Oct 19, 2024; Ames, Iowa, USA; Iowa State Cyclones defensive back Beau Freyler (17) celebrates after his interception against the UCF Knights at Jack Trice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-Imagn Images
AMES — Beau Freyler will make his 32nd consecutive start on Saturday for Iowa State.
And win or lose, it will hurt. The senior captain and safety has been banged up his entire Cyclone career — but just try removing him from the field. Freyler loves the Cyclones’ program so fervently that no amount of pain can trump the pride he carries with him each time he strides onto the field.
“I told him (last Saturday), there was a time he was making a call and he was not even — his arm wasn’t even moving at all,” said ISU quarterback Rocco Becht, who’s also Freyler’s roommate. “He was moving everything else and I’m like, ‘Dude, you’re crazy. Do you even feel it?’ And he’s like, ‘Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t.’ I’m like, ‘You’re a dawg.’ I love his energy. I love his mindset. If he just keeps leading that defense, we’re gonna be fine.”
Freyler’s defense will be sternly tested Saturday at 7 p.m. (FOX) when the Cyclones (7-2, 4-2) face Cincinnati (5-4, 3-3) at Jack Trice Stadium.
He stoically stood up and called last week’s defensive effort “unacceptable” after ISU fell to Kansas, 45-36. He also pledged to spearhead the effort to help his injury-plagued unit mend its flaws and finish the regular season strong.
“We’ve gone through adversity in years past, so it’s nothing new,” said Freyler, a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, which is considered the academic Heisman. “We just have to respond to it. That’s gonna tell the character of this team, how we respond to these losses, and how we play moving forward.”
Freyler’s experience and moxie will underpin that response. He’s a two-time captain and the unquestioned leader of the Cyclones’ defense. He’s snared six career interceptions and recorded 10-plus tackles in a game eight times.
In other words …
“Nobody will ever (fully) know what this kid has done and what he stands for,” said ISU head coach Matt Campbell, whose team seeks to record eight or more wins for the fourth time during his tenure. “I don’t even know if I could ever do it justice of the words that I can say (about) what he has meant to me and this program. What I would tell you is, we wouldn’t be where we are today, we wouldn’t believe with all our hearts that the best is yet to come, and we wouldn’t have played anywhere in the last two years like this team has without his leadership. So what he’s meant to us, words can’t explain it, and NIL doesn’t have enough money to put on it.”
Freyler shuns pity and embraces hardship. And even as the Cyclones’ defense has been forced to plug inexperienced players into several spots because of a spate of injuries, his steady and forceful hand continues to guide the group. ISU still ranks among the top 21 teams nationally in scoring defense (18.8 points per game) despite surrendering 35, 23, and 45 points in the past three weeks.
“(We) have a bond that’s unmatched,” fellow safety Jeremiah Cooper said. “I will forever be grateful for Beau, just because he led me through a lot of things, and now I’m with him leading the younger ones. But me and Beau are like brothers. That’s all I can say.”
That’s more than enough. Who knows how the Cyclones’ remaining games will go — or how many they’ll end up playing? It’s still mathematically possible to reach the Big 12 championship game, but the long list of walking wounded could cause those slim odds to narrow significantly.
And Cincinnati — like most of the teams in the Big 12 — is no pushover, so Freyler will don his pads and wince, narrowing his eyes and gritting his teeth, ready for another 60 minutes of football, eager to grind through the last whistle.
“We’ve lost two games in a row (and) that’s hard,” Campbell said. “But we’ve been through some really hard stuff in the last two years. This guy has been at the forefront, not 100 percent healthy, but 100 percent warrior. That’s what this sport’s about: leading people. And nobody’s done it as great as he has.”
