PETE: I can’t fathom a State of Iowa football program running out of players, to the extent that they’re forced to “Marshall” the bowl system

We can only hope never to read a headline that proclaims one or both of our state’s flagship football programs has pulled out of a bowl game, due to too many players quitting on teammates, the school, and the fans that help foot their bills.

That’s what happened last week at Marshall, you’ve heard by now, when the Thundering Herd declined their Independence Bowl invitation, because they couldn’t field a team, after nearly 30 players entered the transfer portal when their coach accepted another job.

The iconic program already has a field, practice facilities, equipment, a new coach and players remaining on the roster of a team that went 10-3, after winning the Sun Belt title game. What’s wrong with allowing the remaining guys face 25th-ranked Army in the bowl game? Probably a lot’s wrong with that, but just think -- somehow beat Army, and become the talk of the bowl game season.

Instead, they embarrassed the school, threw a heaping amount of disrespect toward their fans – and proved once again that there’s something (many somethings) wrong with college sports these days. And as Iowa State’s Matt Campbell said to reporters Tuesday:

“Is it trading or free agency? I don't know what you call this time of year, but it's unique in its own right.”

What happened at Marshall is something I hope you’ll never see at Iowa State and Iowa. I trust that our sports administrators, Jamie Pollard and Beth Goetz, would never, ever, do something to embarrass the school and disrespect their fans like cancel a game for anything short of a national catastrophe.

I rewatched my favorite sports-related movie, We Are Marshall, a couple weeks ago – long before the most recent round of opt outs even became a thing. Remember the movie’s conclusion -- where coach Jack Lengyel, aka Matthew McConaughey, leaped high on the sidelines as his team won its first game after restarting the program following the tragic plane crash that claimed lives of Thundering Herd players and coaches?

They’re not jumping up and down these days in Huntington, West Virginia. Players are leaving the once inspirational program – so much so, that the team is being replaced in the bowl by La. Tech.

At a school that 54 years ago even wondered if football could ever return – and at a school where the most famous football alum, Randy Moss, is undergoing cancer treatments – many of the current players are quitting in the aftermath of a late-season coaching change.

There’s all kinds of blame to pass here. The bottom line, though, shows the shallowness and lack of loyalty that has and will continue to ravage college football – until adults replace the children in the NCAA building.

Did Marshall’s departing players forfeit NIL money, because they left before their entire season was completed? Do players even sign contracts for NIL opportunities, and if so, do their signed agreements stipulate they must be available for all regular- and postseason games, unless not cleared by medical staffs? We know coaches, some of them, have zero loyalty, but at least in their cases, there’s contractual buyouts.

Send messages of blame to the NCAA, for opening the players’ transfer portal on the day after conference championship games – and closing it on Dec. 28. Blame The Initials for not being smart enough to figure out a way to co-exist with college academic calendars in waiting until after the bowl games to open the portal. Blame the system for having way, way too many bowls, too, while you’re at it.

I go bat-crazed with this stuff. Yes, players should be paid. They’re the show. They’re who fans pay big bucks to see. They hold the cards. They also should hold responsibility that goes along with being paid – that being of fulfilling obligations not only for regular seasons, but also whatever defines their postseason. And if they don’t, then become subject to their own NIL contract buyout.

Penn State coach James Franklin laid it out pretty well, after backup quarterback Beau Pribula entered the portal before the Nittany Lions’ College Football Playoff game.

"We’ve got problems in college football, and I can give you my word Beau Pribula did not want to leave our program, and he did not want to leave our program until the end of the season," Franklin told reporters. "But the way the portal is . . . and when you play the position of quarterback . . . and those spots are filling up . . . he felt like he was put in a no-win situation, and I agree with him.

"No. 1, I hate for it, most importantly for Beau Pribula. I don't think it's in the best interest of the student-athlete. I don't think it's in the best interest of college football.”

Here’s SMU coach Rhett Lashlee, during a press conference leading up to his team’s CFP game on Saturday against Penn State:

"I feel so awful for our kids and kids around the country," Lashlee said. "There's no other sport at all that has free agency in the season. It's sad. It's terrible.”

Will this happen someday at Iowa State and Iowa? I can’t answer that.

I know, though, that the most significant players from this season’s 10-3 Cyclones have said they’re playing in the Dec. 28 Pop-Tarts game in Orlando against 13th-ranked Miami. Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward, possibly a Top 5 pick in the next NFL Draft, has said he’s also playing in the game.

If he follows through with that, he should be a classic example of player loyalty we don’t see a lot from top draft pick hopefuls. Ditto Iowa State players such as Jayden Higgins, Jaylin Noel, Rocco Becht, Beau Freyler, J.R. Singleton, among others, who plan to end careers on a football field in Orlando.