Cyclone Timeline - 2000 - Part 3

It had been 22 years since Iowa State played in a bowl game. With the millennium changing, maybe, just maybe, the Cyclones luck would change. It just so happens the year 2000 would be the start of something special.

Despite the heartbreak suffered at the end of the basketball season, the football team turned 2000 into the most successful year in Cyclone athletics. Sit back and enjoy the last half of the year 2000 with part 3 of the Cyclone Timeline.

April 3- After an ugly game with Wisconsin in the semi-finals, the Michigan State Spartans had zero trouble with Florida, winning 89-76 to capture the National Championship. The game was the lowest rated NCAA final ever shown on CBS.

April 13- After three weeks of deliberation following ISU’s elimination in the Elite 8, All-American Marcus Fizer hires an agent, ending his college career.

June 28- “With the fourth pick in the 2000 NBA Draft, the Chicago Bulls select Marcus Fizer out of Iowa State.”

Top 10 picks out of that draft:

1. Kenyon Martin (NJ Nets)
2. Stromile Swift (Vancouver)
3. Darius Miles (Clippers)
4. Fizer
5. Mike Miller (Magic)
6. DerMarr Johnson (Hawks)
7. Chris Mihm (Bulls…traded to Cleveland)
8. Jamal Crawford (Cleveland…traded to Bulls)
9. Joel Pryzbilla (Houston)
10. Keyon Dooling (Magic)

In other words, the 2000 draft wasn’t exactly loaded with talent. The only other All-star in this draft was Michael Redd, who was selected #44. Ouch.

August 1- Iowa State Football practice gets underway. Among the new additions: Offensive Coordinator Steve Loney, Quarterbacks Coach Steve Brickey, and Defensive Backs Coach Bobby Elliot.

September 2- Iowa State opened the 2000 football season with Ohio in 95 degree weather at Jack Trice. For the first time in five years, someone other than a Davis started in the backfield. Junior Ennis Haywood received his first start and did his best Davis impression. But not after a big scare from the Bobcats. Ohio’s confusing triple-option attack kept ISU off-balance, and the Cats scored on their opening drive, only to miss the PAT. After a Cyclone, Michael Wagner, Score, Ohio converted on a field goal and led 9-7 in the 2^nd quarter. With 2:30 left before half, Sage Rosenfels snuck it in for a TD, but Mike McKnight missed his PAT and the Cyclones led sluggishly 16-9 at half. But the Cyclones pulled away, thanks to a Haywood 73 yard run in the 3^rd quarter. Seconds later, Tony Yelk attempted his first kick as a Cyclone on the PAT…it missed. Tony would be red-shirted after the game. The Cyclones put it on auto-pilot, forcing four 4^th quarter turnovers and winning 25-15. Haywood finished with 159 yards.

September 9- The Cyclones hosted UNLV in week 2. Sage Rosenfels put ISU on the board early, throwing a beautiful 39 yard pass to the streaking Chris Anthony to start the scoring. Then the Cyclone defense stepped up. James Reed forced a fumble, Dustin Avey recorded an interception and Atif Austin blocked a punt that all resulted in ISU points. The Cycloned led 27-6 at half and easily put away the Rebels 37-22.

September 16- After winning two straight games against Iowa, the Cyclones were looking for the hat-trick. Hawkeye fans were growing ever-restless with second year coach Kirk Ferentz. Ferentz was 1-13 at the helm and had lost 10 straight games. Meanwhile, Bob Stoops was taking Oklahoma by storm. Things would get worse for Ferentz on this day. “Iowa State starts the game with a first and 10 at their own 42. Rosenfels fakes the hand off to Haywood, now gives to Moses on the end around. Moses has some room, busts through an opening to the 50, 40, down the sideline, 30, 20, 15, breaks a tackle, TOUCHDOWN IOWA STATE!! What a RUN BY J….J… MOSES!!!”

From there the game was on. Scott Mullen connected with Kevin Kasper on the next series to tie things up. A Mike McKnight field goal and a Rosenfels dive gave ISU a 17-7 advantage. A costly Nate Kaeding miss kept the momentum with ISU at halftime. Kahlil Hill scored with 10 minutes remaining to cut the lead to 17-14. But Rosenfels engineered a 10 play, 79 yard drive capped off by Sage leaping over his center Ben Bruns for the 1 yard TD to put it away. For the second time in as many tries Iowa State walked out of the pink locker-rooms with the Cy-Hawk trophy in hand. ISU 24, Iowa 14.  After the game, WHO’s Sound-Off is flooded with calls to fire Ferentz.

