He added that his running backs – a quartet that features junior Chris Warren III, sophomore Kyle Porter and freshmen Daniel Young and Toneil Carter – were “good at some things and need improvement in some others.” UT’s head coach said continuing to feel out the running backs was a process.
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