Iowa State football ‘fighting’ for its seniors while seeking end to losing skid

AMES — A young and hungry Iowa State football team entered this season buoyed by the belief it could continue to be a mainstay among the top half of the Big 12 for an unprecedented sixth consecutive season.

The Cyclones were right — to a certain extent. But “could” was the operative word in that equation and after five straight conference losses by an average of 5.6 points, the word “can’t” has become a bracing reality.

So how will the Cyclones (3-5, 0-5) respond in Saturday’s 2:30 p.m. matchup with similarly situated West Virginia (3-5, 1-4)? Not with self-pity, nor a sense of despair.

“We’re playing for our seniors,” said sophomore wide receiver Jaylin Noel, who scored ISU’s only touchdown in Saturday’s 27-13 setback to Oklahoma. “They do everything for us. They’re fighting. I’m not going to stop fighting for them. Everybody else on the team’s not going to stop fighting for them.

“So knowing those guys are giving us their all, we’re gonna give them our all and keep going.”

The list of “those guys” includes linebacker O’Rien Vance, safety Anthony Johnson, defensive end Will McDonald, center Trevor Downing, wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson and a handful of other seniors who chose to return and lead the program this season.

Vance, a former Cedar Rapids Washington standout, has been his best in the Cyclones’ biggest games. Johnson recently became the only player in program history to start 50 or more games. McDonald is the program’s all-time sacks leader. Downing switched from guard to center this season. Hutchinson is 17 receptions away from tying Allen Lazard’s career record of 241.

So there’s a strong leadership base teaching an ISU roster that features 90 underclassmen how to navigate through dicey situations such as the one the Cyclones are mired in now.

“What it takes is it takes your best players and the leadership of your football team to play ‘A’ football,” ISU head coach Matt Campbell said. “In some ways we’re getting that and in some other ways we’re not. We’re going to have to continue to fight through that.”

That begins — but obviously doesn’t end — with the game against the Mountaineers, who hung tough against unbeaten and seventh-ranked TCU before falling, 41-31, at home.

Given how close the Cyclones have been to winning in most of their losses, it’s not a stretch to believe a win against West Virginia could lead to at least a couple more, thus positioning the team for a sixth straight bowl game. But it’s also not a stretch to think the problems that have plagued ISU in close losses will doom them to many more.

So the time for thinking is over. It’s all about doing now — and that begins, once again, with cleaning up mistakes and finally putting together a complete game on which to build from.

“You have to be able to capitalize on those opportunities where the momentum is there for the taking,” Campbell said. “You’ve got to be able to make that play.”

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