Iowa State Football 2020 Book Preview

A SEASON TO

REMEMBER Iowa State Football’s Historic 2020 Run

A SEASON TO

REMEMBER

Iowa State Football’s Historic 2020 Run

On the cover FRONT COVER: Iowa State Cyclones head coach Matt

Campbell celebrates with the trophy after the Fiesta Bowl against the Oregon Ducks at State Farm Stadium.

J OE CAMPOREALE / USA TODAY SPORTS BACK COVER: Iowa State Cyclones players celebrate on the field after defeating the Oregon Ducks in the Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium. P ATRICK BREEN / USA TODAY SPORTS INSIDE FRONT FLAP: Iowa State Cyclones running back Breece Hall (28) runs the ball in the fourth quarter.

TIM HEITMAN / USA TODAY SPORTS

Credits It’s going to be impossible to forget the 2020 college football season.

The COVID-19 pandemic created a situation unlike ever before for reporters, photographers and editors.

This book is a compilation of this season’s coverage by the Des Moines Register and the USA TODAY Network – from the commentary of Randy Peterson, the insights of Travis Hines and the photography of Brian Powers. Behind the scenes, a host of others brought this coverage to life online and in the pages of the Des Moines Register and Ames – from producers Danny Lawhon, Aaron Marner and Erin Davoran to editors Carol Hunter, Zack Creglow, James Kramer and Cecelia Hanley.

None of our coverage would have been possible without Iowa State University creating a safe environment for our staff

at games and throughout the season.

Special thanks goes toward the Iowa State sports information department staff for their reasonable and safe policies for media in this trying season.

The Iowa State football team has enjoyed a meteoric rise under Matt Campbell’s lead. We have covered every step of the way, from his hire in late November 2015 and the many wins in the seasons since.

Iowa State entered this football season with unparalleled hype in its school history. In a fall when the news elsewhere in our lives was dire, this team provided its fans and readers with a needed respite.

We hope this book, full of our game reporters and lively photography, serves of an ever-lasting guide of Iowa State’s “Season to Remember.”

INSIDE BACK FLAP: Iowa State Cyclones quarterback Brock

Purdy (15) runs for a first down in the second quarter.

T IM HEITMAN / USA TODAY SPORTS

Copyright © 2021 by The Des Moines Register • All Rights Reserved ISBN: 978-1-59725-962-0 No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the copyright owner or the publisher.

A product of The Des Moines Register 2 • INTRODUCTION

Published by Pediment Publishing, a division of The Pediment Group, Inc. www.pediment.com • Printed in Canada.

Foreword

BY ZACK CREGLOW REGIONAL SPORTS CONTENT COACH THE REGISTER AND PRESS-CITIZEN

All-American running back Breece Hall said it best after Iowa State clinched a spot in the school’s first championship game in 128 years of Cyclones football: “It’s five-star culture versus five-star players.”

Those words from the two-time 1,000yard rusher perfectly describe the 2020 season for the historically underrated but now excelling Cyclones. They met expectations, regardless of what was thrown at them.

In a coronavirus-disrupted season unlike any other, players put college social lives aside for the good of the team. They knew the stakes. They knew the expectations. It was time for this program to take that next step into national prominence.

They had an inspiring coach in Matt Campbell. They had the best quarterback in school history in Brock Purdy. They had an All-American running back in Hall.

And boy, oh, boy did they have a defense, led by two of the Big 12’s best in Mike Rose and JaQuan Bailey.

They put in the offseason work. They stayed in their apartments since early summer. They didn’t stray from safety protocols.

Fans perhaps wondered just what this season would become after a shocking opening loss against mid-major Louisiana. It was easy to question whether reality matched the hype.

Would this season of unrivaled hope

be ruined by a team from the Sun Belt Conference? No way. Not this time. Not this team. Staff and players learned from mistakes. They improved with each practice rep and each game. The gradual buildup led to a spot in the Big 12 championship game and a berth in the Fiesta Bowl —the most prestigious bowl in the school’s history.

What happened in that game exemplified what Campbell’s program is about.

From “laughingstock of the Big 12,” as Campbell put it, to a 34-17 thrashing of one of the nation’s big-brand programs in Oregon.

