Some thoughts post-Insight Bowl:
1) 7 wins with this football team was nothing short of amazing. The improvement of the defense from 2008 went far beyond where I thought it could. Guys were in position, played fast and made plays throughout the season.
2) The passing game has to make a similar jump in the off season given the meat grinder that will be the 2010 schedule.
3) Hats off to the Cyclone faithful for the travel to the bowl. I've read several different figures. Having walked around the stadium the entire game, being able to see both sides, I feel I have a realistic perspective on the number of Cyclones, Gophers and locals. The seating was fairly balanced between the east (ISU) and west (Minn) sides as the bowl filled in empty UM sections with locals/VIPs. On the Gopher side, there were 2 lower sections full, plus the UM band in a third section. With other UM fans spread throughout the crowd, I estimate they had 4 full sections at the most...I put UM at 2,500-3,000.
The Cyclones filled the ISU side and had a number of others scattered throughout the west side and endzones...with a total announced attendance of 45,000+, it is easy to say ISU accounted for more than 1/3 of the crowd. While this, to borrow a term from a 2000 presidential candidate, is "fuzzy math," I believe it safe to say 20,000 Cyclones witnessed the 2009 Insight Bowl in person.
4) The Diablos (hosts for the Fiesta and Insight Bowls) do an absolutely fantastic job putting on a bowl game. They have it down cold. We were fortunate to have had the opportunity to play for them. I look forward to seeing the Insight continue to climb the Big 12 tie-in...moving to the #4 selection vs. a PAC 10 opponent next year.
5) Our hosts really like our football coach, as evidenced by a number of conversations over the length of the trip.
6) I really like our football coach, too.
