COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF: 16 Days

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.

Last season, Mike Warren became the 14th player in Iowa State football history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in their career. If things go as expected, David Montgomery will become the 15th sometime during the early part of the 2018 season.

Montgomery will reach the milestone 59 years after Dwight Nichols became the first Cyclone to eclipse 2,000 rushing yards in a career. Nichols earned All-American honors in 1959 while wearing No. 16 and captaining the famed “Dirty Thirty” squad which finished its season 7-3.

The All-American honor was the cap to a career that saw Nichols rush for 2,232 yards, accrue 3,949 yards of total offense, earn three All-Big Eight honors and finish seasons as the nation’s No. 3 rusher in back-to-back years.

Nichols was taken in the second round of inaugural AFL Draft in 1960 by the Buffalo Bills. He was inducted into the Iowa State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999 and passed away in 2009.