ISU’s Warren nearing 1,000 yards with Oklahoma next

AMES — The breakout star was having another 150-plus yard rushing night against Texas when he found a hole and went about 60 yards for what looked like a touchdown.

A pesky holding call negated the score for the red-shirt freshman, but it wasn't for naught.

Even in a run that won't count on the stat sheet, Mike Warren put his skill set on full display and highlighted his breakaway speed.

'That Catapult system that we have on the touchdown that got called back, he hit 22 miles per hour on that run,' said Iowa State Coach Paul Rhoads. 'That was late in the game after he had amassed a lot of carries.'

Warren would have gotten a speeding ticket had he been running on certain streets in Ames instead of the turf at Jack Trice Stadium, but he doesn't think too much about individual attention. With a coy grin that he's made his trademark, Warren continued to deflect credit and has made modesty one of his top traits.

'I guess that's kind of fast,' Warren said.

That modesty and humility likely come from the way he was raised in a military family. His mother and father, Curtis and Barbara, served in the Army — his father is retired in Oklahoma while his mother is based in Texas — and Mike quickly knew what it meant to be humble and do his job to the best of his capability.

'I think the opportunity to grow up in that kind of background and get your skin toughened and thickened a little bit in the process,' Rhoads said. 'He had different coaches that he played for and different programs.'

The Warren family moved around quite a bit. Warren was born in Florida and grew up making stops in Germany, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Hawaii and Oklahoma. He has one brother and the two leaned on each other through all the moves and latched onto football.

Warren was often overlooked in Oklahoma high school football — even on his own team — but amassed 2,512 yards and 26 touchdowns as a senior. Once he got to Iowa State, Warren shined on the scout team and saw that success translate to the varsity squad, beginning this season at Toledo.

When Iowa State travels to No. 14 Oklahoma on Saturday, Warren will carry in 954 rushing yards and has a chance to be the first Cyclones player to hit 1,000 since Alexander Robinson in 2009. For a kid who spent three years playing football in the Sooner state, there couldn't be a more fitting place to hit a milestone.

Just don't expect Warren to lose any humility.

'It means a lot,' Warren said of rushing for 1,000 yards. 'I give big credit to the O-line. It's a big milestone for those guys, too.'

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