Iowa State football looks to put early-season struggles in the past

AMES — It’s no secret early-season games have been a bugaboo for Iowa State football coach Matt Campbell.

His teams are 7-11 in August and September games since he took over. He’s 28-17 in games after September.

He knows his Cyclone teams have had their troubles early and it’s something he believes he’s successfully addressed ahead of No. 7 Iowa State’s season opener against Northern Iowa on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in Jack Trice Stadium.

Last season’s opening loss to Louisiana had extenuating circumstances, like a pandemic and the Cyclones weren’t even sure if they were going to play the game a week-and-a-half before kickoff.

Still, Campbell didn’t make excuses.

“I remember thinking during the third quarter last season, ‘What an awkward environment,’” Campbell said. “I felt I did a poor job of preparing the team for what that was going to be because I didn’t know what it was going to be or how it was going to feel. But we adapted and we grew as the season went.”

Even giving Iowa State the benefit of the doubt and disregarding the Louisiana game, two seasons ago UNI pushed Iowa State to the brink in a triple-overtime game. UNI also handed Campbell his first loss as Iowa State’s coach in his first game.

“At the end of the day, the facts are the facts,” Campbell said of his team’s early-season struggles. “It's been an area for us where I think we've kind of tried to look at that from a holistic approach in saying, ‘Man, where do we have to get better?’

“What I think we've really looked at is, man, you get 12 guaranteed opportunities in college football. How, from the head coach's perspective, do you put a calendar together and how do you put a process together that allows your football team to be their best in those 12 guaranteed opportunities?”

That process began with revamping fall camp.

In years past, Iowa State’s first-team offense went against its scout-team defense and the first-team defense went against the scout-team offense. This fall, it was first-team offense versus first-team defense.

The players embraced the change. Quarterback Brock Purdy loved going against linebacker Mike Rose for the entire fall. Purdy said he’d make an adjustment at the line, Rose would make an adjustment to the adjustment and the two would play a little chess on the football field.

Purdy also felt the offense had an identity this fall. Two seasons ago, the Cyclones were trying to figure out who their running back would be and, three seasons ago, they were trying to determine the quarterback.

Now, they know exactly who they are.

“Having a really good fall camp from beginning to end is really crucial going into the first game,” Purdy said. “Years past, not going to lie, I felt like we were a roller coaster as an offense during fall camp. Then when we get to that first game it’s like, ‘Shoot, we’re still trying to find who we are as an offense and who can do what?’ Now, we understand who can do what, so I think that’ll be big in terms of having early success.”

And Purdy liked what he saw during fall camp.

“This was the best fall camp we’ve had yet,” Purdy said. “As far as the maturity, leadership — everybody knows what to expect. Before, it was just certain guys trying to get the rest of them going. Now, everyone is stepping up and we have so many leaders that sometimes I’m like, ‘Dang, I have to take a step back and let someone else step up and lead and learn to do that stuff.’ That’s a good thing.

“This has been the best fall camp as far as the offense goes and the defense looks great as well. We were doing two-minute drills and we were just grinding away. Defense was making plays, offense was making plays and I was like, ‘Wow, we have so much maturity and talent across the board with so much depth.’ I love where we’re at.”

Even with a well prepared team and a smooth fall camp, Campbell loves saying, “You don’t really know who you are until the lights come on.”

Inevitably, an early season mistake will be made. It’ll be up to the Cyclones to recover from it and move past it.

“That’s the thing about the first game in every football season, you better be ready to understand what some of those problems and challenges are and you better be able to handle it,” Campbell said. “Especially against a really talented opponent with a really veteran coach that plays really good against us like UNI.”

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