Cyclones look to continue run success against Big 12 top run defenses

AMES — Iowa State is running the football better than it has since the 2021 season — and that’s when NFL standout Breece Hall shouldered the load.

So why isn’t that ongoing success on the ground producing more wins?

That’s one of many conundrums the scuffling Cyclones (5-4, 2-4) face as the prepare to take on TCU (6-2, 3-2) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday (Fox) in Fort Worth.

“We just haven’t been able to finish the job,” ISU head coach Matt Campbell said. “I think that’s something that we’re all after and working for.”

The Cyclones will face a top-four Big 12 rushing defense for the third consecutive game, and they were able to consistently run the ball in the previous two.

ISU totaled 184 rushing yards in the 41-27 home loss to BYU — 55 yards above what the Cougars yield on average. The Cyclones then tallied a more modest 150 rushing yards in last week’s 24-19 home loss to Arizona State, but that’s still 27 more than the Sun Devils generally give up.

“I think that group continues to play really special football, and they’re gonna need to and continue to do more, if needed, to get us over the hump,” said Campbell, whose team is one loss from tying its longest skid since he took over the program in 2016.

Now ISU will try to pierce the Horned Frogs’ stout rushing defense, which ranks second in the league in average yards allowed on the ground at 119.4. That could spell trouble for the Cyclones top tailbacks, Carson Hansen and Abu Sama — the latter of whom is expected to be available after battling injuries and playing sparingly last week.

Hansen’s averaging 5.4 yards per carry and has rushed for 613 yards and four touchdowns. Sama’s also averaging 5.4 yards per carry and has reached the end zone four times. So ISU’s top backs have been a problem for opponents all season, but particularly lately. Each boasts a 100-yard rushing game in recent weeks.

“I think both those guys are playing excellent — maybe the best they’ve played in their careers,” Campbell said.

The offensive line is a big reason why, but an improved running game is just that. It can and should get better and it’s up to the front men to make that happen, even as it faces one of its more daunting front sevens of the season.

“I’m worried about how can we get better this week?” senior center Jim Bonifas said. “How can we move forward? I think the mindset of progressing and moving forward has allowed us to have any success that we have had, and if you focus on the stats or the end result, that’s where you kind of start a downward trend.”

Perhaps the latter’s been an issue for the Cyclones writ large. Perhaps not. Either way, as big picture goals such as competing for a Big 12 title for a second straight season become distant memories, the motivation for this team remains the same: Play for the guy next to you.

“There (are) unique challenges, and the challenges have been fast and furious, and every game is different,” Campbell said. “It’s why they call you team. You’ve gotta win with team football and that’s how we’ll win. It’s how we’ll get through it.”

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