2018 Iowa State Cyclones football team explained

Year:	2018
Team:	Iowa State Cyclones
Sport:	football
Conference:	Big 12 Conference
Short Conf:	Big 12
Record:	8–5
Conf Record:	6–3
Head Coach:	Matt Campbell
Hc Year:	3rd
Off Scheme:	Pro spread
Def Coach:	Jon Heacock
Dc Year:	3rd
Def Scheme:	3-high safety^[1]
Stadium:	Jack Trice Stadium
Bowl:	Alamo Bowl
Bowl Result:	L 26–28 vs. Washington State

The 2018 Iowa State Cyclones football team represented Iowa State University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Competing as a member of the Big 12 Conference (Big 12), the team played its home games at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa. They were led by third-year head coach Matt Campbell. They finished the season 8–5, 6–3 in the Big 12, which was the most conference wins in a season in program history. They finished third in the Big 12, behind No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 14 Texas. They were invited to the Alamo Bowl where they lost to No. 13 Washington State.

Offseason

Departures

Departures

Player	Position	Games Played	Class	Reason
Lou Ayeni	RB	4 seasons	Coach	Accepted job at Northwestern
Vernell Trent	DL	48	Senior	Graduated
Colin Downing	P	48	Senior	Graduated
Allen Lazard	WR	47	Senior	Graduated
Jack Spreen	LB	44	Senior	Graduated
Kamari Cotton-Moya	DB	40	Senior	Graduated
Joel Lanning	LB	36	Senior	Graduated
Trever Ryen	WR	36	Senior	Graduated
Jake Campos	OL	35	Senior	Graduated
Robby Garcia	OL	31	Senior	Graduated
J.D. Waggoner	DE	29	Senior	Graduated
Kyle Starcevich	QB	24	Senior	Graduated
Sam Harms	TE	24	Senior	Graduated
Everett Edwards	DB	24	Senior	Graduated
Marchie Murdock	WR	21	Senior	Graduated
Bryan Larson	OL	21	Senior	Graduated
Jacob Park	QB	14	Junior	Transfer
Thadd Daniels	DB	13	Senior	Graduated
Mackenro Alexander	LB	13	Senior	Graduated
Reggie Wilkerson	DB	11	Senior	Graduated
Vic Holmes	DB	3	Senior	Graduated
Shawn Curtis	OL	2	Senior	Graduated
Jacob Bolton	OL	0	Freshman	Quit
Reference:^[2] ^[3] ^[4]

2018 recruiting class

Incoming transfers

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Chuck Bednarik Award^[5]	Brian Peavy	CB	SR
Maxwell Award^[6]	David Montgomery	RB	JR
Davey O'Brien Award^[7]	Kyle Kempt	QB	SR
Doak Walker Award^[8]	David Montgomery	RB	JR
John Mackey Award^[9]	Chase Allen	TE	SO
Bronko Nagurski Trophy^[10]	Ray Lima	DL	JR
Outland Trophy^[11]	Ray Lima	DL	JR
Ted Hendricks Award^[12]	JaQuan Bailey	DE	JR
Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award^[13]	Kyle Kempt	QB	SR
Manning Award^[14]	Kyle Kempt	QB	SR
Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award^[15]	Hakeem Butler	WR	JR

Big 12 media poll

The Big 12 media poll was released on July 12, 2018 with the Cyclones predicted to finish in seventh place.^[16]

Media poll
1	Oklahoma	509 (46)
2	West Virginia	432 (2)
3	TCU	390 (1)
4	Texas	370 (1)
5	Oklahoma State	300
6	Kansas State	283 (2)
7	Iowa State	250
8	Texas Tech	149
9	Baylor	125
10	Kansas	52

Schedule

Iowa State announced their 2018 football schedule on October 26, 2017.^[17] The 2018 schedule consisted of seven home games and five away games in the regular season. The Cyclones hosted Big 12 foes Oklahoma, West Virginia, Texas Tech, Baylor, and Kansas State and travel to TCU, Oklahoma State, Kansas, and Texas. For their non-conference schedule the Cyclones hosted Drake and Akron as well as traveling to in–state rival Iowa.^[18]

Originally, Iowa State planned to play South Dakota State on September 1 to open the season, however, the game was canceled shortly after kickoff due to bad weather. Iowa State was to host Incarnate Word on December 1, however, Incarnate Word was not able to play after qualifying for the FCS playoffs. They replaced Incarnate Word with Drake.