This book takes fans through the entire journey, week by week, in a season unsurpassed in Iowa State history.

INTRODUCTION • 3

4 • INTRODUCTION

Table of Contents 7

Louisiana

71

Baylor

17

TCU

83

Kansas State

25

Oklahoma

97

Texas

41

Texas Tech

111 West Virginia

53

Oklahoma State

125 Big 12 Championship vs. Oklahoma

61

Kansas

139 Fiesta Bowl vs. Oregon

OPPOSITE: Fans enter Jack Trice Stadium for ISU’s game against Oklahoma on Oct. 3, 2020. The attendance total was 13,725.

RIAN POWERS / THE DES MOINES REGISTER B

INTRODUCTION • 5

16 • TCU

SEPT. 26, 2020 • vs. TCU • W 37-34

Cyclones pass Big 12’s opening test Iowa State finds its footing, survives TCU for momentum into Oklahoma showdown

BY TRAVIS HINES / AMES TRIBUNE

FORT WORTH — Matt Campbell didn’t say it, but it wouldn’t be hard to get the impression he knew that his team could find trouble in its season-opener against Louisiana.

“We had a lot of guys out in fall camp,” Campbell said. “We could have took the easy way out and not played, or you could have played and figured out where you were.”

The Cyclones did play, and they ran into a whole heap of trouble in a dispiriting 31-14 loss to the Ragin’ Cajuns at Jack Trice Stadium. The Cyclones, though, also figured out where they were, and they managed to get to a much better place for their Big 12 Conference opener, a 37-34 victory at TCU. “That was huge for us,” Campbell said of the Week 1 contest. “We had a chance

to go back and make adjustments.

“I thought we were sharper today than where we were previously.”

It was a marked, albeit imperfect, improvement for the Cyclones in just about every phase of the game. The offense hit big plays. The defense forced turnovers.

Special teams weren’t a debacle.

There remain plenty of things to clean up, but the Cyclones are only looking to tidy up this week, as opposed to grappling with a full-scale mess after their last go-round.

“There’s still a lot out there for this team: putting the nail in the coffin, finishing the game and doing things we need to get better,” Campbell said. “I thought it was a warrior’s effort by our team.”

After being shut down and shut out in

the second half against Louisiana, the Cyclones’ offense was a potent mix of playmaking against the Horned Frogs.

The Cyclones hit on a number of explosive and big plays, despite a patchwork offensive line that was missing starting guard Trevor Downing (ankle).

“I have a lot of confidence in the offensive line,” said running back Breece Hall, who rushed for 155 yards and three touchdowns.

The Cyclones also welcomed back AllAmerican tight end Charlie Kolar, who led Iowa State with five receptions and immediately returned to being quarterback Brock Purdy’s favorite and mosttrusted target.

“Charlie’s always a guy that I can always rely on when things don’t go as planned,” Purdy said.

OPPOSITE: Iowa State Cyclones quarterback Brock Purdy (15) throws a pass in the second quarter against the TCU Horned Frogs at

Amon G. Carter Stadium on Sept. 26, 2020. T IM HEITMAN / USA TODAY SPORTS

TCU • 17

212

Rushing Yards

0

Interceptions Thrown

As for Purdy, he still didn’t consistently look like the dynamic quarterback that was expected after two record-breaking seasons as starter, but was an efficient 18-for-23 for 211 yards and a touchdown.

However, he did have one truly ponderous decision when he tried to avoid a sack by flinging the ball backward, where a TCU defender caught it and strolled into the end zone.

“What I love about Brock is what I love about all great players,” Campbell said.

18 • TCU

“They want to make a play, but sometimes making the best play is pulling the ball down.”

The play was so strange as to be almost comedic — except for Purdy. “(Quarterbacks coach Joel) Gordon and I will go through it,” Purdy said. “He will be on me about it, which I need.

“Definitely not laughing it off.”

That’s a lesson the Cyclones apparently have already taken to heart, tightening up significantly from a sloppy

performance against the Ragin’ Cajuns.

