COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF: Day 48

Cyclone Fanatic is counting down the days until Iowa State’s season opener against Northern Iowa by bringing you a stat, former Cyclone moment or other random tidbits every morning that help countdown the days.

Our coutdown has now reached 48 days.

No. 48 – 48,831 fans at Paul Rhoads’ first game

On Sept. 3, 2009, 48,831 fans filed into Jack Trice Stadium to mark the start of a new era.

Iowa State took on North Dakota State in the the first game under new head coach Paul Rhoads, and snapped a 10-game losing streak with a 34-17 win.

Austin Arnaud threw for 227 yards and two touchdowns to Marquis Hamilton. Alexander Robinson ran for 83 yards and a touchdown, and Grant Mahoney made a career best 50-yard field goal.

Iowa State went on and won seven games in 2009, qualifying for the first of three bowl games during Rhoads’ tenure. The Cyclones beat Minnesota 14-13 in the Insight Bowl for the program’s third bowl win, and first since 2004.

That 48,000 fans number wouldn’t last long during the Rhoads years as nine of the school’s 10 largest home crowds came during the next seven seasons.

On Sept. 3, 2016, an expected 61,500 fans will file into Jack Trice Stadium to mark the start of another new era when the Cyclones host Northern Iowa in Matt Campbell’s first game as head coach, seven years to the day after his predecessor.