What to expect in Iowa State football spring game (open practice) Saturday

AMES — We’re talking about practice. Not a game.

And with all due respect to former NBA great Allen Iverson — who famously intoned those words 21 years ago — practice matters.

That’s especially true for Iowa State’s football team, which will take the field Saturday at roughly 10 a.m. for a spring “game” and perform drills for swaths of bundled-up Cyclone fans at Jack Trice Stadium for the first time since 2017.

“I think you’ve heard me say this all the time, but we won’t even know what our team is gonna look like until September and we get out before 70,000 people,” said ISU head coach Matt Campbell, whose team saw a streak of five straight winning seasons snapped last season. “But I think (this is) an opportunity to put people in the stands and a year ago we had to go to Ames (High School) and some other places because our field was getting redone. This year we’re able to do it at home, which is great.”

So what should Cyclone fans expect amid the cold and blustery conditions?

Not a game. Practice. ISU’s 15th practice that will cap a spring that Campbell said has spurred significant growth for his youthful team.

“Everything’s had some competition to it and we’ll figure out exactly what that competition looks like,” Campbell said. “But it will be an opportunity for us to just get out and play football.”

Position battles — many of which Campbell said remain “wide open” — won’t remotely be decided, but they will progress as spring practice ends and summer strength and conditioning sessions swing into view.

The most high-profile position, quarterback, has been defined by the type of competition Campbell noted above, as returning starter Hunter Dekkers is pushed by redshirt freshman Rocco Becht and highly-touted early enrollee J.J. Kohl.

“(First-year offensive coordinator) Nate (Scheelhaase) has done a great job of kind of starting back at square one and rebuilding it forward,” Campbell said. “And I really think the quarterbacks — it’s been really beneficial for them because I think they’ve been able to start back at square one and rebuild themselves moving forward.

“I think all three guys have had really positive moments. All three guys have played really well. And, at times, guys have made some mistakes, but have been able to learn from (them).”

So, once again, don’t expect to learn much about whether ISU can rekindle some mojo on the offensive side of the ball by observing Saturday’s on-field events. But fans will get to see the Cyclones run, pass and block at Jack Trice Stadium for the first time since late November.

“Offensively there has been a ‘how do we be the best communicators and how do we simplify the best way we can?’” Campbell said. “We’re going back to not what we do, but it’s how we do it. I think that has been really positive with that group.”

ISU also will unveil new Jack Trice-era throwback uniforms Saturday. Those garments will be worn in the Oct. 7 home game against TCU, so fans will learn at least one thing at the event that’s a “game” in name only.

“Man, it’s gonna be 43 degrees,” Campbell said. “We’re gonna keep it pretty simple.”

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