Perhaps most importantly was the return to normalcy — even tedium — of special teams. The Cyclones gave up two return touchdowns in the opener, but a 17-yard punt return was the extent of the damage inflicted by TCU. There was little the defense could do to improve upon a solid performance against Louisiana, but coordinator Jon Heacock’s group found a way. The Cyclones recorded six sacks — including

LEFT: Iowa State Cyclones running back Kene Nwangwu (3) avoids the tackle of TCU Horned Frogs safety Ar’Darius Washington (24) and scores a touchdown in the third quarter.

TIM HEITMAN / USA TODAY SPORTS OPPOSITE: TCU Horned Frogs

quarterback Matthew Downing (17) is tackled by Iowa State Cyclones linebacker Jake Hummel (35) and defensive back Tyler Rodgers (25) in the first quarter.

T IM HEITMAN / USA TODAY SPORTS

3.5 by Iowa State’s new career leader, JaQuan Bailey — and turned the Horned Frogs over twice.

So the Cyclones find themselves in a much better position heading into October than where they started September. There is no washing away the performance or result against Louisiana, but Iowa State is currently 1-0 in the Big 12 and has all its goals — most importantly, its eye on the Big 12 title game — still achievable.

Maybe the Cyclones needed the Louisiana game to investigate themselves before the start of Big 12 play.

Maybe a couple weeks more of practice would have done it. Who knows?

What is known is that league wins are precious. Just ask Iowa State’s next opponent, Oklahoma, which entered the day ranked third in the country and a favorite to make the College Football Playoff. The Sooners left with a loss to a rebuilding Kansas State team.

Lincoln Riley’s bunch is now left licking its wounds and regrouping after something much more damaging than a nonconference loss in the season-opener.

Iowa State remains very much a work in progress, but the wobbling that was so concerning just a couple weeks ago seems to be steadying. With so much road left to travel, the Cyclones look to be getting their feet underneath them.

TCU • 19

ABOVE: Iowa State Cyclones head coach Matt Campbell watches a replay.

TIM HEITMAN / USA TODAY SPORTS ABOVE RIGHT: TCU Horned Frogs running back Emari Demercado (3) is tackled

by Iowa State Cyclones defensive back D.J. Miller Jr. (24) and linebacker Jake Hummel (35) in the third quarter. T IM HEITMAN / USA TODAY SPORTS OPPOSITE: Iowa State Cyclones quarterback Brock Purdy (15) hands the ball

off to running back Breece Hall (28) in the third quarter.

TIM HEITMAN / USA TODAY SPORTS RIGHT: TCU Horned Frogs wide receiver JD Spielman (10) is tackled by Iowa

State Cyclones wide receiver Darien Porter (10) in the third quarter.

TIM HEITMAN / USA TODAY SPORTS

20 • TCU

TCU • 21

ABOVE: Iowa State Cyclones running back Breece Hall (28) runs the ball in the fourth quarter. TIM HEITMAN / USA TODAY SPORTS ABOVE RIGHT: Iowa State Cyclones linebacker

Mike Rose (23) and defensive back Anthony Johnson Jr. (26) celebrate an interception in the fourth quarter. T IM HEITMAN / USA TODAY SPORTS RIGHT: Iowa State Cyclones running back Breece Hall (28) leaps into the end zone for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

T IM HEITMAN / USA TODAY SPORTS

22 • TCU

ABOVE: Iowa State Cyclones running back Breece Hall (28)

celebrates scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

T IM HEITMAN / USA TODAY SPORTS

ABOVE LEFT: Iowa State Cyclones linebacker Mike Rose (23) and

linebacker O’Rien Vance (34) react to an interception in the fourth quarter. T IM HEITMAN / USA TODAY SPORTS LEFT: Iowa State Cyclones running back Breece Hall (28) runs for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. TIM HEITMAN / USA TODAY SPORTS

TCU • 23

24 • OKLAHOMA

OCT. 3, 2020 • vs. OKLAHOMA • W 37-30

Historic victory Scary part is, Cyclones still have room to grow after win over Sooners

BY TRAVIS HINES / AMES TRIBUNE

AMES, Iowa — It wasn’t so much the victory that was encouraging. Although, to be sure, Iowa State beating No. 16 Oklahoma 37-30 is a promising, even historic, result. Beating a Big 12 Conference powerhouse, one you hadn’t conquered at home since 1960, is a heck of a way to spend a Saturday night.

