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ISU sells football field naming rights to MidAmerican Energy

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The Iowa State University Athletic Department announced today it has sold the naming rights to the football field at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames to MidAmerican Energy.

The stadium itself will continue to be called Jack Trice Stadium in honor of the first African-American student-athlete in Cyclone history. Trice died in 1923 from injuries suffered in a football game at Minnesota.

The utility company will pay up to $1.5 million each year for 10 years to have its name on the field. The school says partnership between the ISU Athletic Department and MidAmerican Energy Company will include support of the new Student Performance Center that was approved by the Board of Regents in April of this year.

Construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2019 on the new state-of-the-art center that will be located northwest of the Jack Trice Stadium. The Student Performance Center will include construction of a new student-athlete academic and sports nutrition center, expansion of the Bergstrom Football Complex and redeveloping the north entrance and hillside seating at Jack Trice Stadium. The complex will be adjacent to the Bergstrom Football Complex.

A grand plaza/stadium entrance will be built in the area currently occupied by the Olsen Building. MidAmerican Energy field will be used for the first time when the Cyclones host South Dakota State on September 1st.

 

Forecast causes Iowa State to cancel spring football game

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The prospect of a return to winter weather conditions this weekend has forced the cancellation of Iowa State’s spring football game.

The school announced late Monday afternoon that Athletic Director Jamie Pollard and Head Coach Matt Campbell mutually decided to cancel the spring game set for Saturday in Ames due to the forecast for poor weather conditions. The game will not be rescheduled and other activities scheduled in conjunction with the game are also canceled.

The National Weather Service says temperatures could reach into the 70’s by Wednesday — but they are expected to plummet again by Saturday back into the 30’s and 40’s with the possibility of more snow.

A statement from Pollard says the team will hold its final spring practice Saturday behind closed doors.

 

Hawkeye fans can expect to spend more on bowl game than Cyclones

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Cyclone and Hawkeye football fans who plan to cheer on their teams in bowl games this month will spend many hundreds of dollars for airfare, lodging and tickets, with Iowa fans shelling out the most.

Travel agent Jeanenne Tornatore says game tickets will run $63, minimum, to see the University of Iowa play Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl in New York’s Yankee Stadium on December 27th.

“Not bad compared to a lot of the other bowl games,” Tornatore says. “If you compare this to some of the huge bowl games, like the Cotton Bowl is $145 and median ticket prices to the Sugar Bowl are $375. So, think of it that way and you’re getting a bargain.” It’s a long drive to New York, but also it’s an expensive flight. She ran the numbers to fly from Des Moines to New York, leaving December 26th and returning on the 29th.

“Non-stop out of Des Moines to New York City was $838 while one-stop flights out of Des Moines were a little bit cheaper at $636,” Tornatore says. “If you happen live somewhere in Iowa that may be the same distance to get to Chicago, that’s going to be your best bet. Non-stop flights from Chicago to New York were just $304 so that’s definitely the way to go.” As you’d expect, hotel rooms in the Big Apple don’t come cheap.

“They’re a bit pricey. It’s the week of Christmas,” Tornatore says. “Also, with these big games, four-star hotels in the city are starting at $250 per night. Three-star hotels from $165. Nothing crazy. I’ve seen them a lot higher in New York with different events going on. This is about the average any time of year you’d be paying to stay in New York City.”

Iowa State University is headed to Memphis, Tennessee, to play Memphis in the Liberty Bowl on December 30th. Tornatore says Cyclones fans will have to pay more for game tickets but they can likely find cheaper hotel rooms in Memphis than Hawks fans in New York.

“Game tickets are starting at $85, so they’re actually a little bit pricier than what folks going to the Pinstripe Bowl will be paying,” she says. “Flights out of Des Moines, one-stop flights are $698 and flights out of Chicago are around $300.” While Iowa fans will be paying big bucks to stay overnight in New York, I-S-U’s fans will be able to find much cheaper places to stay during their bowl game.

“Hotels in Memphis are definitely where you’re going to be able to save,” she says. “Three-star hotels are starting at $127. Plenty of options, plenty of availability. Four-star hotels coming in just under $200, so Memphis is definitely more of a bargain when it comes to your lodging options.” I

owa State was allotted 15,000 tickets for the game and they’ve all been sold, but Tornatore says reputable secondary-market ticket outlets still have plenty of Liberty Bowl tickets available.

 

Cyclones fall to OSU in wild ending 49-42

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A jump ball on an Iowa State pass into the end zone was ruled an interception and upheld on review, ending the Cyclones’ attempt to tie the game and they fell to Oklahoma State Saturday 49-42 in Ames.

The Cowboys scored with 5:55 to play and made a two-point conversion before going ahead on a touchdown pass with 3:47 to play. Then with less than a minute to play, ISU receiver Marchie Murdock tried to pull the ball away from OSU defender A.J. Green on the pass to the end zone before it was ruled an interception.

Matt Campbell.

“It’s a gut-wrenching loss and it’s not easy, but college football isn’t easy. And so, it’s a game of inches and our job is to win the inch and we came up a little bit short today. Give credit to Oklahoma State, they obviously are a really good football program,” ISU coach Matt Campbell said.

Murdock later tweeted that “They robbed me” about the call by the officials.  Murdoch was not available for reporters after the game.

