Spanning the Big 12: Five questions with Ames Tribune beat writer Bobby La Gesse

Continuing our series checking in with the beat writers who cover the Big 12 opponents Oklahoma State will face as we march toward the start of college football season.

Previously
Texas with ESPN.com HornsNation’s Carter Strickland
Kansas with the Lawrence Journal-World’s Matt Tait
Texas Tech with the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Nick Kosmider
TCU with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Stefan Stevenson
West Virginia with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Jenn Menendez

Today
Iowa State with the Ames Tribune’s Bobby La Gesse

Here’s our exchange:

Gina Mizell: First, let’s take one final look back at last year’s Oklahoma State game. Now that we’ve all been removed from it for a few months, what did that victory do for ISU football and the community as a whole?

Bobby La Gesse: It legitimized Paul Rhoads and the Cyclone program. It’s the win everyone in Ames can point to as tangible proof that the football team has improved and is on the rise. Before the Oklahoma State win people in the Big 12 knew about ISU as a feisty team that could pull off an upset. After a national television victory over the No. 2 team in the country, the whole college football world realized what Rhoads was putting together here.

GM: Steele Jantz was recently named the starting quarterback. Does he have the tools to succeed?