<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1edxHY_0vxBlIkD00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1edxHY_0vxBlIkD00" width="1200" height="628" >Cyclone Alert Publisher Alec Busse updates his Weekly Thoughts column as Jaylon Jackson sees his star rise, the 2024 season is beginning to mirror the 2007 season and a successful white out impresses. Plus, basketball season is right around the corner and why are there no good movies? Cyclone Alert Publisher Alec Busse returns with his five weekly thoughts column.I thought Jaylon Jackson would be good. I didn't think he would be this good. When <a href="https://247sports.com/college/iowa-state/">Iowa State</a> targeted <a href="https://247sports.com/college/eastern-michigan/">Eastern Michigan</a> transfer running back <a href="https://247sports.com/player/jaylon-jackson-46082437/">Jaylon Jackson</a> in the winter, I thought it would be a perfect fit for the Cyclone offense.Jackson brought experience to a room that ultimately returned just two scholarship sophomores, <a href="https://247sports.com/Player/abu-sama-46128963/">Abu Sama</a> and <a href="https://247sports.com/Player/carson-hansen-46128653/">Carson Hansen</a>. When <a href="https://247sports.com/Player/cartevious-norton-46116126/">Cartevious Norton</a>, <a href="https://247sports.com/Player/eli-sanders-46098989/">Eli Sanders</a> and eventually <a href="https://247sports.com/Player/arlen-harris-jr-46076710/">Arlen Harris Jr.</a> entered the transfer portal, Jackson's value grew.Through the first five games of the season – and a <a href="https://247sports.com/college/iowa-state/article/iowa-state-football-reaches-5-0-for-the-first-time-1980-237540140/">5-0 start</a> for the first time since 1980 – Jackson's importance to the Cyclone offense is immensely clear. Excluding quarterback <a href="https://247sports.com/Player/rocco-becht-46097882/">Rocco Becht</a>, I think a serious argument can be made that Jackson is the offense's <a href="https://247sports.com/college/iowa-state/article/iowa-state-football-baylor-victory-takeaways-237532788/">third-best play-maker</a> behind star receivers <a href="https://247sports.com/Player/jayden-higgins-46109292/">Jayden Higgins</a> and <a href="https://247sports.com/Player/jaylin-noel-46085482/">Jaylin Noel</a>, who, again, look like All-Big 12 players.Jackson has surpassed Sama and Hansen on Iowa State's depth chart, and he leads the team in rushing (295), yards per carry (6.1) and is tied with Hansen and Becht for rushing scores (2) on the season.Against <a href="https://247sports.com/college/baylor/">Baylor</a>, Jackson played his best game of the season for Iowa State in the <a href="https://247sports.com/college/iowa-state/article/instant-analysis-iowa-state-pulls-away-from-baylor-in-strong-second-half-performance-cyclones-football-2024-237520707/">43-21 victory</a>. The senior ran 15 times for 107 yards with two scores. He recorded a second 50-yard run, making it two consecutive weeks he's had a <a href="https://247sports.com/college/iowa-state/article/iowa-state-sparks-momentum-with-big-plays-in-win-over-baylor-cyclones-football-2024-237543490/">game-breaking play</a>. Each of his TD runs featured a nasty juke move that even Barry Sanders would tip his cap at."Honestly, he's been pretty consistent here for the whole season," <a href="https://247sports.com/Coach/matt-campbell-1154/">Matt Campbell</a> said after the game. "And, I thought he was electric last week. He has continued to grow in the offense, so it's been really positive to see him."Jackson provides the Cyclone offense with a back who consistently gets positive yardage. Will he always meet his six-yard-per-carry mark? Eh, probably not. But despite being a slenderly built 5-foot-8, Jackson thrives getting tough yards behind the ISU offensive line.He has the best footwork of any consistent ball carrier on the team, and he runs with great purpose. With each step, he knows where he wants to go next. It's sharp, decisive and it looks instinctual in many ways for the transfer back, who has exceeded all expectations to this point in the season."I feel like he's really showed it all season so far," Campbell said.Could the 2024 college football season be a modern-era version of the 2007 season? Credit to ESPN's Bill Connelly for this research: In the first six weeks of the 2007 season, nine top 10 teams lost to unranked opponents; in 2024 there have been eight top 10 ranked teams to lose to an unranked opponent.The 2007 regular season is one of the wildest in college football history. The No. 1 ranking was thrown around like a baseball on a diamond. Here is the full list of teams to own the No. 1 ranking in the chaotically perfect 2007 season: <a href="https://247sports.com/college/lsu/">LSU</a>, <a href="https://247sports.com/college/ohio-state/">Ohio State</a>, <a href="https://247sports.com/college/missouri/">Missouri</a>, USC. The No. 2 ranking was an allergy with LSU, <a href="https://247sports.com/college/usc/">USC</a>, <a href="https://247sports.com/college/california/">California</a>, <a href="https://247sports.com/college/south-florida/">USF</a>, <a href="https://247sports.com/college/boston-college/">Boston College</a>, <a href="https://247sports.com/college/oregon/">Oregon</a>, <a href="https://247sports.com/college/kansas/">Kansas</a>, <a href="https://247sports.com/college/west-virginia/">West Virginia</a> and <a href="https://247sports.com/college/georgia/">Georgia</a> all owning it at least once.This past Saturday was one of the wilder College Football Saturdays in recent memory, five of the top 11 ranked teams in the country lost. No. 1 <a href="https://247sports.com/college/alabama/">Alabama</a> lost at unranked Vanderbilt. No. 4 <a href="https://247sports.com/college/tennessee/">Tennessee</a> lost at Arkansas. No. 9 Missouri lost to unranked Texas A&amp;M. No. 10 <a href="https://247sports.com/college/michigan/">Michigan</a> lost at unranked Washington. No. 11 USC lost at unranked Minnesota. No. 8 <a href="https://247sports.com/college/miami/">Miami</a> needed to overcome a 25-point deficit to win at unranked Cal, and Hurricane QB <a