Sep 28, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Iowa State Cyclones running back Jaylon Jackson (12) runs with the ball during the fourth quarter against the Houston Cougars at TDECU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
AMES — Each time a defender looks down on Jaylon Jackson dismissively, he smiles inside.
The Iowa State transfer tailback’s been overlooked and underestimated throughout his long and winding college football career.
And the 5-7, 180-pound fifth-year senior wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I just kind of take that as a challenge,” said Jackson, who leads the No. 16 Cyclones (4-0, 1-0) with a 5.7-yards-per-carry average entering Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. Big 12 bout (FOX) with Baylor (2-3, 0-2) at Jack Trice Stadium. “I’m always open to challenges and I know I’m blessed, so I just go out there and do what God gave me the ability to do.”
Jackson’s quick-cutting speed has helped him carve out a role in ISU’s three-back rotation alongside Abu Sama and Carson Hansen. He’s also adept at patiently following his blocks and rarely rushes for negative yardage. That’s allowed the two-time transfer to become the Cyclones’ most consistent back — and it’s also helped the team record back-to-back 200-yard rushing games for the first time since doing so three times in a row behind Breece Hall in 2021.
“When you talk about Jaylon, the word is hungry,” said ISU head coach Matt Campbell, whose team aims for its first 5-0 start since 1980. “He’s come in here with a hunger to grow and get better every day. And I think you guys had asked during spring ball, like, ‘Who has flashed?’ He was a name that I constantly brought up.”
Jackson’s ability to exploit slivers of daylight augments Sama’s big-play capacity and Hansen’s effectiveness in short-yardage situations and the passing game. That’s why Campbell expects all three to see significant snaps for the foreseeable future: They all do different things exceedingly well.
“It’s (about) earning the right to play and all three of those guys have shown that they can do their job really well,” Campbell said. “Our team hasn’t skipped a beat when any of those three guys have been in the game — and you could even talk about Dylan Lee and some other guys, (who) have gotten in the game and been able to be successful, as well.”
Jackson said honing his game under first-year assistant head coach/running backs coach Tyler Roehl, who implores his backs to be “the hammer” instead of the “nail.”
Jackson and his teammates are happy to oblige, forming a potent three-pronged threat that’s impossible to separate — for now, at least.
“It’s awesome having that depth in that room,” ISU quarterback Rocco Becht said. “Every single time somebody makes a good play, that next guy just wants to make an even better play. So having competitiveness in that room is what’s leading them to have these good rushing yards and that’s a credit to our offensive line, as well.”
It’s also a credit to the bond Hansen, Jackson and Sama have built while sharing the workload out of the backfield. Sama’s averaging 5.6 yards per carry — and shed blocks while bursting free for a 77-yard touchdown run in last week’s 20-0 win at Houston. Hansen rushed for two touchdowns the previous week in the rout of Arkansas State. Jackson, oddly enough, is the only ISU back who has yet to reach the end zone this season, but he’s been stopped behind the line of scrimmage just three times in his 33 carries — and is coming off a 14-rush, 96-yard performance against the Cougars.
“What he brings is a maturity of being in different places, seeing different cultures, but also a maturity of having success on the football field,” Campbell said of Jackson. “(He knows) what it looks like to take care of your body and what it looks like to prepare for practice every day. I think he’s brought that to that room, which has been really rewarding to watch. And he’s been an unbelievable senior for us on top of being a really good football player.”
In other words, he’s a “hammer” — and no longer overlooked. Not by his teammates and coaches, anyway. And likely not by Baylor, which ranks seventh in the Big 12 in rushing defense, allowing 141.2 yards per game.
“I feel like I’ve been overlooked my whole life,” Jackson said. “So that’s how I try to play: with a chip on my shoulder.”