Personnel

Coaching staff

Current Coaches

Name	Position	Alma Mater	Seasons at ISU
		Mount Union, 2002	3rd
		Muskingum, 1983	3rd
Brian Gasser		Ohio Northern, 2006	3rd
		Illinois, 2013	1st
	Tight Ends, Recruiting Coordinator	Ohio State, 2006	3rd
	Cornerbacks	Edinboro, 2001	3rd
Eli Rasheed		Indiana, 1996	3rd
	Assistant head coach, Linebackers	Muskingum, 1996	3rd
	Quarterbacks	Shepherd, 2003	3rd
Jeff Myers		Toledo, 2012	3rd
Rudy Wade	Strength and Conditioning	Ball State, 2001	3rd
Reference:^[19]

Game summaries

Game 1: at Iowa Hawkeyes

See also: 2018 Iowa Hawkeyes football team and Iowa–Iowa State football rivalry.

Game 2: Oklahoma Sooners

See also: 2018 Oklahoma Sooners football team.

Game 3: Akron Zips

See also: 2018 Akron Zips football team.

Game 4: at TCU Horned Frogs

See also: 2018 TCU Horned Frogs football team.

Game 5: at Oklahoma State Cowboys

See also: 2018 Oklahoma State Cowboys football team.

Iowa State's Freshman Brock Purdy replaced Zeb Noland at quarterback and passed 18-for-23 for 318 yards and produced four touchdowns. He then ran for another 84 yards and another score.^[20] The final score was a loss for the Cowboys at 48-42.^[21]

Game 6: West Virginia Mountaineers

See also: 2018 West Virginia Mountaineers football team.

Game 7: Texas Tech Red Raiders

See also: 2018 Texas Tech Red Raiders football team.

Game 8: at Kansas Jayhawks

See also: 2018 Kansas Jayhawks football team.

Game 9: Baylor Bears

See also: 2018 Baylor Bears football team. At the beginning of the second half, Baylor's Chris Miller got a flag for a late hit against Iowa State running back David Montgomery, pushing him into a Gatorade cooler, escalating tensions. Later, Baylor linebacker Greg Roberts threw a punch at Montgomery and he responded with another punch. Both were ejected from the second half of the game and Montgomery was ejected from the first half of the Texas game the following week.

Game 10: at Texas Longhorns

See also: 2018 Texas Longhorns football team.

Game 11: Kansas State Wildcats

See also: 2018 Kansas State Wildcats football team and Iowa State–Kansas State football rivalry. After a slow start, Kansas State held a solid lead for most of the game. Kansas State had racked up a 17 point lead with only 12 minutes remaining in the game. From there, Iowa State's Mike Rose grabbed a loose ball for a touchdown and the Cyclones controlled the game to rally with 21 unanswered points. The final score was an Iowa State victory, 41-38.^[22] The Cyclones broke the 9 year losing streak against the Wildcats. This game was also the last game Kansas State coach Bill Snyder coached before retiring.

Game 12: Drake Bulldogs

See also: 2018 Drake Bulldogs football team.

Game 13: Washington State Cougars (Alamo Bowl)

See also: 2018 Washington State Cougars football team and 2018 Alamo Bowl.

Statistics

Scoring

Scores against non-conference opponents

Scores against the Big 12

Scores against all opponents

Rankings

See also: 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings.

Awards and honors

All-Big 12

Player	Selection
Offense
David Montgomery	Coaches-2
Hakeem Butler	Coaches-2
Charlie Kolar	Coaches-2
Josh Knipfel	Coaches-HM
Julian Good-Jones	Coaches-HM
Bryce Meeker	Coaches-HM
Sam Seonbuchner	Coaches-HM
Defense
Greg Eisworth	Coaches-1
JaQuan Bailey	Coaches-2
Ray Lima	Coaches-2
Brian Peavy	Coaches-2
Spencer Benton	Coaches-HM
Willie Harvey Jr.	Coaches-HM
Mike Rose	Coaches-HM
Marcel Spears Jr.	Coaches-HM
Special Teams
Kene Nwangwu	Coaches-2

Weekly Awards

Player	Award	Date Awarded
Brock Purdy	Big 12 Newcomer of the Week	October 8, 2018
Braxton Lewis	Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week	October 8, 2018
Brock Purdy	Big 12 Newcomer of the Week	October 15, 2018
JaQuan Bailey	Big 12 Co-defensive Player of the Week	October 15, 2018
Marcel Spears Jr.	Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week	October 29, 2018
Brock Purdy	Big 12 Newcomer of the Week	November 5, 2018

Players drafted into the NFL

See also: 2019 NFL draft.

