Iowa State football: Paul Rhoads updates on injuries, what focus is on Kansas State
By Brian Spaen
Here are the highlights of Iowa State football head coach Paul Rhoads’ weekly press conference and some analysis sprinkled into it. Rhoads talks the devastating news about Quenton Bundrage, the better news on Tom Farniok, problems the team faced against North Dakota State, and what he’s currently focused on against Kansas State.
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— Rhoads informed the media about the injuries to Quenton Bundrage and Tom Farniok, and half of it turned out to be very bad news. Bundrage is out for the season with a torn ACL. However, Farniok is expected to play on Saturday.
— Believes Farniok’s injury will be OK. “[He’s] as tough as they come. He will progress through the rehab and will be back to normal.” Injury shouldn’t be a concern unless he’s hit in “just the right fashion.”
— Players, coaches, and fans all feel for Bundrage. Being projected as the top wideout and suffering a season-ending injury is crushing, and we’ll hope that Bundrage recovers quickly and will be back on the field for a full, healthy season next year.
— North Dakota State had great defense on the receivers, forcing Richardson to scramble more often than Rhoads would have liked.
— Rhoads talked about dehydration sickness that plagued the team on Saturday. That resulted in cramping that took place in the second half.
— Obviously, confidence is shot coming out of the gate with a loss. It would certainly get a jump start against a conference foe that beat them down last year. Rhoads also talked about there being a sense of “urgency” right now.
— Rhoads is completely focused on Kansas State’s offense. The team needs to find a way to stop their offensive attack, and the defense didn’t look like it could stop anybody on Saturday. Rhoads says that the defense didn’t miss tackles, but it was in the wrong spots to make plays.
— Rhoads on Kansas State quarterback Jake Waters: “He’s clearly the man and he showed that on Saturday.”
— Every single week is tough, so Rhoads has no problem playing Kansas State in just the second week of the season.