href="https://247sports.com/Player/cam-ward-46134749/">Cam Ward</a> needed to account for 277 yards and three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to lead his team to a victory.In full clarity, it's worth noting Missouri and Michigan were both betting underdogs, according to Las Vegas sportsbooks. So, if you don't want to count the Aggie and Huskie victories as "upsets," that's alright with me. But it doesn't take away from how crazy the first half of the season has been.The 2007 season concluded with a two-loss LSU team defeating one-loss Ohio State in the BCS title game. A 12-team College Football Playoff would have been the perfect way to determine a champion 17 seasons ago. The good news, we have the expanded playoff to help crown this season's champion.I thought the white-out crowd at Jack Trice Stadium was executed really well. For a school that doesn't traditionally incorporate white as one of its two main colors, Iowa State's white-out on Saturday night was <a href="https://x.com/alec_busse/status/1842708226066039078">greatly executed</a>.On the Cyclone Alert message board forums, there was plenty of discussion about how well the white-out would work. Subscribers urged fans to wear a plain white t-shirt instead of <a href="https://247sports.com/college/iowa-state/">Iowa State</a> apparel if they had to.In reality, there was lots of white Iowa State apparel filling Jack Trice Stadium, and the Cyclone players, obviously, enjoyed the special home environment."It was crazy," Jackson said. "Yeah, definitely one of the loudest games that I've ever been in. It was just crazy – and I enjoyed it."The only issue with Saturday night's white-out was the distributed pom-poms pregame at each seat inside of the stadium's lower bowl were blown out of place, leaving many fans without a pom-pom to shake as Iowa State swelled its lead to a comfortable margin in the second half Saturday night.Iowa State has attempted various themes throughout my 1.5 seasons covering the football and men's basketball programs. The white-out on Saturday night was likely the best-executed assignment to date. Hat's off if you participated in the white-out on Saturday night.Basketball season is right around the corner. This week, the <a href="https://247sports.com/college/iowa-state/">Iowa State</a> women's basketball program is hosting its local media day on Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday morning, the men's basketball program invites local media back to Hilton Coliseum to mark the unofficial start to Iowa State's season.Each program has been officially practicing throughout the last couple of weeks in preparation for the season's tip-off in early November.Last week Audi Crooks was named a <a href="https://x.com/CycloneWBB/status/1841887390555898265">unanimous Preseason All-Big 12 selection</a> and Iowa State, who will likely start the season ranked in the top 10-15, was picked to finish second in the Big 12's preseason poll. <a href="https://247sports.com/college/kansas-state/">Kansas State</a> received seven first-place votes compared to Iowa State's six. The Wildcats earned just two more points than Iowa State did.The men's preseason poll has not been released but could be this week as Brett Yormark begins advertising for the exciting men's season in the conference.Kansas City hosts Big 12 Media Days on October 22 (women) and October 23 (men) later this month.This week, Cyclone Alert will be at each program's media availabilities, and we'll have stories around each press event to begin previewing what should be an exciting winter for each program inside of Hilton Coliseum. I'm not a big movie buff, but I feel like very few good movies are still being made these days. I spent Friday night celebrating my girlfriend's 25th birthday. We're not big going out people, it's not really our style. She decided she wanted a dinner out, ice cream and a movie. You can take the adult out of childhood but not the childhood out the adult, I suppose. (If she reads that sentence, she'll either laugh or will be minorly upset with me. Let's hope it's the first).The movie we picked was "Hit Man" on Netflix. Glen Powell stars as a professional killer who breaks protocol to help a desperate woman trying to flee an unhealthy relationship with her husband. The two fall for each other, and you get the rest. I don't want to spoil too much of the movie in case you want to watch it soon.Described as a comedic action, it wasn't a bad movie. We each liked it enough, but it still left quite a bit to be desired for the roughly two-hour run time.For me, the movie was the latest example of there being very few highly interesting, entertaining movies released in recent years. I enjoyed "Oppenheimer" with my dad in theaters in 2023. My girlfriend's favorite author recently had a book turn into a movie that we saw a couple of weeks ago in theaters. I'm not one to crave a romantic movie, but "It Ends with Us" was a good film that I enjoyed quite a bit.But, man, it feels like there hasn't been a truly great blockbuster in about a decade. Why aren't studios making more films like the "Wolf of Wall Street" these days? I suppose it has to do with the decreasing audiences at theaters, the decline of DVDs and the rise of streaming and binge-worthy series.Whatever the reason is, I'm left yearning for the good old days of strong movie lineups at the theaters that can later fill our favorite streaming platforms. If you've seen anything really great lately, drop it in the comments. Maybe I'll add it to a list of things to watch.</div></body>

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BUSSE: Weekly thoughts as Jaylon Jackson's star rises, 2024 is mirroring 2007, basketball nears

Cyclone Alert Publisher Alec Busse updates his Weekly Thoughts column as Jaylon Jackson sees his star rise, the 2024 season is beginning to mirror the 2007 season and a successful white out impresses. Plus, basketball season is right around the corner and why are there no good movies?. Cyclone Alert...

BUSSE: Weekly thoughts as Jaylon Jackson's star rises, 2024 is mirroring 2007, basketball nears

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