No. 14 Iowa State's penchant for winning close games will be tested by Arizona

AMES — There’s no secret sauce.

No gridiron-based alchemy to explain how No. 14 Iowa State turned its biggest weakness into its overarching strength.

But can anything explain how the Cyclones (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) enter Saturday’s 6 p.m. home conference opener (ESPN) against upstart Arizona (3-0) at Jack Trice Stadium with nine wins in their past 10 games decided by one score?

“No,” said ISU football coach Matt Campbell, whose program endured a stretch from late 2021 to early 2023 in which it went 1-12 in one-score games. “I think it’s gone in ebbs and flows. I think when you look back to ’17, ’18 and probably 2020, we were really, really good in one-score games.

“I think the reality — fortunate or unfortunate — (is) the life we live here, there (are) a lot of one-score games, so you’re always gonna live that. That’s just how it goes.”

Fair enough.

That’s why Campbell incessantly stresses the vital importance of fundamentals rooted in the “margins” and “details” lurking in every moment of a football game. And the Cyclones — who rank among the nation’s top 10 in winning percentage (15-3, .833) since the start of the 2024 season — are expected to ride the nerve-shredding highs and lows of another one-score game against the Wildcats, who enter Saturday as 5.5-point underdogs according to Las Vegas oddsmakers.

So buckle up and check your pulse. It should be another heart-pounding 60 minutes of ebb and flow-filled action at a sold-out Jack Trice Stadium.

“I’ve heard the Jack gets jumping, especially for night games,” said wide receiver Xavier Townsend, who had announced he planned to transfer from UCF when his current quarterback, Rocco Becht, led ISU to one of its comeback one-score wins last season against the Knights. “I’m excited to see everybody for the game.”

The Cyclones’ defense also is excited — and also a little nervous — to try to tackle Arizona’s dynamic quarterback, Noah Fifita, whose elusiveness on broken plays augments his ability to make big plays in the passing game. Fifita’s 50 career touchdown passes rank fourth all-time among Wildcats quarterbacks and his first career two-touchdown game on the ground fueled his team’s 23-17 win over Kansas State two weeks ago.

“I would say a lot of that does come down to discipline,” ISU linebacker Kooper Ebel said of containing mobile quarterbacks. “Understanding where your helps at, understanding who’s (keying in on the quarterback) on different calls and stuff. It really just comes down to your detail and discipline in the moment.”

That’s also what’s enabled the Cyclones to win nine of their last 10 close games. Sprinkle in team-wide trust and a professional demeanor each player has adopted and making the winning play when the game’s on the line has become second nature — even as precisely why that’s become a positive trend is difficult to pin down.

“I would say the biggest thing that’s changed since (the bad streak in one-score games) is our togetherness,” said Ebel, who is one of seven Cyclones to have a hand in a sack this season. “There’s just no sense of panic, ever, in a game. And I would say that’s a big credit to our seniors from last year. Jaylin Noel, Beau Freyler, those names and a lot more — you could go down the list. Those guys did a lot of great things for this program and they raised the standard.

“So there’s no panic. If you’re on our sideline and (we’re) down a couple touchdowns, it’s just like, ‘Another play, next play, keep playing.’ We’re always uplifting one another and that goes back to our togetherness. Credit to Coach Campbell and credit to getting the right people here, which allows us to have that calm in the moment.”

So ISU’s deep bonds help smooth out the inevitable “ebbs and flows.” And while that so-called “brotherhood” doesn’t fully explain the Cyclones’ full-circle turnaround in close games, it does make winning easier — and a lot more fun.

“You’re going to get (everybody’s) best shot and it is what it is,” Campbell said. “But, you know, we’ve earned the right to have that happen to us, and we’ve also earned the right to grow our own selves to be the best in those moments and those opportunities.”

Comments: robgray18@icloud.com