SALT LAKE CITY – The start of the most important month in Iowa State football couldn’t have gone much worse.
How it ends, though, may yet be historic.
That, though, will be up to the Cyclones.
Iowa State can play its way into the Big 12 championship game after an ugly but ultimately effective 31-28 victory Saturday over Utah.
Thanks to upsets elsewhere in the Big 12, the Cyclones now control their own destiny. If they make it to 7-2 in the Big 12 with a win over Kansas State at home next weekend, they’re headed to Arlington for the second time in five seasons.
What seemed inevitable a month ago and improbable two weeks ago is now on the precipice for a team that simply doesn’t quit. The Cyclones, battered and bruised both figuratively and literally, are still standing.
They remind me of Bruce Willis in ‘Die Hard.’ They’re beat all to hell. They’re wearing a filthy undershirt and no shoes. But they’re still on their feet, fighting. And now they have a chance.
Ho, ho, how about that?
It’s not so much a stunning turnaround or a return to form. These Cyclones are different than the team that started the season 7-0. They don’t quite have the same juice, and nothing is coming easy.
But this team – the one that has won the last two weeks – is one that wins with grit. This is one that plays ugly and won’t apologize for it. This is a team that is determined to get it done any way it needs doing.
The Cyclones made more than enough mistakes to lose Saturday. Rocco Becht threw a pick-six. Special teams missed a field goal, muffed a punt and got a punt blocked for a touchdown. The defense let a fourth-string quarterback lead a go-ahead, fourth-quarter touchdown drive.
Didn’t matter. Iowa State found a way.
That way was a 10-play, 75-yard drive that took just 91 seconds to complete and featured a crucial halfback pass from Carson Hansen, who then plunged into the end zone on the next play.
The Cyclones were by far the better team Saturday, though that never seemed to matter much as the mistakes negated so much of the good they did throughout the game.
Still, the Cyclones got that late score. Then they got the last stop. And a missed Utah field goal.
Now, thanks to losses by BYU and Colorado earlier Saturday, they can find themselves at AT&T Stadium playing for a championship if they can beat Kansas State at Jack Trice Stadium next weekend.
And if they get there, they can get the first conference championship for the program in over a hundred years. And if they can do that, they can play for a national championship in the College Football Playoffs.
The Cyclones can do it all. But they’re going to have to do it themselves.
I doubt they’d want it any other way.
Iowa State columnist Travis Hines has covered the Cyclones for the Des Moines Register and Ames Tribune since 2012. Contact him at thines@amestrib.com or (515) 284-8000. Follow him on X at @TravisHines21.
This story has been updated to add video.
