Iowa State Cyclones linebacker Will McLaughlin (23) and defensive end Joey Petersen (52) celebrate after a fumble recovery against Cincinnati during the fourth quarter in the week-12 NCAA football at Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Ames, Iowa. © INirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
AMES — Iowa State linebacker Will McLaughlin hit his self-described “rock bottom” in August.
The 6-4, 240-pound junior faced his second surgery in three months. He couldn’t practice, let alone play, football, and staved off doubt and despair by leaning into his faith.
“This has been quite the year for me,” said McLaughlin, who made his long-awaited season debut in the Cyclones’ 34-17 win over Cincinnati Saturday at home. “It was groin surgery in June, back surgery in August. Sitting there in fall camp, that was probably rock bottom for me, one of the hardest times for me. But I was just reading my Bible, pouring into my faith, and without God, I definitely wouldn’t be here today.”
Healthy and humbled. Reinvigorated and refocused. Thankful and heartened.
Those words help explain how McLaughlin feels now as ISU sits at 8-2 overall and 5-2 in Big 12 play. He can finally contribute. The Cyclones’ decimated defense is finally getting healthier overall. And ISU can still compete for a conference championship — as long as it handles Utah on the road and beats Kansas State at home in the regular-season finale.
“The story is, every game, win or lose, somebody else is stepping in at a critical moment and playing great football for us,” ISU head coach Matt Campbell said. “I’m really grateful for that and I appreciate that. And it’s a tribute to the seniors in that room that keep guiding the young guys in some special moments.”
And juniors, too. McLaughlin’s return helped steady a severely injured linebacking corps that has needed freshmen and redshirt freshmen to endure trial by fire while he healed, and standout Caleb Bacon, along with a handful of others, continue to mend from various maladies.
McLaughlin totaled four tackles and a quarterback hurry in his first game of the season — but his presence on the field transcended in-game numbers.
“To have a guy that, boy, as depleted as that room is and has been, to get a guy with that kind of ‘veteranness’ back on our football team — just communication, just the ability to bring awareness, and almost a sense of poise (was important),” Campbell said.
The Cyclones did lose senior captain and defensive tackle J.R. Singleton to an undisclosed injury in the second half, however, which bears watching even as ISU generally gets healthier on the defensive side of the football.
“Don’t know yet,” Campbell said. “I guess we’ll find out a little bit later this week.”
ISU found out Saturday it could rekindle some efficiency in the red zone after struggling to score touchdowns after promising drives in recent weeks. Quarterback Rocco Becht led the Cyclones to touchdowns on two of three trips inside the Bearcats’ (5-5, 3-4) 20-yard line. Becht threw for one touchdown to fullback/tight end Stevo Klotz and also ran for a score that sealed the win with 4:04 remaining.
Becht also hit true freshman receiver Brett Eskildsen for his first two career catches — and both extended scoring drives via third-down conversions.
“He’s a big piece of why we were continuing those long drives, because he was able to get the first down, get into that open space and get yards for us,” Becht said. “It was a big day for him. A young cat like that, it’s a great confidence builder for him, so hopefully we can see him (do more) in the future.”
It’s all hands on deck for ISU, which ended a two-game skid and will face the Utes (4-6, 1-6) on the road at 6:30 p.m. next Saturday. And no one is happier to be playing his part than McLaughlin, who needed to endure “rock bottom” to help guide the Cyclones to potentially even better days ahead.
“I’ve taken a lot of meaningful snaps here,” the former Harlan standout from Defiance said. “I’ve had a lot of really good coaches and players around me to help me become a really good player. I’m just trying to use some of that wisdom, I guess, to help out some of those younger guys that did need to step up — and they played their hearts out.”
