AMES — Iowa State football will embark on its toughest two-game stretch of the season, starting with seventh-ranked Texas on Saturday, a team that sits alone atop the Big 12 standings.
The Cyclones (6-4, 5-2 Big 12) became bowl-eligible in their win over BYU, but the competition won’t get any easier from this point forward. Texas (9-1, 6-1 Big 12) holds the best record in the conference, and then Iowa State will go on the road to finish off the regular season at Kansas State (7-3, 5-2 Big 12).
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“What a great challenge,” Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said on Tuesday. “For this young team (Iowa State) to step into an arena with this kind of football team (Texas). We’ll have to have a great team game plan to be able to win the football game.”
“What this senior class has done has been nothing short of remarkable,” Campbell said. “This group has handled hard better than any group of kids that I have dealt with. You have to have great senior leadership to be able to persevere through hard things.”
Here is what Matt Campbell shared ahead of Iowa State’s game against No. 7 Texas, which is scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m.
Texas is tough to play on offense and defense
The Longhorns average 33.8 points per game, which is the fourth-most in the Big 12, and their defense holds opponents to 18.4 ppg, the best in the league.
On offense, Texas has all the pieces. Jonathon Brooks is third in the conference with 1,139 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns. Quinn Ewers, who returned from an injury in the Longhorns’ Nov. 11 win over TCU, threw for 2,232 yards and 14 touchdowns in eight games played.
And then there is the tag-team receiver duo of Xavier Worthy and Adonai Mitchell, who combined for 1,394 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns.
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“They’re elite on special teams,” Campbell said. “You look defensively, across the board…they’ve got great football players. And then flip it over to the offensive side, they’ve got elite playmakers on the outside, certainly an elite quarterback, veteran offensive line.”
The defense — the stingiest in the Big 12 — has been huge for Texas, as well, and Campbell’s squad is prepared to take on the two-headed beast.
“Uber talented everywhere you look,” Campbell said. “It is Texas. It’s what they’ve been about, it’s what they stand for. They’re clicking on all cylinders in every phase of the game.”
Iowa State ignores the tie-breaker scenarios heading into the end of the regular season
Campbell admitted that his team hasn’t discussed the scenarios that would need to occur for the Cyclones to end up in the Big 12 championship game. Texas is the only team with one loss in the conference, but Iowa State is in a four-way tie in second place with Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Kansas State.
Right now, Iowa State is focused on its next game, one against the top team in the league.
“Our focus has been, we want to play meaningful football in November,” Campbell said. “We certainly celebrated the milestones of winning on the road last week, the opportunity to become bowl eligible, (but) the focus this week is on these seniors and you’re playing an incredibly exceptional football team.”
Injury update on Jeremiah Cooper
Defensive back Jeremiah Cooper, who leads the Big 12 with five interceptions, went through warm-ups ahead of the game against BYU, but did not play. Cooper has struggled with injury issues all season and has only played in eight games.
“Coop is trending positively,” Campbell said. “(Wednesday) will be a big day of practice for us in terms of, ‘Will he be green-lighted to go?’ But certainly is a lot more likely to play than less likely to play, as of right now.”
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