Still, it wasn’t the win that made the evening so intriguing, so tantalizing for the Cyclones.

It was that they didn’t have to be at their best to do it.

“There’s a big part of me that’s disappointed in the fact that I still don’t think we played anywhere near what we’ve got the ability to play,” said Iowa State coach Matt Campbell, who has now beaten the Sooners twice in five tries. “If we want the ability to become a team that has the ability to have success down the run here and in the long haul, then we’ve really got

to work on our precision and our detail.

“A lot of work to do from our end.”

Some of that is certainly coach-speak from a man chasing perfection and trying to coax greatness out of young men susceptible to overconfidence.

But not all of it.

The Cyclones certainly did not play at a level that had them bumping up against their ceiling, with a defense that was slow out of the gate, an offense that was at times stilted and a general sharpness that was more butter than steak knife.

“To sit here and say we’re happy with how we played, I don’t think we could say that,” quarterback Brock Purdy said after going 12-for-24 for 254 yards and a touchdown. “We did take a lot of positives away from the game, but there are a lot of things we can fix.”

Of course, the Cyclones did play well.

Breece Hall had 139 yards and two

touchdowns. Charlie Kolar had four catches for 66 yards. Xavier Hutchinson had a 65-yard touchdown catch. The defense bottled up Oklahoma for the better part of three quarters.

Playing well, though, isn’t usually good enough for Iowa State to beat Oklahoma.

In fact, the Cyclones never found a level high enough to beat the Sooners from 1991 until Campbell’s team got them in 2017. So for the Cyclones to fall short of great and still end up on the right side of the scoreboard — well, that’s interesting when you survey the Big 12, a landscape that suddenly doesn’t look so foreboding.

“Just because we beat Oklahoma, we’re not going to go, ‘All right, season’s done,’” Purdy said. “We have so much to play for still.

“We don’t train in the offseason and go through all these things just to beat one team.”

OPPOSITE: Iowa State defensive back Isheem Young (1) celebrates his interception with Iowa State linebacker O’Rien Vance (34) and

Iowa State linebacker Jake Hummel (35) during their football game at Jack Trice Stadium. The interception sealed the win for Iowa State 37-30. B RIAN POWERS / THE DES MOINES REGISTER

OKLAHOMA • 25

RIGHT: Fans enter JackTrice Stadium for the first time this season for ISU’s game against Oklahoma.

B RIAN POWERS / THE DES MOINES REGISTER

Oklahoma already has two Big 12 losses. Texas, which was picked second in the league’s preseason poll, has one and would have had a second if not for a miracle against Texas Tech. Oklahoma State and Kansas State share the top of the Big 12 standings alongside the Cyclones with matching 2-0 marks.

It’s still the first week of October, but the Big 12 is there for the taking for 26 • OKLAHOMA

programs who are usually relegated to the conference’s second or third tier.

And while a good-but-not-great performance gave a friendly audience its first taste of victory over Oklahoma on its home turf since the Eisenhower administration, the Cyclones will likely have to approach, if not achieve, greatness to find itself in the Big 12 title game in December.

Solid play can win a game, but it takes greatness to string together a season of unrivaled success.

“We know how to play 60 minutes,” Campbell said. “Our problem is we don’t know how to play 60 minutes with great precision yet. Until we can get close to that, then we’re going to live in this world where it’s hard.

“It’s hard to win football games this

LEFT: Iowa State fans stand for the National Anthem at Jack Trice Stadium.

BRIAN POWERS / THE DES MOINES REGISTER

way. It’s great that we won the game, but there’s got to be a demand from everybody involved in this program to continue to aim to become the best version of us.”

The past three seasons have elevated Iowa State’s stature in the college football world. The Cyclones have won eight games twice, been to three bowl games and lodged victories over top-10 teams.

Few things are as analogous to capitalism as college football, though, and if you’re not taking a step forward, you’re getting left behind.

Ultimately, how far and how fast the Cyclones are moving will be judged by where this season ends, but Saturday was a hint of what’s possible. When the standard for what passes for good has been raised high enough to beat

Oklahoma, the things better might accomplish make for interesting thoughts to ponder.

