Iowa State's rallying around the injured Ben Brahmer as it prepares for TCU

AMES — The phone screen illuminated slightly, serving as a miniature lighthouse.

A beacon of hope amid stormy and uncertain times.

Iowa State center Jim Bonifas glanced hopefully, but warily at the glow and — once he read teammate Ben Brahmer’s text — beamed.

“We have a group chat,” said Bonifas, who like all of the Cyclones, was adrift emotionally after Brahmer collapsed on the field during Saturday’s 24-19 loss to Arizona State before being hospitalized for an undisclosed health issue, treated and released. “He texted it. He’s like, ‘Hey, guys.’ We’re like, ‘You’re good?’ So it was really good to see that he was healthy. Just relief.”

ISU football coach Matt Campbell said it’s too soon to talk about when Brahmer may return to the playing field after the frightening incident as his team (5-4, 2-4) seeks to end a four-game skid at 2:30 p.m. Saturday (Fox) at TCU (6-2, 3-2). But he did say he was buoyed by how the team rallied around Brahmer during that tense and trying time — and he rallied back to them, as well.

“Honestly, as Ben was getting carted off, he said, ‘I’ll be back out here in a couple minutes,’” Campbell said of Brahmer, who leads the Cyclones in touchdown catches with four. “If you know Ben, that’s Ben. So I at least felt like he was in a good spot leaving the stadium, but it was really good to get over to (Mary Greeley Medical Center) to see him in a great spot. He was getting discharged as I was getting over there.”

Bonifas — who fought to regain his starting spot at center after losing it last season — had gathered his teammates for a prayer as Brahmer was transported out of Jack Trice Stadium. Life took center stage. Football took a back seat.

“We all love Ben,” Bonifas said. “Everybody on the team obviously does. So when you see something like that happen, it’s a moment where you have to put football aside and just hope and pray for the health and safety of one of your brothers, one of your friends. So we took that moment, said a prayer for him and I think that kind of allowed us to recenter and refocus ourselves.”

The Cyclones couldn’t rally to defeat the Sun Devils, but they did reaffirm the deep and urgent care they pour into each other. ISU isn’t losing because there’s dissension in the locker room, nor a lackadaisical approach to practice or film meetings. Losses are piling up because of critical breakdowns in the game’s biggest moments — and that can be even harder to take.

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“That’s just life,” said cornerback Tre Bell, who’s been pressed into starting duty because of season-ending knee injuries to All-Big 12 performers Jeremiah Cooper and Jontez Williams. “You prepare, we prepare our while lives for this moment, and, I mean, we’re here. Not everything’s gonna go right, not everything’s gonna be sunshine and rainbows. If it was, everybody would get to do it.”

ISU enjoys the chance to upset the Horned Frogs on Saturday at Amon G. Carter Stadium — and that’s something to be relished, not feared. Just ask Brahmer, who a few weeks ago said this:

“Just never flinch,” the 6-foot-7, 255-pound former freshman All-American said. “Because you never know when your last day is gonna be. Just never flinch and go to work every day like it’s your last. Don’t flinch and keep working.”

Wise words, even as the usual fruits of the Cyclones’ labor have been frustratingly out of reach during this four-game slide.

So this weekend, ISU goes back to work and plays a game. Brahmer will undoubtedly be in their thoughts. To guide them. To inspire them. To turn the page. To rewrite the latest series of wince-filled scripts. To just play football — “fast and free,” as Brahmer also said a few weeks ago.

“We’re good,” Bell said. “We can’t look at our record no more. We’ve just gotta look at what’s in front of us, and that’s TCU.”

Comments: robgray18@icloud.com