Iowa State's kickers are healthier for Saturday's football game against Arizona State

AMES — Iowa State kicker Kyle Konrardy is finally back at full strength.

The strong-legged sophomore from Dubuque drilled two field goals — a 36-yarder and a 43-yarder — in last Saturday’s 41-27 loss to No. 10 BYU after missing three games because of a hip injury.

But could he nail a 63-yarder in Saturday’s noon matchup (TNT) between the Cyclones (5-3, 2-3) and Arizona State (4-3, 3-3) like he did early in the season while setting a new program record?

“If I got the chance to, yeah,” said Konrardy, who broke ISU’s single-season points record with 109 last season. “But hopefully we’re not in that situation.”

That, of course, is because the Cyclones need to produce more touchdowns, rather than field goal of any length, to get back on the winning track after dropping three games in a row for the first time since losing five straight in the 2022 season.

ISU ranks 90th nationally in terms of scoring touchdowns — versus hitting field goals or not scoring at all — in the red zone this season. The Cyclones also rank eighth in the Big 12 in total offense (417.1 per game) but slip to 11th in scoring offense (29.0 points per game), which magnifies how difficult it’s been to score seven points instead of three or zero in recent weeks.

“It’s more frustrating when you feel like you’re clicking in a lot of areas, and then you’re not, and the pattern of it is just a hair off,” said ISU’s second-year offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser, whose unit is averaging 468.7 yards of offense in the past three games, but just 24.7 points in that span. “So it has been frustrating. We feel like we’re close to figuring it out, and hopefully, (this) week is the week we can go and make some of those corrections.”

Having Konrardy back certainly helps in that regard, but as he said, the Cyclones would prefer him to simply kick extra points. And ISU received more potential good news on the kicking front this week, as longtime kickoff specialist Jace Gilbert returned to practice.

Gilbert has sat out the last six games after suffering an injury in the South Dakota win and his ability to produce touchbacks has been sorely missed. Last season, 54.1 percent of his kickoffs were not returned. This season, just 15.9 percent of the Cyclones’ kickoffs have resulted in touchbacks, which ranks 133rd out of 136 FBS programs.

“Jace Gilbert looks like he’s gonna be able to go, which would be great,” ISU head coach Matt Campbell said. “We’ve been trying to get him back and he’s done an unbelievable job, so I think there’s probably a real chance — he kicked (Tuesday, which is awesome, so it would be great to have him back.”

Arizona State, meanwhile, continues to be hard hit by injuries. According to reports from Sun Devil Source and CBS Sports, star quarterback Sam Leavitt is expected not to play against the Cyclones after being knocked out of last week’s 24-16 loss to Houston twice. The Sun Devils have been without All-Big 12 safety Xavion Alford most of the season and standout wide receiver Jordyn Tyson sat out last week because of a hamstring injury.

It’s uncertain if he’ll be back to face the Cyclones and with Leavitt out, his quarterback likely will be well-travelled senior Jeff Sims, who transferred to the Sun Devils after stints at Georgia Tech and Nebraska.

“I think (he) and Sam probably have some similarities,” Campbell said. “They both are elite runners with the football. They can create in the pocket. They’ve got the ability to run the offense.”

But back to Konrardy.

ISU’s offense will have the ability to operate more efficiently in its opponents territory because it’s secure in the knowledge that he’ll be available for long kicks, if needed.

A field goal attempt always is better than a turnover on downs — and Konrardy’s kicked two game-winners in his relatively short career.

“Kyle’s amazing,” tight end Gabe Burkle said. “He can kick it from almost anywhere on the field, so he’s an amazing asset for us.”

INJURY UPDATE

Campbell said safety Khijohnn Cummings-Coleman will have surgery and is out for the year. He also said linebacker Will McLaughlin, who sustained an injury against BYU, is “questionable for Saturday.”

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