Ben Brahmer's triumphant return helped Iowa State football stun TCU

AMES — Iowa State football coach Matt Campbell invoked “the process,” but not in the usual way.

The Cyclones’ longtime leader used the time-worn, but important phrase to describe if and when tight end Ben Brahmer might return to the football field after he endured a vicious hit to the chest and subsequent health scare that proved to be just that — a scare, not a significant concern.

“I think that’s gonna be a process to kind of physically get him back to where he’s capable of getting back on the football field,” Campbell said Tuesday of his former freshman All-American.

Four days later, Brahmer started in ISU’s (6-4, 3-4) stunning, 20-17, comeback win at TCU (6-3, 3-3) — and twisted into the end zone to score a 23-yard touchdown early in the game.

“We would all really die for each other out there,” Brahmer said on the Cyclone Radio Network after the game.

The Cyclones certainly continue to play for each other, even as injuries to key players pile up. His fellow tight end Gabe Burkle was knocked out of Saturday’s game to join ISU’s long list of banged up players who may or may not be available moving forward.

But the TCU game was about guts and resilience, and the Cyclones displayed ample amounts off each of those qualities while battling back from a 17-6 deficit early in the fourth quarter and forcing three turnovers for the second consecutive game.

“We had guys showing up all over the place,” said linebacker Kooper Ebel, who had a team-best 11 tackles.

Aiden Flora’s 79-yard punt return with 6:23 remaining provided the Cyclones with their winning margin, even as the defense had to add two stops to fully seal the triumph.

It was ISU’s first punt return for touchdown since Trever Ryen accomplished the feat against Kansas in 2017, so it was a long time coming — and came at the perfect time to help ISU end its four-game skid.

“It felt really good, not for me, but for the team,” Flora said. “We’ve been through a lot of ups and downs, but we haven’t given up once, and I give all the credit to our team putting me in that position, for everyone blocking for me. That punt return is not about me. It’s about the team.”

Next up for ISU: The Jayhawks (5-5, 3-4) in ISU’s home finale on Nov. 22 at Jack Trice Stadium.

The Cyclones have lost three straight games against Kansas and likely will put out another lengthy injury report this week, as linebacker Caleb Bacon and safety Josh Patterson — who notched his first career interception at TCU — also were knocked out of Saturday’s game and did not return.

But Brahmer, at least, won’t likely be on that list, even though he was briefly hospitalized after the Arizona State loss for precautionary reasons, but diagnosed as good to go just a few days later.

“I got lucky that nothing worse happened,” Brahmer said. “It was great to be out there again.”

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