September 30- ISU hadn’t started 4-0 in a season since 1981. They hadn’t won in Texas since the start of the Big 12. Well the year 2000 would buck a lot of trends. Ryan Harklau recovered a Baylor fumble on the first possession; leading to an ISU 3-0 lead on a McKnight field goal. The Cyclones poured it on from there. Baylor fumbled on the ensuing kick-off and Ennis Haywood popped free for a 3-yard TD, then a 9 yarder. Joe Woodley plunged into paydirt, and J.J. Moses took a Sage Rosenfels pass 38 yards for a score. By halftime, ISU led 31-3. Haywood would keep the clock moving with a steady stream of first downs, as the native Texan rushed for a career high 241 yards. The Cyclones win easily 31-17. The season looks destined to break barriers.

October 7- Were the Cyclones ready for the national stage? It was time to find out. In front of most of the country as the featured game on ABC, the Cyclones hosted undefeated and #2 ranked Nebraska. Jack Trice was absolutely electric. With a chill and a few flurries in the air, Iowa State came out pumped. After a missed Nebraska field goal by Josh Brown, the Cyclones put a charge in the already amped crowd. Rosenfels threw a perfect spiral to Craig “Soup” Campbell, who had slipped behind the defense. Touchdown Cyclones! ISU 7 NU 0. Both defenses held firm until early in the 2^nd quarter, when Corell Buckhalter punched in a TD from nine yards out. After a Cyclone turnover, Josh Brown converted a 40 yard field goal to give the Huskers a 10-7 lead. Another Cyclone failed possession followed and it looked like the Huskers were ready to bury the ‘Clones. That is until JaMarcus Powers stepped in front of a Crouch pass and took it 40 yards down the sideline for the TD as Jack Trice blew a gasket. The Cyclones led 14-13 at halftime. Nebraska opened up the 2^nd half with an easy drive for a TD and then converted the 2 points to go on top 21-13. After an 80 yard Cyclone drive, Ennis Haywood returned the favor with a 4 yard TD. But Mike McKnight missed the PAT. The deflated Cyclones couldn’t recover. The Huskers put up 28 4^th quarter points and put the game well out of reach. Huskers 49 Cyclones 27. The Big Red haven’t won at the Jack since.

October 14- In order to make this a magical season, the Cyclones needed some help from a couple of youngsters. Freshman Michael Wagner filled in for the injured Ennis Haywood at tailback when they traveled to Oklahoma State. Wags had 100 yards and 2 TD’s by halftime, but the Cyclones still trailed 16-13 at half. The little dynamo scored again, this time on a pass from Rosenfels; The Cyclones took the 20-16 lead in the 3^rd quarter. Aso Pogi and the Cowboys marched right down the field to regain the 23-20 lead. That is when the unsung Carl Gomez took center stage. The punter, put into duty due to the ineffective McKnight, nailed two 4^th quarter field goals to give the Cyclones the 26-23 lead. However, the Pokes notched a FG of their own and with 2:41 left, the game was all square. Enter walk-on redshirt-freshman from Dike, Iowa.

“The Cyclones could stall and kick a field goal here Eric with only 24 seconds on the clock…no it looks like they’re going to run a play. Rosenfels drops, looks across the middle, it’s caught by Danielsen on the slant, he’s loose…10…5….Touchdown Lane Danielsen!!!!!”  Cyclones 33 Cowboys 26. The Cyclones move to 5-1, one game shy of becoming bowl eligible.

October 21- Once again the Cyclones are featured on National Television on ABC, looking to become bowl eligible in a home contest against Texas A&M. Cyclone fans can feel the possibility in their grasp. And perhaps so could Dan McCarney’s team. The ‘Clones came out tighter than Mark Mangino’s belt-buckle. The Aggies scored a TD in the first two minutes of the contest and it was down-hill from there. They would add on 13 more points before half. ISU couldn’t muster much more than a first down. By the end of the 3^rd quarter, the Aggies led 23-0. The Cyclones after 3 quarters had only one play over 12 yards. Finally with 2:30 on the clock, Cyclone back-up Gerrin Scott connected with Lane Danielsen for ISU’s only score. Aggies 30 Cyclones 7.