“Great to get the win,” Campbell said, “but there’s so much more out there for this team to become the best version of itself it can be.

“We’re going to keep fighting for it.”

OKLAHOMA • 27

28 • OKLAHOMA

OPPOSITE: Iowa State takes

the field at Jack Trice Stadium.

B RIAN POWERS / THE DES MOINES REGISTER

OKLAHOMA • 29

ABOVE: Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell calls out a play at

Jack Trice Stadium. B RIAN POWERS / THE DES MOINES REGISTER ABOVE RIGHT: Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy (15) passes at

Jack Trice Stadium. B RIAN POWERS / THE DES MOINES REGISTER OPPOSITE: Iowa State defensive back Lawrence White IV (11) celebrates a big third-down stop at the line at Jack Trice Stadium.

BRIAN POWERS / THE DES MOINES REGISTER RIGHT: Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler (7) jumps in for a

first-quarter touchdown to make the score 9-3 over ISU. B RIAN POWERS / THE DES MOINES REGISTER

30 • OKLAHOMA

OKLAHOMA • 31

RIGHT: Oklahoma linebacker Brian Asamoah (24) tackles Iowa State wide receiver Tarique Milton (1).

Oklahoma takes a 17-13 lead over ISU into halftime.

B RIAN POWERS / THE DES MOINES REGISTER BELOW RIGHT: Oklahoma cornerback Tre Brown (6) covers Iowa State wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson (8).

B RIAN POWERS / THE DES MOINES REGISTER BELOW: Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell argues

a call. B RIAN POWERS / THE DES MOINES REGISTER

32 • OKLAHOMA

ABOVE: Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy

(15) gets away from Oklahoma outside linebacker Nik Bonitto (11).

B RIAN POWERS / THE DES MOINES REGISTER ABOVE LEFT: Oklahoma wide receiver Obi

Obialo (82) can’t come up with a pass under the coverage of Iowa State linebacker Mike Rose (23).

B RIAN POWERS / THE DES MOINES REGISTER LEFT: Iowa State wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson (8) runs up field for a touchdown and putting the Cyclones in the lead 22-20.

BRIAN POWERS / THE DES MOINES REGISTER

OKLAHOMA • 33

34 • OKLAHOMA

COLUMN

Emerging superstar Breece Hall leads the way vs. Oklahoma

BY RANDY PETERSON / THE DES MOINES REGISTER

AMES, Iowa — Breece Hall.

Two words. One name.

I’ll write them again, because Iowa State’s wonderful tailback is that deserving for what he did against one of the nation’s stingiest college football teams against the rush on an historic and epic evening at Jack Trice Stadium.

Breece Hall.

How’s this for an example of what he did during a night in which he rushed for 139 yards on 28 very tough carries: The dandy sophomore rushed 36 yards to 16th-ranked Oklahoma’s 8-yard line during a tie game and 5 ½ minutes or so remaining. On the next play, he ran almost untouched into the end zone.

Again, he did it against a team that had allowed opponents to rush for just 60 yards a game. And to make it even better for this nifty guy, he did in leading

Iowa State to a rousing 37-30 victory, but there’s more.

It was Iowa State’s first home success against Oklahoma since 1960. That’s right. Since 1960, the Cyclones lost in Ames against Sooners teams that featured one Heisman Trophy winner after another.

Not this time, however.

Hall was outstanding. Quarterback Brock Purdy played very well. Kene Nwangwu set up a touchdown with an 85-yard kickoff return — probably the biggest play of the game.

Yeah, it was Iowa State’s night before a crowd of 13,724 at Jack Trice Stadium.

And for Oklahoma …

See ya, College Football Playoff hopes.

That dream was dashed after falling to 0-2, and for the Cyclones?

How does first place in the Big 12

sound? That’s where Campbell’s team resides, heading into next Saturday’s 2:30 p.m. home game against Texas Tech.

“We still have a lot to go, and a lot to look forward to,” Purdy said. “As long as we have that confidence-factor — that’s huge. We’re going to build off it.

“Just because we beat Oklahoma, we’re not going to go “all right, the season’s done.” We have so much more to play for. We don’t train in the offseason just to beat one team.”

