This is going to be 20% a football team preview blog and 80% ramblings of things that get me going about Fall coming around again. Once again you can skip to the end for a long story short type deal.

This summer stunk. I was taking 12 credits of summer school which extrapolates to about 18,000 regular semester credits. I was getting pounded with homework and readings every day, all so I could graduate within a reasonable time frame of 5 years (shout out to my fellow victory lappers). But the one thing that was keeping me going was the eventually upcoming tailgate season that every fall brings. This will be my first tailgating experience that I will be legally allowed to consume alcohol in public, considering I was living overseas last fall (humblebrag), and I could not be more excited. I had personally racked up enough MiP (Minor in Possession, for all you virgins out there that need explanation) and Public Intox tickets to pay the salary for half the police department from the years 2015-2018, but I’m Bach (shoutout @harrymac “We’re Bach” blog).

During those crucial years of figuring out how much I can drink in public without getting arrested, Iowa State’s football team was certifiably trash. A 3-9 record in 2015 under Coach Paul Rhodes was the end of a long and terrible run for the Coach and he was fired shortly after the season. Then along came our saving grace. The hero that Ames deserved, a silent guardian, our Dark Night- Matthew Allen Campbell. The 2016 season rolled around and like clockwork, I was piling up MiPs and the Cyclones were piling up L’s, but not all hope was lost, for me nor the Clones.

The 2017 season brought along a slight ray of hope for the boys. It was the second year under Coach Campbell’s tenure and slowly but surely the team was starting to piece together. The Clones ended up going 8-5 including a huge win against the Baker Mayfield-led #3 Oklahoma Sooners, and also included 2 heartbreaking one-score losses to #4 TCU and #12 OK State, but nonetheless we moved onto the Liberty Bowl where we squeaked out a victory against Memphis 21-20.

2018 rolled around and I’m told that Ames was absolutely electric during football season. With a quarterback controversy that spilled into the regular season between former starter Kyle Kempt, a 3-Star incoming True Freshman named Brock Purdy, and former “QB1: Under the Lights” Co-Star Re-al Mitchell, (that show was NOT good). We were also led by breakout wide receiver and running back, Hakeem Butler and David Montgomery. Projected to finish 7th in the Big 12, the Clones started off slow with back to back losses to Iowa and #5 Oklahoma, a win against Akron then a loss to TCU followed those games. Then we got hot, winning 5 straight, and 7 out of the last 8 games of the season including victories against #25 OK State and #6 WVU in back to back weeks. We did well enough to finish third in the Big 12 and get invited to the Alamo Bowl where we were defeated by #12 Washington State 28-26.

It’s 2019 now, and I’m back in Ames legally allowed to drink in public and continue to be a blackout menace to society at tailgates. Oh and also the Clones are poised to be a major threat this season. With a nationally ranked top 10 defense returning 10 of its starters, we should continue to keep balling out on that side of the ball. Rising sophmore star middle linebacker Mike Rose, who was a First-Team All Freshman/All-American last year will continue to make plays and be the anchor on the defense. On offense, admittedly we did lose our 2 best players in David Montgomery and Hakeem Butler to the NFL, but we still have Rising Sophmore QB Brock Purdy, who was the Big 12 Freshman of the year last year and everyone knows with a good quarterback and a great defense, you have a shot at making a solid run, especially in the Big 12.

GAMBLING– my book currently has the Regular Season win total for the Cyclones set at 8, which is an insult to not only the team, but the city, and the students who party as hard as they can to give the fellas on the field a boost at Old Jack Trice Stadium. I had to call in a special favor to my bookie to bet over my max limit on this, seeing as this team has the ability and a ceiling of at least 10 wins, and competing for the Big 12 Championship if we play up to the talent we have on this football team.

LSS; I’ve personally paid the salary of half the Ames PD through various drinking tickets, the Cyclones defense is sick and will keep us in contention for a Big 12 Championship, and last but certainly not least, bet the over on 8 regular season wins for some free money.

With great expectations come great pressure, and I’m looking forward to facing this pressure head on this upcoming tailgate season, and to sharing stories about how I commit social suicide on a weekly basis. Anything can happen here at the Bookie’s Basement. -Jack

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