Iowa State looks to build on promising 2023 and heads into the 2024 College Football season with high expectations

In 2023 The Iowa State Cyclones had to deal with a very unfamiliar situation, following the 2022 season after finishing 5-7 with no bowl game they had a gambling scandal that saw them lose 2 impact players in running back Jirehl Brock and young quarterback Hunter Dekkers among other players. However while the Cyclones lost those players, in a way it was blessing in disguise because without those players leaving the program standout players like quarterback Rocco Becht and running back Abu Sama. 2023 was a learning year for the Iowa State Cyclones, their team was very young but while being young they were full of experience as well and as the year went on the Iowa State Cyclones got better. They started 2-3 in 2023 after losing to Iowa, Ohio, and Oklahoma by double digits. However, despite the rough start to 2023 Iowa State picked it up with Rocco Becht, Jayden Higgins and a very talented defense propelling them to 7-5. A quite inexperienced Iowa State team finished the season off very strongly, which allowed them to have high expectations going into the 2024 College Football season.

Entering the 2024 season, the Cyclones will be returning the bulk of their production from the season before on both sides of the ball with also new talent coming in by way of recruits and the transfer portal, Iowa State will be reinforcing as well as reloading on both sides of the ball to reach their high expectations in the 2024 season. On the offensive side of the ball the cyclones brought back some amazing production by way of Jaden Higgins who had an amazing second half of last season, Jaylen Noel, Ben Brahmer, and standout newcomers in Abu Sama and Rocco Becht who set Iowa State freshman records last season. On the defensive side of the ball, Iowa State retained just as much production if not more. Since Head Coach Matt Campbell came in almost 8 years ago, Iowa State has had a great dfense and last season was no different nor will 2024. Iowa State brought back plenty of talent and standout defenders back for the 2024 season. The cyclones retained Jeremiah Cooper, an outstanding safety who had a great sophomore season in Ames, Myles Purchase, captain Beau Freyler, Kenard Snyder, and standout safety Malik Verdon, one the nation’s most underrated defensive backs.

The Iowa State cyclones while being a young and hungry team in the coming season will face a bug test very early in the season. In their second week, the Cyclones will travel to Iowa City for the CyHawk bowl, in a hostile environment to face off against their rivals the Iowa Hawkeyes. A matchup that majority of the time is a defensive standoff, the cyclones lost the battle in Ames the previous season 13-20, The cyclones will look to convince the college football world to take them seriously. A matchup against a great defensive team, going into a hostile environment in Iowa City that has the potential to sway their season to show us if the young cyclones have what it takes to win in hostile environments, as later in the season Iowa State will have more challenging games away from home such as Kansas, and Utah. The Cyclones will need to be strong mentally and physically to prevail in Ames, and show everyone that they have what it takes to become a Big 12 Champion.

The Iowa State Cyclones, a program that since Matt Campbell came in was a very below average and mediocre program has had 6 winning seasons in the 8 seasons that Head Coach Matt Campbell ahs been at the helm in Ames. The pinnacle Iowa State reached in 2020 with a Big 12 championship appearance and a Fiesta Bowl victory was only the tip of the iceberg of what the Cyclones can reach, since then they have had a betting scandal which saw core player leave the program, now with an entire new team which produced successful 2023 will look to replicate success in the 2024 season. The Cyclones have a very favorable schedule up to November and have a very good chance of winning the Big 12 in 2024.

The Iowa State Cyclones will be looking to send weather warnings throughout the college football landscape in 2024, a team with plenty of returning production, loads of talent and a good coaching staff. Iowa State has their work cut out for them in 2024 with expectations to finally hoist that Big 12 Championship. The Cyclones are led by returning Freshman standout Rocco Becht and 3-time Big 12 Coach of the year Matt Campbell. The Cyclones will look start their season off with a bang against North Dakota on Saturday the 31st of August. The Cyclones will make sure to be ready for the matchup to start a season with high expectations off on the right foot.