Two-and-oh in the Big 12 for the first time since Dan McCarney’s team opened 3-0 in 2002, with wins against Kansas, Nebraska and Texas Tech sounds pretty good right now. That team finished third in the Big 12’s North Division. This team can legitimately contend to play in the Big 12 Conference championship game, so there.

“Just because we beat Oklahoma, we’re not going to go ‘all right, the season’s done.’

We have so much more to play for.

We don’t train in the offseason just to beat one team.”

B ROCK PURDY

OPPOSITE: Iowa State running back Breece Hall (28) breaks open a run for the go-ahead touchdown.

RIAN POWERS / THE DES MOINES REGISTER B

OKLAHOMA • 35

135

Rushing Yards

11.3

Yards Per Pass

36 • OKLAHOMA

You thought the Cyclones were doomed after losing the opening game against Louisiana, a very good team from the Sun Belt Conference. You figured no way would Iowa State have a shot. You wrote the Cyclones off, but after the last two weeks — anything is possible.

Why was Iowa State able to claw, strategize and not buckle when Oklahoma led 11 points late in the second quarter?

“Great sen iors,” Ca mpbel l sa id.

“They’ve been the anchor to demand us to keep fighting.”

That fight, for a change, is to maintain first place, not strive to get as high as they can get.

“The confidence piece is huge,” Purdy said, “knowing that we have wins backto-back in conference play.”

It’s huge all right, for a program that people once laughed at. It’s huge, in Year 5 of Campbell and his staff. It’s huge for what should be the Cyclones’ best team in a long time.

And it’s huge when looking around the conference. Ok la homa is 0 -2.

Texas lost Saturday against the same TCU team Iowa State beat a week ago.

The Longhorns and Sooners play next Saturday, so it’s likely that’s a College Football Playoffs elimination game for one of them.

It’s all out there for the Cyclones. Every goal is still reachable.

It wasn’t pretty all the time Saturday night, but t hat ’s a l l right. It was Oklahoma that needed to show the playoff committee a bunch cool style points, not Iowa State.

It was Oklahoma that had everything to lose because remember, a bunch of people gave up on Campbell’s team after the Louisiana loss, and that bandwagon?

People are jumping back on, right and left.

The Cyclones outplayed Oklahoma, that’s what counts. Hall was superb.

Purdy completed 12 of 24 passes for 254

yards and a touchdown. The revamped offensive line is improving. Tight end Charlie Kolar had four catches. Xavier Hutchinson had three, including a dandy 65-yard catch-and-run into the end zone that gave the Cyclones a 23-20 lead.

Now, back to that first weekend of the season. You know what I’m talking about — the one that included three losses against the Sun Belt Conference.

Well, players from two of those teams went to bed Saturday night sharing the Big 12 lead — Kansas State and Iowa State.

Bottom line: Hang loose for what promises to be more wild weekends in the Big 12.

The huge wall that was once between Iowa State and Oklahoma … the Cyclones have broken through it. The message Campbell’s team sent to the league Saturday night goes something like the one-time laughing stock program means business.

ABOVE: Iowa State defensive back Isheem Young (1) celebrates his

interception with Iowa State linebacker O’Rien Vance (34). The interception sealed the win for Iowa State. B RIAN POWERS / THE DES MOINES REGISTER ABOVE LEFT: Iowa State defensive end Will McDonald IV (9) celebrates a sack.

RIAN POWERS / THE DES MOINES REGISTER B LEFT: Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy (15) celebrates a touchdown to bring the Cyclones to within one point of tying the game. With the extra point the game would be tied at 30. BRIAN POWERS / THE DES MOINES REGISTER

OKLAHOMA • 37

38 • OKLAHOMA

LEFT: Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy (15) hugs his mother Carrie after ISU defeated Oklahoma 37-30.

BRIAN POWERS / THE DES MOINES REGISTER OPPOSITE: Iowa State celebrates its win

over Oklahoma at Jack Trice Stadium.

B RIAN POWERS / THE DES MOINES REGISTER

BELOW LEFT: Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy (15) does a socially distant postgame interview.

BRIAN POWERS / THE DES MOINES REGISTER

OKLAHOMA • 39