October 28- In front of a night audience at Jack Trice stadium, the Cyclones left no doubts about their bowl chances. With the Missouri Tigers in town, the game started with flashback to Iowa State’s checkered past. Missouri drove the distance of the field on the first possession, scoring easily. When ISU countered with a Rosenfels dive, Carl Gomez missed the PAT. Here we go again. But this group overcame the ailments of Cyclones past. J.J. Moses provided a dazzling 34 yard TD run on a reverse that faked out seemingly the entire Missouri Tiger defense. Two Haywood TD’s made it 26-7 and ISU looked well on its way to bucking history. But things tightened up, with MU trailing 26-14 they were moving into Cyclone territory. Darius Outlaw’s pass was intercepted by the diminutive Marc Timmons; he busted free and took it the distance for the TD. Jack Trice went into a frenzy. The rest of the night was an extended celebration. Cyclones 39 Tigers 20. The streak was over. McCarney said afterward: "People told me that I was committing professional suicide when I took this job. People told me that we couldn't turn this program around and that we couldn't compete in the Big 8 and the Big 12. It feels good to be 6-2. The kids did a great job and I'm really proud of them.”

November 4- The Cyclones were served a cold plate of humility against Kansas State. The Wildcats came out of the tunnel losers of two of their last three, and apparently they weren’t happy about it. Josh Scobey scored three times in the first quarter and K-State led 35-3 at halftime. By the time ISU got a TD, it was already 49-3. The dominance in Manhattan continued for the Cats. K-State 56 Iowa Sate 10.

November 11- The snow was falling in Boulder, when ISU met up with the Buffs. And soon after the opening kick, ISU was falling behind. Colorado took a 20-12 lead into halftime. ISU looked as if they would falter again in Boulder, somewhere where they hadn’t won in over 19 years. But this wasn’t like those Clone teams. The Cyclones scored three times in the 3^rd quarter, thanks to timely defense and opportunistic scoring. Crazy enough, a Carl Gomez 46 yard field goal in the snow with 6 minutes remaining sealed the victory. It was a sweet win in the Rockies. Cyclones 35 Buffs 27.

November 18- The senior class that turned the program around went out in style on senior day. Sage Rosenfels scored twice in the first half as ISU took a 14-0 lead over the Kansas Jayhawks. After a Gomez field goal, the Cyclones led 17-10 at half. On the first possession of the 2^nd half Michael Wagner went 66 yards for a score, minutes later Joe Woodley dove in for a TD and ISU was on its way to their best regular season in a long time. Ennis Haywood milked the clock, rushing for 190 yards, becoming the Big 12’s leading rusher for the season. Final score: Cyclones 38 Kansas 17.  

November 21- The Cyclone men’s basketball team opened up the season ranked #25. Their first game of the year pitted them with Division III Morningside. It was supposed to be an easy game. It wasn’t. Iowa State led by as many as 13 points in the second half, but Morningside battled back. Down 3 with 4 seconds, Morningside’s Derek Paben hit a 3 to send the game into overtime. Morningside hit a Hilton record 18 3’s. But thanks to some timely shooting from Freshman Jake Sullivan, ISU held on to win in OT 102-97. Martin Rancik had 32.

December 23- Great plays from little-known freshmen Zach Fortune, Shane Power, and even Andrew Skoglund were instrumental in ISU’s three straight victories to win the Yahoo Sports Invitational in Hawaii. The Cyclones men entered the New Year 11-1, setting up for another great season.

December 28- It was quite the week in Phoenix. An estimated 30,000+ Cyclone fans made the trek to the Insight.com bowl, ISU’s first bowl in 22 years. The opponent…the Pitt Panthers. The game didn’t get off to the best of starts. Pitt’s All-American receiver, Antonio Bryant got past the Cyclone defense, catching a 72 yard TD to open the scoring. But, Sage Rosenfels had the answer all night. He responded with a TD pass to Chris Anthony to tie it up at 7. A Woodley run, Haywood run, and another Rosenfels to Anthony pass made it 27-7 at halftime. The Cardinal and Gold were going nuts in the BOB. But the Clones couldn’t land the knock-out punch and Pitt scored 13 straight to set the score to 27-20. Another 3 and out and with J.J. Moses knocked silly gave Pitt the momentum and a chance to tie with the 4^th quarter just underway. But Reggie Hayward and the Cyclone D came up big, forcing a Pitt punt. That’s when back-up freshman punt returner Ja’Maine Billups re-wrote Cyclone history. “Here’s the punt, it spirals out, now kind of wobbles out, Billups makes the catch 30 yard line, 35, up to the 40, midfield, he’s down the sideline..HE MIGHT GOOO!! TOUCHDOWN JA’MAINE BILLUPS..HOW ABOUT THAT?!!!!!!! From there it was all academic. A Carl Gomez FG locked up Iowa State’s first bowl win ever. As the clock ticked down, Dan McCarney received the Gatorade bath, Cyclone fans celebrated, some rushed the field taking the Insight.com bowl turf with them. It was a sweet day to be a Cyclone. Cyclones 37 Pitt 29.  This would be the Cyclone millennium.