Cyclones hope to reverse fortune on close games

AMES — The Iowa State football team won just three games in 2016. But if the Cyclones made a few more plays here and there in a handful of games, the season may have ended with a bowl game.

Iowa State was blown out in four games but five others were decided by 10 points or less and four of those were one possession games.

In Matt Campbell’s second season as head coach, the Cyclones hope to reverse their fortune and snap a bowl game drought that spans four seasons.

“I talk so much about the process to get there,” said Campbell at Iowa State’s annual media day. “Losing some of those close games last year were invaluable learning experiences. We were inches away but didn’t make specific plays to pull those games out.”

Iowa State brings back nine starters on offense and 10 starters on defense. The offense should be stout in a Big 12 Conference where eight of the 10 programs averaged more than 30 points per game last season.

The defense is still a question mark after allowing 31 points per game a year ago. And the starting quarterback on Day 1 last year, senior Joel Lanning, is now the Cyclones’ starting middle linebacker.

“We had a great summer and a great offseason,” Campbell said. “A huge part of the process now is getting ready for the regular season. There is no easing into a football season. We have to be ready on Day 1. We have 12 guaranteed opportunities, and we have to prepare ourselves to be consistent.”

The Cyclones certainly can’t ease into the season. They kick off the year with a rematch against instate rival Northern Iowa at Jack Trice Stadium on Sept. 2. The Panthers defeated Iowa State, 25-20, in one of those close losses last year.

“You can go back and look at the film and see that we were close in a lot of games,” Lanning said. “There were a lot of games that we lost by less than seven points. We didn’t take care of the little things last year, but we know we can compete in this league. We know we can play with these guys. We have to learn how to finish games, and if we take care of the little details, I think the games will end in our favor.”

The Cyclones started 0-2 last year after a 42-3 loss to arch rival Iowa. But they got better as the season went on.

Iowa State showed its growth with a near win over Baylor. The Cyclones led 28-21 at halftime and went into the fourth quarter with a 42-28 lead before losing 45-42.

They followed up that close loss with another impressive performance at Oklahoma State. The Cyclones let another 10-point second-half lead slip away in the fourth quarter and lost 38-31.

After a 27-6 road loss to Texas, Iowa State nearly upset Kansas State and Oklahoma on back-to-back weeks in Ames.

Against the Wildcats, the Cyclones scored 16 points in the fourth quarter to close the gap to five points. In the loss to Oklahoma, Iowa State led the Sooners 17-14 with 4:30 left in the second quarter before losing 34-24.

They won back-to-back games against Kansas and Texas Tech before ending the year with a 30-point loss to West Virginia.

“Our main focus going in to the offseason was taking care of the small things that led to us losing by one point or one play,” Iowa State wide receiver Allen Lazard said. “We want to make sure we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot in those close games.”

Lazard returns as one of the leaders on offense for the Cyclones. He had 1,018 receiving yards and seven touchdowns last year. The four-star recruit from Urbandale still feels like his legacy as a Cyclone will be defined by his last season.

That’s one reason why he decided to return for his senior year.

“It was a goal of mine to be able to leave early. I knew staying would benefit me in the long run though,” Lazard said. “I am just focused on winning. We have been through some tough times. The losing is what fuels me.”

The Cyclones have won just eight games in Lazard’s first three seasons. But with starting quarterback Jacob Park, running backs David Montgomery and Mike Warren and wide receivers Deshaunte Jones an Trever Ryan back on offense, the Cyclones have a chance to double last year’s win total.

Getting back the anchor on its offensive line, former West Des Moines Valley star Jake Campos, will help, too.

“It’s been a blast. They make my job a lot easier,” said Park, who threw for 1,791 yards and 12 touchdowns in part-time duty last year. “I have a big receiving corps. It’s fun to watch them come out here and play. They use each other’s energy. All of us are on the same page.”

Defensively, the Cyclones bring back four of their top five tacklers, led by Willie Harvey (78 tackles, three sacks), Kamari Cotton-Moya (73 tackles, two interceptions) and Brian Peavy (62 tackles).

Lanning moves over to defense, too, in his final year after playing quarterback for the Cyclones in his first three seasons.

“It’s unusual, but I am having fun with it. I am super excited for my opportunity,” Lanning said. “I never thought that my last year I would be playing defense. I just wanted to do anything I could do for the team to help us win.”

Lanning will get his opportunities on offense, too. Campbell is unsure what that role will be, but he said the former Ankeny star would definitely carry the ball some.

“I have grown up my whole life touching the ball on every single play. That’s what I am and what I am used to,” Lanning said. “That’s what sucks about defense. I want the ball so bad. Right now, I am defense only. I haven’t thought about offense at all. When camp comes to and end, if we put some stuff in, then we’ll deal with it then.”

The Big 12 Conference will have five ranked teams when the season starts, according to the USA Today’s preseason poll that was released Thursday.

Oklahoma leads the way in eighth, while Oklahoma State (11th), Kansas State (19th), West Virginia (20th) and Texas (23rd) also start the season in the top 25.

That makes qualifying for a bowl game even tougher for the Cyclones, who last had a winning season in 2009. Iowa State went 7-6 that year and ended the season with its most recent bowl game victory over Minnesota in the Insight Bowl.

“The future of the program has zero to do with winning in my opinion,” Campbell said. “There is no bigger competitor in this room than Matt Campbell. I will cheat in golf to win if I have to. But at the end of this, winning and losing will take care of itself.

“Is winning six games the goal? Not for me. Not for this football team. Our goal here is to win every game. I despise talking about bowl games and stuff like that because it’s irrelevant.”