Sep 28, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Iowa State Cyclones quarterback Rocco Becht (3) throws the ball during the third quarter against the Houston Cougars at TDECU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images
The coaches had their press conferences Tuesday, here are some things to look for going into Saturday’s game between No. 16 Iowa State and Baylor (6:30 p.m. FOX).
Room for improvement on defense?
Iowa State ranks top 5 nationally as a defense and is coming off of a shutout win over an in-conference program.
However, this coaching staff believes there is still room for growth with the unit.
“You’ve got to have flexibility and adaptability to what you do, but you also have to have a great foundation to who you are,” head coach Matt Campbell said. “And I think that’s one of the great things about our defense – we know who we are to (the) root and yet, each week, we’ve got the ability to be really multiple in what we do and how we do it. At the end of the day, our guys got to be able to continue to play good football. I would say – and I’m sure Jon (Heacock) would say the same thing, like, we still are really far away from being the defense that we want to be.”
With John Klosterman being out for the foreseeable future, having the versatile unit that Heacock has helped build over the years is continuing to pay dividends.
If defensive back Drew Surges returns, it will only be a positive, too.
But walking out of an in-conference shutout with a, ‘lot of room for improvement,’ mentality is a big deal – that should excite fans.
“There’s been great moments for us, but we can even be better,” Campbell said. “There were even some moments you obviously (saw) through the game on Saturday where we thought, ‘man, we need to be better, and want to be better.’ So I think that hunger on top of it is really rewarding to watch. Because I think our guys know that, and I think they have the same mentality.”
Rocco Becht’s start to the season
It hasn’t been a disastrous start to the year for Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht, but there have been a few more incompletions than he’s used to.
Although his completion percentage is up from a season ago, there are some passes that Becht wants back – and most came in the first half of Iowa State’s four games.
“There’s a point right now where I’m just like off throwing right now,” Becht said. “So, I’ve got to figure out my areas that I need to fix. I thought I did a good job of that this weekend and these past couple of days with (quarterbacks) coach (Jake) Waters and some of the trainers just figuring out what’s going on. I’ll be good.”
It’s nothing fans will fret about – and Becht has rebound well in the latter portions of games during the 4-0 start – but it’s become something to monitor as the season goes on.
Carson Brown throws his name in the WR hat
In-state walk-on Carson Brown put his name into Iowa State’s wide receiver bucket as it searches for its No. 3 player at the position.
Brown had two receptions for 18 yards in the team’s win over Houston, and was the only receiver not named Jaylin Noel or Jayden Higgins that caught a pass in the game.
“I’ve just went through the process every week being ready for my moment,” Brown said. “I feel like I struggled at the start with special teams, but once I got on the offense, I got very comfortable with stuff like that.”
Brown has made an impact on the offensive staff – one strong enough that wide receiver’s coach Noah Pauley was pleading to keep him in the room.
“We moved him around even this spring,” Campbell said. “I had him at corner most of the spring practice (period) because I was trying to find a role for him on special teams. And I think that’s the thing that probably exploded first for him is he was a really good special teams football player, and we felt like could be a great player as we went back into fall camp. And this is a tribute to coach Pauley. I think Coach Pauley had such a high regard of Carson and said, ‘man, I want to get him back at receiver. I really think he can help us.’ And I think that tutelage, confidence, success that he had in fall camp – the word for him is consistency.”
“Consistently over the last year and a half, (Brown has) shown up in a really powerful way,” Campbell said. “Whether it’s winter conditioning, whether it’s been spring practice, whether it’s special teams, he kept showing up and again, being rewarded for college football is about your moment, right? And you’re going to get it.”
Expectations moving forward
Iowa State is eyeing its first 5-0 start to a season since 1980, and no matter what is said inside the locker room, there’s no telling how players may handle the expectations.
The staff can preach about the opportunity to go 1-0 every Saturday, but if Iowa State keeps winning, those expectations will continue to change and the hype will rise along with it.
“Well, yeah, you don’t know how they’re going to handle it – I mean, they’re 18-to-22 year-olds,” Campbell said. “I think the great thing about what we’re trying to do is consistently become the best of us that we can be, because that’s what it’s going to take. And unfortunately, our sport is is extremely humbling, right? I mean, as soon as you think you figured it out, you’re going to get humbled really fast. It’s just too competitive. There’s too many good teams, too many good situations, and you know, you got to be hungry, and you got to be a team that’s willing to sacrifice everything it takes.”
After 5-0 comes six, and that could just as easily turn to seven – and with that will come rankings with more eyes than ever on the Cyclones.
Now, that record isn’t guaranteed and there’s no telling if this team will make it there or not, but the reality is that there in a spot to make it there.
It’s even less predictable how these players will handle it, but the staff will tell you that their confident they can.
“Are you mentally tough enough to really show up every day and be your best – and, you know, shoot, that’s hard for the coaches to do, let alone ask an 18-to-22 year old,” Campbell said. “It’s a global challenge to our whole program, and whether you’re 0-4 or 4-0, it really doesn’t matter this time of year, because none of it’s going to matter until the end of the football season. Great teams are defined in November and December – not in September and October.
“You’re just trying to pound away and grow and become your best along the way,” Campbell said. “So hopefully our kids are tough enough to understand that. We’ll see if we got that kind of leadership this year.”