3	73		RB	Chicago Bears
4	103		WR	Arizona Cardinals

TV ratings

!Opponent!Outlet!Viewers!Rating

@ Iowa	FOX	2.017M	1.2
Oklahoma	ABC	3.434M	2.2
Akron	FSN	†	†
@ TCU	ESPNU	366K	†
@ Oklahoma State	ESPN2	726K	0.44
West Virginia	FS1	1.323M	0.75
Texas Tech	ESPN2	885K	0.55
@ Kansas	FSN	†	†
Baylor	FS1	363K	0.24
@ Texas	LHN	†	†
Kansas State	FS1	821K	0.49
Drake	Cyclones.tv	†	†
vs. Washington State	ESPN	5.547M	3.2

All totals via Sports Media Watch.^[23] Streaming numbers not included. † - Data not available.

Notes and References

1. Web site: . Acosta . Joseph . The 3-safety defense and why it helps stop RPO offenses, explained . December 28, 2022 . December 23, 2023.
2. Web site: Iowa State Athletics. www.cyclones.com.
3. News: Associate head football coach Lou Ayeni leaving Iowa State for Northwestern. Des Moines Register. 2018-01-07. en.
4. Web site: Jacob Park tells the Register he plans to transfer from Iowa State. The Des Moines Register.
5. Web site: 2018 Bednarik Award Watch List. July 16, 2018. July 16, 2018. July 16, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180716194921/https://www.maxwellfootballclub.org/2018-maxwell-bednarik-watch-list/. dead.
6. Web site: 2018 Maxwell Award Watch List. July 16, 2018. July 17, 2018. July 16, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180716194824/https://www.maxwellfootballclub.org/2018-maxwell-watch-list/. dead.
7. Web site: Davey O'Brien Award Watch List includes 26 players. July 17, 2018. July 17, 2018. July 17, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180717184023/http://daveyobrienaward.org/2018/07/2018-davey-obrien-award-watch-list-includes-26-players/. dead.
8. Web site: 2018 Doak Walker Award Candidates. July 18, 2018. July 18, 2018.
9. Web site: 2018 John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List Released. July 20, 2018. July 20, 2018.
10. Web site: 2018 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Preseason Watch List. July 24, 2018. July 24, 2018.
11. Web site: 22018 OUTLAND TROPHY WATCH LIST UNVEILED. July 24, 2018. July 24, 2018.
12. Web site: Preseason Watch List - 2018 edition of the Ted Hendricks Award. August 14, 2018. August 16, 2018. August 14, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180814232846/http://tedhendricks.com/2018_WATCH_LIST.pdf. dead.
13. Web site: Watch List for 2018 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award ® Presented by A. O. Smith Announced. August 14, 2018. August 17, 2018.
14. Web site: Manning Award: See which quarterbacks made the preseason watch list for 2018. August 16, 2018. August 17, 2018.
15. Web site: 2018 Nominations The Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award. August 16, 2018. August 17, 2018.
16. Web site: Sooners Picked to Repeat in Big 12 Preseason Football Poll.
17. Web site: 2018 Big 12 Football Schedule Announced.
18. Web site: Iowa State releases 2018 football schedule. Brian Mozey, [e-mail]. @BrianMozey.
19. Web site: 2017 Football Coaching Staff - Iowa State Athletics. 21 January 2017.
20. Web site: Iowa State Football: Cyclones get Purdy to stun Oklahoma State. October 9, 2018. Dana. Becker. October 7, 2018. Saturday Blitz.
21. Web site: Tulsa World. October 9, 2018. OSU football: What we learned from Oklahoma State's 48-42 loss to Iowa State . October 8, 2018. Mark. Cooper.
22. Web site: No. 25 Iowa State Rallies to stun K-State 42-38. ESPN.com. November 25, 2018. November 24, 2018.
23. Web site: Paulsen . College Football TV Ratings . 2022-07-09 . Sports Media Watch . en-US.