No. 22 Iowa State faces challenging start to the season with third-year starting QB Rocco Becht

By Canadian Press on August 18, 2025.

It shouldn’t take long for Iowa State to reveal the direction its season will take.

The No. 22 Cyclones open Saturday against No. 17 Kansas State in Dublin, Ireland, and two weeks later play the annual CyHawk Game against Iowa at home.

The game on the Emerald Isle will be Iowa State’s first opener against a Top 25 team since 2002, and it will be only the seventh time in 23 years the Cyclones won’t open against an opponent from the second-tier Football Championship Subdivision.

“Usually you’re going against a team to get the rust off,” quarterback Rocco Becht said. “K-State, you’ve got to be ready, prepared. And you have to be really good at the little things, the details, come that game.”

The Cyclones, who beat the Wildcats 29-21 in Ames in the final regular-season game last year, are well-positioned to take on the challenge. Becht is entering his third year as the starter and is the Bowl Subdivision active leader with a touchdown pass in a school-record 18 straight games. He’s led the Cyclones to 18 wins the last two seasons for the best two-year stretch in program history.

“I’d say in a lot of ways, he’s the reason why our football program has clawed back to where we are right now,” 10th-year coach Matt Campbell said.

Last season, the Cyclones went to the Big 12 championship game, beat Miami in the Pop-Tarts Bowl and finished 11-3 for the program’s first double-digit win season.

Campbell, who won 64 games in his first nine seasons to become the school’s all-time coaching wins leader, recently signed an eight-year contract extension that will pay him $5 million annually.

Calling all receivers

The departures of NFL draft picks Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel make receiver a position to watch. The spotlight will be on Chase Sowell, a big-play threat from East Carolina, and UCF transfer Xavier Townsend, a versatile player who also can return kicks.

“That group has probably been a surprise to us, where some of those guys are, and just how talented we think that group has the ability to be,” Campbell said.

Strong secondary as usual

The Cyclones have had at least one All-Big 12 defensive back each of Campbell’s first nine years. They’ve also had the conference’s top pass defense three of the last four.

There should be no drop-off with preseason all-conference first-team picks Jeremiah Cooper and Jontez Williams leading the secondary. Cooper will be a four-year starter at safety and Williams a second-year starter at cornerback. The Cyclones also get back corner Drew Surges, a former walk-on who was a revelation in 2023 but missed most of last season because of injury.

D-line must step up

The Cyclones slipped to ninth in the Big 12 in total defense after being ranked in the top three six of the previous seven seasons. A lot of focus is on the line after the Cyclones recorded just 16 sacks, fewest under Campbell.

Domonique Orange, a part-time starter for two seasons, is a preseason All-Big 12 first-team pick. There are high expectations for fifth-year edge Tamatoa McDonough, who recorded a sack in five straight games for Yale last season and finished with 6.5 in 10 games. Fourth-year edge Vontroy Malone had 8.5 tackles for loss in 28 games at Tulsa.

Know these names

Freshman running back Ryver Peppers had a “dynamic spring,” Campbell said, and could be a factor in a group led by Carson Hansen and Abu Sama III. Peppers rushed for 621 yards and eight touchdowns despite being limited to five games because of injury as a senior at Fort Osage High in Independence, Missouri.

Second-year safety Marcus Neal Jr. played 47 of his 96 total snaps against Miami in the Pop-Tarts Bowl and made a season-high eight tackles.

The schedule

The outcome of the opener against Kansas State could loom large if there’s another end-of-season logjam in the standings. Iowa State hosts 2024 FCS semifinalist South Dakota on Aug. 30 before the Hawkeyes come to Ames. Defending Big 12 champion Arizona State visits Nov. 1.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Eric Olson, The Associated Press