By ROBERT CESSNAMilitary Appreciation Day is fitting for Saturday's matchup at Kyle Field between the Iowa State Cyclones and Texas Aggies.
Both teams made their universities proud last week with landmark victories at places that had been their Waterloos, setting up what should be a battle to behold.
Iowa State (5-3, 2-2 in the Big 12) can become bowl-eligible with a victory, something none of the players on the roster have accomplished.
"It's in the way-back part of our minds," said junior wide receiver Jake Williams. "We just got to focus on this week. That's the way it's been -- just who we have next."
That's A&M (4-3, 1-2), which looks to gain momentum by winning back-to-back Big 12 games for the first time since the start of the 2007 league race.
"I feel like we're even again," A&M sophomore safety Trent Hunter said. "Another win this week, and spirits will be back up and we'll be ready to play."
Both teams, which were picked to finish last in their respective divisions, were amply armed for the giant obstacles they had to overcome last week.
A&M won at Texas Tech for the first time since 1993, halting a run by the Red Raiders that included three straight and 11 of the last 14.
"I had always wanted to beat Texas Tech," said senior offensive tackle Michael Shumard. "I had never beaten Tech since I've been here."
That paled in comparison to the feat by ISU, which won at Nebraska for the first time since 1977.
"It's an experience I've never experienced before," said senior punter Mike Brandtner. "I looked up [in the stands] and my mother was crying."
The upstart teams are led by coaches with an appreciation for the discipline and dedication that the military instills, which they believe is needed to create a winning chemistry in football.
"I understand what that's all about and have a great appreciation for that personally," said Sherman, whose grandfather fought in World War I and father was in World War II. "To coach at a school like Texas A&M, where you walk across this campus and you see the Corps of Cadets, and as you're walking by them, you envision some of these young men and women who'll be going over and serving our country overseas in some of our conflicts we're presently experiencing. Your heart goes out to them."
Sherman makes sure to pour his heart and comfort out to his team that's playing 18 true freshmen.
He said he told the players before and after the 62-14 loss at Kansas State that he was proud of them.
"I told them that morning 'I was proud of how you worked.' [I said] 'This one game doesn't make me not proud of you. I'm not proud of our performance. But I'm proud of you guys. I still love you.'"
ISU first-year coach Paul Rhoads is an emotional, Teddy Roosevelt-type who can relate. He led the cheering at Nebraska on the field and then in the locker room, which has become an instant hit on YouTube.
"In 21 years of coaching, I've been blessed to be part of a lot of great wins," Rhoads said. "But never as a head football coach, which makes it a little more special. That was a happy football team and a lot of happy guys."
ISU defensive tackle Nate Frere was still a little hoarse at Monday's press conference after singing the school fight song three or four times in the locker room.
"He's a great motivator," Frere said. "His passion for the game and this university and this team is very motivating. It's something that this team can feed off. We're playing with a lot of confidence right now."
This was a great week to be an Aggie or Cyclone. Fans of both teams greeted the teams when they arrived back home Saturday night.
"It meant a lot to those kids," Sherman said. "Last week, you're talking about over half our team is probably 18, 19, 19 1/2 years old. Last week was a hard week, with a lot of adversity coming out of the K-State game. I thought that was a just reward for them, to make them feel like it was worth the effort that we put forth that week in preparation for Tech. Not just winning the game, but the appreciation people had about the game was really special."
ISU is starting to feel that way about its team. And about Rhoads, who was an assistant with the Cyclones when former head coach Dan McCarney arrived in 1995. McCarney suffered through four straight 1-7 seasons in league action before taking the Cyclones to bowls in five of the next six years. Rhoads is trying to mold the same winning attitude after ISU players and fans watched the program go 9-26 in the last three seasons, including 3-21 in Big 12 play.
"The 2009 football team isn't responsible for the losses in 2008 or 2007 or however far you want go back," Rhoads said. "The kids have very much bought into that. We're taking care of this season one game and one day at a time. And we're living it, we're just not speaking it."
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