It's been a season of resurgence for the Iowa State football team. Losing streaks of all sorts - a 10-game stumble to finish 2008, a 17-game road losing streak and an 11-game conference skid - came to an end under first-year head coach Paul Rhoads.
Today, the Cyclones will look to put an end to another dubious streak - five years without a bowl game victory - when they faceoff with Minnesota at the Insight Bowl in Temp, Ariz., at 5 p.m.
A win today would give ISU (6-6) its first winning season since the 2005 campaign and cap a season that many hope will be the one they can point to as the year Iowa State turned its football program around.
"We've already accomplished a great deal, but the expectations of this football team were to win a bowl game in 2009," said Rhoads on Wednesday. "Everybody in our locker room understands that's what we're working for. It would elevate the credibility of all our hard work and be a huge boost as we head into the 2010 season."
The path the Cyclones took to Tempe was a year in the making, starting with Rhoads' hire last December.
"Our goal from the day Coach stepped on campus was to win a bowl game this year," said senior center Reggie Stephens. "We've been working towards that all year. Our preparation has been such that we are trying to win this game. That's definitely what we're trying to do."
While the Iowa State program appears to be ascending, the Gophers are, at best, idling. Minnesota (6-6) has gone 14-23 in the nearly three full seasons head coach Tim Brewster has been at the helm. Today will be their second-straight appearance and third in four years at the Insight Bowl.
"People have asked me whether or not winning the bowl game would validate the season. Our season doesn't need validation," said Brewster. "We're a 6-6 football team. This is an opportunity to play one game, and it is one game. It's no more than one game.
"But it is also a game in which we want to pour everything we have into. There is nothing to save. There is no game next week."
Even though today's game may have long-term implications for both programs, the focus for both teams remains on the field, with the Gophers keying on ISU's 1,000-yard rusher, Alexander Robinson, who hails from the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
"He is a Minnesota born-and-bred young man. Obviously, he is going to be very excited to play is home-state school," said Brewster. "He is a go-to guy for their offense. I think that's where it starts with us defensively, is doing a good job against Robinson. He's their bell cow on the offensive side of the ball, and we've got to do a great job (to stop him)."
For the Cyclones, the nearly month-long preparation for today's contest has been paramount.
"Our preparation has been outstanding from the first day all the way through our 16th workout (Wednesday)," said Rhoads. "This team has remained focused. There have been no lulls. Even when we were in practice No. 7 or 8, around finals time, and the game was still a long ways off, they still practiced hard.
"I have little doubt that we will be ready to play."
