Randy Peterson
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December 02, 2024
Not long after watching Iowa Statebeat Kansas State in The Biggest Game in Iowa State football history, thoughts turned from that, to this:
Could this be The Greatest Team in Iowa State football history that’s facing Arizona State at 11 a.m., Saturday at JerryWorld, for the Big 12 Conference championship?
School-record 10 wins. Greatest receiver tandem in school history (and currently in the nation). Winningest coach in school history. An opportunity to represent a fan base that supported it so well in the College Football Playoffs.
Greatest Team?
Probably, but really, that story has a few more pages left before coming up with a greatest-ever conclusion.
You’d think it is, as Matt Campbell’s program started 7-0 this season, and yes, use of the word program is the correct word. Who’s the offensive star? How about on the other side of the ball?
Stumped?
This hasn’t been a one-player, start-studded team that’s played so well throughout the Big 12’s grind. This has been a team that’s had 23 different offensive starters, and 19 different starters on defense. Furthermore, this successful program has sent 93 players into 12 games (so far).
That’s how many have contributed to the school’s first 10-win season, and all that’s still out there left to accomplish.
You think this could be the best team, while watching special teams guru and defensive back Darien Porter block his fifth career kick (with two games remaining) against the Cyclones’ biggest conference rival.
You think yes, as Rocco Becht keeps the chains moving with planned runs in the second and fourth quarters of Saturday night’s game at Jack Trice Stadium.
You think yes, as Jaylin Noel and Jayden Higgins catch almost everything thrown their way, while marveling at how much ground now-you-see-him-now-you-don’t safety Beau Freyler can cover, and how freshmen play with an ability way beyond their ages.
You’d think so, but really, that doesn’t matter right now. What matters is that everyone put into perspective what this program has accomplished in the nine seasons Campbell has been a Cyclone – the way his coaches turn above-average recruits into way above average players. That’s why this has been an historic season.
That’s what’s important right now, but if you’re really in need of an answer, how about this:
Who would win a very hypothetical game between the 2020 Cyclones that played Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game, or the 2024 team that faces Arizona State for the conference title on Saturday?
That game's winner — that’s your best team in Iowa State football history.
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Quick takes from watching Saturday night’s game
** If you watched from the comfy couch, as I did, did you hear Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark’s comment after Jalen Travis was called for excessively celebrating Becht’s second-quarter touchdown pass to Noel?
“Our player’s showing emotion is a great thing for college football,” he said, while sitting in with the FOX television talent.
Someone needs to relay that to the officials. Sports is entertainment, and anyhow, it’s not like Travis planted a flag on someone’s mid-field logo. It’s not like he did what most players consider the Heisman pose (which really isn’t anything like the original Heisman pose), or did that little end zone shake thing that some players do.
** Did you catch the Iowa State students asking a field security person if he’d take their picture, while they were seated on a barrier separating stadium seats from the field? The security person snapped the cell phone picture – and that was cool.
Speaking of the field storm – it was a good one. I didn’t see anyone get hurt, Kansas State players or coaches didn’t look to be in jeopardy. Quite honestly, it appeared a great way to celebrate the team’s record 10th victory, and a perfect regular-season final game sendoff to bigger and better things in the coming weeks.
It’s a memory Cyclones players will carry forever. That’s what it’s all about, folks.