A familiar face was missing from the Iowa State sideline during the Cyclones’ stunning 41-7 victory at Texas Tech on Saturday night.
Tony Rhoads, the brother of Iowa State head coach Paul Rhoads, did not make the trip to Lubbock. It was the first game Tony has missed since Paul took over the Cyclones’ program in 2009, ending a streak of 32 straight games he had watched from the sidelines.
Tony attributed his absence to the high cost of airline tickets and his desire to avoid a 15-hour trip by car. He watched the game at his home in Ankeny with his wife Jana and their three kids.
“I was a nervous wreck,” Rhoads said. “I was yelling, high-fiving, pacing, you name it. I stated several times during the game that I would not (miss another game) again. It really didn’t have anything to do with winning or losing, just not being there was too stressful. It would have been great to be down there to help celebrate the win, but when it is family sometimes you feel more like you need to be there after a loss from a supportive standpoint.
“I must add that while I was watching the Vikings game on Sunday I was thinking I was glad I was at home instead of somewhere between Oklahoma City and Wichita,” he added.
Saturday’s win marked the third consecutive year that Iowa State has won a Big 12 road game during Week 8 of the regular season, following victories at Nebraska and Texas. Tony said he would rank the Texas Tech win third on his list of the Cyclones’ biggest victories in the last two-plus seasons.
Here is Tony’s top-five list, along with his comment about each of the wins:
1) ’09 win at Nebraska. “Just because of how banged up we were, all the turnovers and giving credibility to the program they are building.”
2) ’10 win at Texas. “Mostly because I had seen this team get rolled two weeks in a row by Utah and Oklahoma. It was an important win to keep the program moving forward.”
3) ’11 win at Texas Tech. “It was unexpected to see us dominate from start to finish.”
4) ’11 triple-overtime win over Iowa. “This was easily the most exciting of the games on this list. It was important to the program after being manhandled the previous two years.”
5) ’09 Insight Bowl win over Minnesota. “It was impressive from the standpoint that it capped a big turnaround from the previous season in which the team had been 2-10 including 10 straight losses.”
*Article courtesy of the Des Moines Register.
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