Iowa State focused on getting better

AMES — It’s been shaky at times. Too close for comfort. Underwhelming on a number of statistical fronts.

But there’s a valid reason Iowa State will never, ever, ever take starting a season with four straight wins for granted: It’s an exceedingly rare occurrence for a long-forlorn football program that head coach Matt Campbell’s built into a consistent winner and occasional Big 12 title contender.

Style points are appreciated, but not required — and the No. 12 Cyclones certainly didn’t compile many in Saturday’s sloppy, 24-16, win at Arkansas State.

Still, ISU is 4-0 for the second straight season for the first time, well, ever. And that’s saying something for a team that’s successfully navigated through its two biggest rivalry games, a traditionally-solid FCS foe, and a uniquely challenging, sweat-soaked road game against a Group of Five program.

Oh, and that first rivalry win came nearly 4,000 miles away in Ireland, so the Cyclones have handled adversity adroitly even as they’ve been wobbly at times.

“I think that’s been the real special factor so far about this group, is, man, the toughest moments, when things aren’t going our way, nobody ever loses their grip and they just keep playing,” Campbell said on the Cyclone Radio Network after Saturday’s road win over the Red Wolves. “I’m really proud of our effort. I’m proud of our heart, our intent. Our detail, our focus on some little things — we’re gonna have to be a lot better. I think we know that.”

So how can ISU get better in advance of the Sept. 27 Big 12 home opener against resurgent Arizona (3-0)? Let’s count some of the ways:

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Get healthy

Several Cyclones are battling injuries and/or illnesses early this season, including kicker Kyle Konrardy, guard Trevor Buhr, linebacker Carson Willich, and special teams star Aiden Flora.

Buhr returned in Saturday’s win at Arkansas State, but Willich and Flora have missed extended time, and Konrardy’s health issues cropped up last Saturday, forcing him to the medical tent after he uncharacteristically missed an extra point and a field goal. Standout tight end Gabe Burkle also sat out Saturday’s game, but Campbell hinted that his absence from the lineup may be short-lived.

“Hopefully we can get him (to) 100 percent coming out of the bye week,” Campbell said.

Clean up the details-based issues

ISU saw Konrardy misfire on the two aforementioned kicks, but also nearly saw a punt blocked while being called for a roughing the punter call that helped set up an Arkansas State touchdown.

Quarterback Rocco Becht also threw his first interception of the season after reeling off eight touchdown passes — but even that miscue came because star tight end Ben Brahmer couldn’t handle a pass that hit him on the numbers. So the combination of drops and misses in the passing game may be concerning, but it’s easily fixable.

Missed tackles also were an issue on Saturday, but part of that can be attributed to facing an ultra-talented mobile quarterback in the Red Wolves’ Jaylen Raynor.

“We kind of lacked a little bit in a couple of details, but I feel like the effort was there and that catapulted us (to the win),” said linebacker Caleb Bacon, who had five tackles (one for loss) on Saturday.

Gain perspective

The Cyclones’ defense has struggled to get off the field on third downs and ranks 90th nationally while allowing opponents to convert on 40 percent of those chances. That’s troubling, but ISU’s offense counters that by ranking 25th nationally in third down conversions (50 percent) and is tied for first in fourth down conversions with a perfect 3-for-3 ledger so far.

Bottom line: Several stats point to problems for ISU in all three phases of the game, but several others help explain how it’s managed to start 4-0 for the second straight season. And whether those wins have been good, bad or ugly is immaterial — for now, at least.

“It’s hard to win games,” said Becht, who passed Bret Meyer to become the Cyclones’ second-most winningest starting quarterback with 22 victories. “I think this team’s done a good job of handling adversity and just continuing to get wins no matter what.”

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