3 And Out

1. He's told this story a million times

- To you, the Iowa fandom, Iowa State kicker Cole Netten is that bad man who kicked the 42-yard field goal with two seconds left last season to upend the Hawkeyes 20-17 at Kinnick Stadium. He's that baaaadddd man.

Of course in central Iowa, it's different. If you listen to Netten, a junior from Ankeny, tell the story of how he slayed the beast with his right foot, you can see 1) he's been asked a lot and has had a lot of practice and 2) really enjoys telling it.

Without further adieu, here's Cole Netten (by the way, I think you'd like this guy, seems to have a great sense of humor as evidenced by this workout video and his Twitter handle @swollnetten, which comes with the quick bio 'Expert on food. Kicker for the Iowa State Cyclones. Nicknamed Swoll Netten for obvious reasons. Called to live like Christ.”).

This was the first time I've been able to ask a field goal kicker what it's like to work through the 'freeze.” Iowa called a timeout just before Netten missed his first attempt. He knew Iowa had a timeout, figured it was coming and actually heard the referee blow the play dead before deciding to follow through.

'I knew they had the time out, so I was ready for it,” Netten said. 'I don't know if I should've been ready for it, because they might not have used it.”

After that . . .

'I just kept my mind ready for the next kick,” he said. 'I knew I had another one coming. I just calmed down and took some deep breaths. There was really nothing going through my mind. It all came down to muscle memory. My body just kind of did what it naturally does.”

I've always thought kickers were kind of like pitchers in the middle of a no-hitter. Don't talk to the pitcher, don't talk to the kicker.

'That's how I like it,” Netten said. 'Some kickers like positive attitudes and encouragement and stuff. I don't. I won't listen to anybody, because I know how to do my job. If people try to correct me, I don't like it.”

So, when he saw his second attempt go through the Kinnick uprights, what did it sound like?

'The sound of quietness was pretty good, with all the fans being disappointed,” Netten said. 'I could definitely hear the Iowa State fans cheer, too. I didn't even watch it because it felt good and I knew it was going in.”

OK, so maybe too soon on that one, @swollnetten, maybe too soon.

2. Ott on Campos . . .

- You saw Iowa senior defensive end Drew Ott last week. He had two sacks, maybe three other QB hurries and scored two-thirds of the defensive end hat trick with a sack and a strip, but missed finishing off the rare and DE dream sack, strip, recovery.

It was an impressive performance. Unless you ask Ott. He has set a goal of 15 sacks for himself this season. You can see in his mind that he believes he's behind schedule.

Last week, Ott made hamburger out of a junior and first-time starter on the FCS level. This week, it's Iowa State left tackle Jake Campos, a 6-8, 297-pounder who has started the last 12 games for the Cyclones. Campos was a four-star left offensive tackle from West Des Moines Valley who the Hawkeyes really wanted.

'It looks like he's a good player,” Ott said. 'Good pass set, good run blocker. It should be a good game.”

How does he compare to the guy from last week, Illinois State's Dan Pawlak?

'He's a lot taller,” Ott said. 'I didn't get to watch a lot of tape on the guy last week. That was his first start. Campos is a lot taller, a lot bigger.”

3. Campos on Ott . . .

- Campos has worked toward a matchup like this since last season ended. He didn't have Ott in the crosshairs, Campos really targeted improvement after starting 11 games as a redshirt freshman and learning some of those tough lessons.

If Campos has a monster face, he didn't show it this week. On the subject of facing Ott, he stayed affable and even smiled.

'It's going to be a really fun challenge for me because he is a lot of the things I kind of struggle in,” Campos said. 'Doing that and playing against him will really make me a better player.”

Campos saw speed rushers in Iowa State's camp, with ISU's defense sending linebackers Jay Jones and Levi Peters around the edge to challenge the tackles. Ott showed an amazing 'get off” last week. ISU teaches its tackles straight-line vertical pass sets.

'The process is really get your feet tight in the ground and just explode back and get as much depth as you can,” Campos said. 'And then react to whatever they do after that.”

Ott and Campos didn't line up across from each other at Kinnick last season. They knew each other's names this week.

'Jake certainly has to be motivated because Ott is one of the best in the country,” Iowa State head coach Paul Rhoads said, 'absolutely best in the country and Jake is going to have his hands full.”

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com