PETE: It’s the stories within the on-going 2024 Iowa State football story that may have saved the season

It would have been a shame to waste Will McLaughlin’s long-awaited, 321-day return to Iowa State football, Dom Orange and Malik Verdon finally being able to play high-end football, a rare (and successful) fake punt, the emergence of a tight end (Brett Eskildsen) who some fans may not have even heard of – and, of course, the Cyclones’ longest touchdown possession since the victory at West Virginia.

To squander all that in this head-spinning season, and at home – well, that would have been damn bad.

Matt Campbell’s team rallied. The fourth-quarter, game-clinching drive was a beaut – and now, it’s time to add to the momentum of Saturday’s 34-17 victory against Cincinnati. Build on it next Saturday at Utah. Close the regular-season in style with a rousing home win against slumping Kansas State.

And then enter the postseason with a school-record 10 wins – something that maybe looked a bit bleak, after another shaky offensive first-half showing.

That’s where this season is, right now. Build on how ending the first Big 12 losing streak since 2022 happened. Take the good things, turn them into better – and see what that gets ya for the postseason.

I replayed highlight plays Sunday morning, as per usual. They were as entertaining then, as they were when happening live. I forwarded to where 11:37 remained in the game. The Drive – the impressive 15-play, 68-yard possession that ate 7 ½ minutes off the clock.

Three third-and-longs. The season’s 12th fourth-down conversion. No penalties. No turnovers. An amazing play by Rocco Becht. You name it, that 7:33 had it.

“Every game, win or lose, somebody else is stepping up in critical moments,” Campbell said after the game. “I am just grateful for it, and credit the seniors for getting the young guys here.’

Let’s go back to something Campbell told me a long time ago, during a one-on-one in his office. My question was something about defining the perfect recruit. The answer included loving the game of football, good student, good citizen, and a product of having played many sports. They were all the aspects you’d expect to hear, then he dropped this one on me:

He also looks at how recruits overcame past adversity during their lives. He did that because there’s always times when players are forced to bounce back – from something like injury, from a bad play, or from a bad defeat.

Saturday had all that, rolled into the game’s first three quarters.

Gradually, injured players are healing. Did you notice Malik Verdon playing with a cast on one arm, and forcing a fumble with the other?

How about former walk-ons like Stevo Klotz, taking a fake punt snap 22 yards for a fourth-quarter first down?

And the inspiration from McLaughlin, playing for the first time since last season. Two surgeries later, he was on the field, starring again in a game that may have saved Iowa State’s season.

"It was so much fun out there with my best friends," McLaughlin after the game. "I couldn't stop smiling."

That’s just one of the cool stories within a 2024 Iowa State football story that are still being written.

“They just keep coming,” he said of roster players filling in so well for injured starters. “They come from everywhere.

“They keep playing to the standard of excellence this program is about. They just keep doing it.”