Iowa State football players receive a quick history lesson almost every day from their coach, Matt Campbell. “133 years!” he often says during practice or meetings.
Iowa State has played for 133 seasons and still hasn’t won an outright conference championship. Campbell shares this message to motivate the team rather than remind them of a long history of mostly poor football in Iowa.
“Why not us be the team to go do it now?” asked senior receiver Jaylin Noel.
The Cyclones have won their first five games for the first time since 1980, and a victory on Saturday against West Virginia would make them 6-0 for the first time since 1938.
Ranked No. 11 in The Associated Press Top 25, this is their highest ranking since starting at No. 7 in a disappointing 7-6 season in 2021, which followed their first appearance in the Big 12 championship game in 2020.
Campbell describes Iowa State as a development program, where most three-star recruits need a year or more to become significant contributors.
Last season, the Cyclones finished 4-8, winning only one Big 12 game, marking the worst season since Campbell’s first team went 3-9 in 2016.
They bounced back to finish 7-6 the following year, despite five expected starters being suspended due to a state investigation into sports betting among college athletes. Nine offensive starters and nine defensive starters from that team are still with the unbeaten squad.
The Cyclones are succeeding with a flexible offense led by quarterback Rocco Becht, a steady second-year starter, along with explosive receivers Noel and Jayden Higgins, and an improving running game. Their defense is at the top of the Big 12 in total yards, passing yards, and points allowed, despite injuries to linebackers.
Campbell noted that his call for making history doesn’t clash with his well-known week-by-week focus. He emphasized that every win is appreciated, but a team is not truly judged until the season ends.
“We’ve had moments where we’ve had success,” he said, “and how do you handle that, how do you sustain it?”
The Cyclones are on a positive path after a shaky opening win against North Dakota from the lower-tier Football Championship Subdivision. Then came the CyHawk Game against Iowa, where they won thanks to walk-on Kyle Konrardy’s 54-yard field goal with just six seconds left.
They followed up with convincing victories over Arkansas State and at Houston, and then they overcame two deficits to defeat Baylor 43-21.
With each passing week, confidence is growing.
“A lot of teams came through here, and I know coach Campbell has really changed the culture compared with what it’s been in the past,” tight end Benjamin Brahmer said.
Noel mentioned that it’s “cool” to be 5-0 for the first time in 44 years, but he knows well enough that a dose of humility can come at any time.
Iowa State is a 3-point favorite going into its game against West Virginia, which has one of the best home-field advantages in the country. After that, they will host UCF and Texas Tech, and the schedule includes tough games against No. 16 Utah and No. 18 Kansas State.
“We know it’s not easy,” Noel said. “As long as it’s been, (more than) 40 years since it happened — it could be stripped right away from us… Iowa State has never won anything.”
Success has indeed been rare in the program’s history. The Cyclones have only shared two conference championships, which were in 1911 and 1912 in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Those were the glory days. Since World War II, the Cyclones have had just 23 winning seasons, six of which were under Campbell.
“We still haven’t won at least a major conference championship outright,” Campbell said. “The reality of it is it’s hard enough to do at Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio State. Obviously, it’s been really hard to do here at Iowa State.”
