Iowa State coach Matt Campbell has recipe for success

AMES - After Iowa State dispatched Kansas 45-0 Saturday, the Cyclones sit at 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the Big 12, which is tied for second in the conference. They are receiving votes in both the AP and Coaches Poll.

Iowa State only needs two wins in its last six games to become bowl eligible. The last time the Cyclones started a season 4-2 was 2012, which was the last time the Cyclones went to a bowl.

'The biggest thing that we know is that there's so much football left to be played,” coach Matt Campbell said. 'For this football team, the only recipe for success is one day at a time and really one game at a time. I think the thing that I do appreciate about this team is the reality of every game is different, how we have to win every game and the recipe is different and we're understanding that and there is growth.”

The recipes may be different, but Campbell understands what his team has to do to win games.

Iowa State isn't a team like Texas Tech (4-2, 1-2), its next opponent, that's going to hang 50 or more points on the teams it plays, and Iowa State isn't a team like Alabama that has a nearly impenetrable defense.

The Cyclones need to play well in all three phases to win games.

'The only way we have a chance to be good is we have to be a team,” Campbell said. 'We're not good enough on offense and we're not good enough on defense. We have to play series to series team football and we're starting to finally get it. What's nice is to have visual evidence to showcase it, instead of the other way, why it didn't happen, now we have visual evidence to say why it is happening.”

When Iowa State doesn't buy into Campbell's team-football concept, it struggles. Key examples from this season alone came when Iowa State hosted Iowa and Texas.

The Cyclones' offense had no problem getting yards and touchdowns against a good Hawkeye defense, but Iowa State's defense couldn't hold up.

Against Texas, Iowa State had the opposite problem. The defense held up great, but the offense couldn't muster up any points.

Every game this season that Iowa State has had a positive turnover margin, it's won. Every time it's been negative, it's lost. Iowa State needs to take care of the football.

'Our niche is playing really good team football – turnovers, great special teams, play field position and do a really good job of controlling the football,” Campbell said.

The second-year coach likes that every game has been different and that Iowa State has won and lost in different ways. They make for good teaching moments and he's seen growth from his football team.

'We're at the midway point and going on from here will be really challenging,” Campbell said. 'Some teams will choose to continue to grind it out and continue to persevere and some teams, that'll be too hard to do. It's going to be interesting to see which team we are.”

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