Each day leading up to Iowa State’s season opener against South Dakota State, Cyclone Fanatic will check another day off the calendar with a memorable statistic, player or game as part of our Countdown to Kickoff presented by Tailgate Clothing.
Todd Blythe. Allen Lazard. Tracy Henderson. Lane Danielsen.
All of those men are considered among the best receivers in Iowa State football history. But, none of them is the first great modern Cyclone wide receiver.
That distinction belongs to Eppie Barney.
Barney was recruited as a running back for Clay Stapleton’s run-heavy scheme of the early-to-mid-1960s, but a change in philosophy led Stapleton to move Barney outside prior to the 1965 season.
The Cleveland native responded by catching 35 passes and being an All-Big Eight selection in his first season at the position, but it was in 1966 when he truly made his mark. Barney caught 56 passes for 782 yards, both Big Eight records at the time, on his way to earning All-American honors.
His 11 catches and 175 yards against Arizona that season were also new Big Eight records. Barney went on to be selected in the third round of the 1967 NFL Draft by his hometown Browns.
He was inducted into the Iowa State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009.
