The mystery of 2023 football about to be revealed

Are you ready for some ... wait, that line has been used way too much.

But football season is here and that’s a wonderful thing.

Football gets a bad rap at times — and rightfully so from some points of view. It’s a violent sport and injuries are inevitable. Some parents won’t let their kids play football and it’s hard to argue with their reasoning.

But football is a great sport for those who love to play it, coach it, cover it and watch it. Even for those who weren’t very good at it (looking in the mirror).

Football is the ultimate team sport — working with your colleagues toward a common goal. The star quarterback goes nowhere if the players up front aren’t protecting him and the swift running back can only go so far without good blocking.

“Football takes commitment and these boys are committed,” Xavier’s Duane Schulte, in his 30th year of coaching football, wrote in his questionnaire about this year’s Saints.

Teamwork and commitment sound like pretty good traits to me.

There’s also nothing like this time of year — the first week of high school games are in the books and it’s Game Week for Iowa, Iowa State, Northern Iowa, Coe, Cornell and many, many more.

Whether you won or lost on Friday night or are getting ready to play Utah State in a packed Kinnick Stadium, hope is in the air. And, seriously, is there anything better than hope?

Tim Frake is in his 19th season coaching football at Cascade High School. The Cougars lost on Friday to Maquoketa Valley and, he wrote in his questionnaire, he wasn’t sure what to expect this year.

“After 18 years looking towards the football season is always a guessing game. There have been some years I thought we could make a deep run but a tough break here and there derailed our season. And other years, I didn’t know what we had and it turned out to be some of our best teams.

“So, this season is anybody’s guess. ... The key every year is staying healthy and catching some breaks along the way.

“... If this team can dictate the style of play and we improve from Week 1 to the playoffs, anything is possible.“

The mystery of the unknown and “anything is possible” is something that runs through every sport before the games begin. But football is different because it takes 11 players — or 8 in some cases — moving in sync and knowing one misstep or a bounce of a ball can make a game or season wonderful or painful.

So what’s going to happen this season for area high school teams if the ball bounces in a positive direction, if a team stays healthy or finds that “X” factor it didn’t know it had?

There’s a lot of teams out there still wondering, still hoping even after that first win or loss.

As for Iowa, Iowa State and UNI? That, too, is a mystery.

All three seem capable of having good, maybe even great seasons.

If Cade McNamara can return to his 2021 form at Michigan, find a couple of capable receivers (not just tight ends), if the offense can show a little imagination and the defense plays to its usual standard, an 8-4 or even 9-3 season in Iowa City is possible. The schedule is that favorable.

Things are little more blurry in Ames where the Cyclones need to find a new quarterback and running back after the gambling mess depleted their roster. The Big 12 has some new blood, too, and it’s hard to say how that will play out. But the ISU defense is strong, as usual, and Matt Campbell is good enough to get something rolling again. A 7-5 season would be great. A 6-6 would be good.

The Panthers also play in a very tough league, the best in the FCS. But this is a good team led by a quarterback (Theo Day) who is more than capable of taking this team to the playoffs once again. It’s not going to be easy and UNI, once again, may need a little help. The schedule is tough. But 7-4 would be a special season that would include at least one upset.

So there you have it. Mystery solved.

Now let’s get ready for some football.

Comments: (319) 398-8461; jr.ogden@thegazette.com