Campbell said in his post-game news conference that he did not get an explanation from the officials on the call. “I think they felt like he had possession of it (the defender) when they came down on the ground,” Campbell said. “It’s one of those bang-bang calls, and I can sit here and we can complain about it and whine about it, but that’s not who we are, that’s not what we do. I’m sure there’s a million different plays that we could have made in the game to not be put in that situation.  They’ve got a tough job and that was a tough situation.”

The final pass was thrown by redshirt freshman quarterback Zeb Nolan, who was press into service after starter Kyle Kempt went out in the second quarter with an injury.  Campbell says he felt confident Nolan would be ready.

Campbell said he saw the greatest majority in Nolan after Kempt was named the starter over him earlier this season when Jacob Park went out. He said Nolan could have been upset, but took on the challenge of being ready. “And you saw his growth in practice at an astronomical rate.”

The Cyclones were trying for their third upset of a ranked opponent and were trying to stay in the hunt for a conference title. Campbell believes the team will bounce back and finish the last two games strong.

“They understand that there’s a lot of things out there for these guys to play for,” according to Campbell. “and this is a group of seniors who has demanded that of everybody on the team and in the program. It won’t be easy, but college football isn’t easy. The flip would have been you won, and all of a sudden you have to go on the road and play a big game. It is what it is.”

Zeb Nolan.

Nolan talked about getting the call on the sideline to go into the game. He said Kempt went off the field for a time and he was prepared to go in then and then Kempt came back, so he was ready to go in whatever happened.

Nolan said he is close to Kempt as his roommate and has watched how he prepared and did the same to get himself ready. He led the Cyclones on a 91-yard scoring drive the first time he came in. He said he felt good after completing his first pass and that allowed him to overcome any nerves and settle in.

“I try to go out there and execute what they ask me to do. I don’t try to do too much or too little, I just know that they are going to call the plays that I like and just roll with it that way,” Nolan said. Nolan expects the team to bounce back and says the seniors deserve a strong finish.

“That’s crucial, we’ve got to end the season on a good note, we just can’t be satisfied with going to a bowl, and be satisfied with where we are at now,” he said. “We’ve just get better and make sure that we leave these seniors not with the way they left Jack Trice today, but let them go out with a bang, because they really changed the program.”

Joel Lanning.

One of those seniors, Joel Lanning, praised Nolan for stepping in. He said Nolan’s performance was huge for someone who was playing in his second or third college game. Lanning also came up huge for the Cyclones on offense and defense.

Lanning started the game as middle linebacker and then came in  for a few plays at quarterback and ran for a touchdown and passed for one.

He said it was hard to process that this was his last home game. “From the spirit walk, the last time walking out there, to senior day — it’s been pretty crazy.  And then to go out like that in your last game is kind of rough,” Lanning said. Lanning’s 22-yard touchdown pass was to Allan Lazard, also a senior, who also caught Lanning’s first ever touchdown pass.

The Cyclones are now 6-4 on the season and 4-3 in the Big 12.  They travel to Baylor Saturday.

Cyclones pull another upset, take down #4 TCU 14-7

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Cyclone fans stormed the field after the upset over TCU.

The Iowa State Cyclones pulled off their second upset of a top five team Saturday with a 14-7 win over fourth-ranked TCU on a chilly afternoon at Jack Trice Stadium.

Coach Matt Campbell says the win over a very good team came because his team never stopped playing hard — even when there was some adversity.

Matt Campbell

“I think the biggest thing I’d say about our kids is that we played harder longer, which is really rewarding to see,” Campbell says. He says it is hard to keep up the effort throughout the entire game.

TCU’s only score came on a 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to start the second half. The Cyclones picked off two Horned Frog passes and recovered a fumble — but Campbell says those weren’t the plays that turned the game.

“The red zone stop down on the goal line is the difference,” Campbell says. He says the coaches came to the huddle after TCU called a time out and told the defense to just keep playing. Campbell says getting the team to buy into what they been trying to do to turn things around has been a big key to their 6-2 start.3.

“We all want to win the game 60 to nothing — but that’s not real. The real football at this level is that you’ve got to grind it out, and there’s a rhythm and a way to win football games and you’ve just got to be able to pick it out, and figure it out and then just stay the course,” Campbell says. “And I think our kids have really bought into that and understand that.”

The big screen scoreboard tells the story.

Iowa State started the month of October with an upset of then number three Oklahoma and then got wins over Kansas and Texas Tech before Saturday’s upset of TCU.

They now find themselves bowl eligible and at the top of the Big 12 standings. Campbell says he hasn’t really thought about how quickly they’ve turned things around.

“All you want to do is get your team to November and have the chance to be playing for something. And that’s where we are finally at. We talked about that as our goal when I got here,” Campbell says. “And you don’t know whether that is going to happen — you just put your head down and stay the course and really work…and this is happening not because of coaching but because of player ownership.”

Joel Lanning

Senior linebacker Joel Lanning says it’s hard to realize the team is bowl eligible after not having winning seasons since he’s been at ISU.

“I mean it’s huge, it hasn’t even set in honestly that we are eligible for post-season play. We are not done here though, we have other games that we are going to try and win,” Lanning says.  Lanning says they are not happy just getting enough wins to go to a bowl.

He says they want to win championships and turn the program around.

Quarterback Kyle Kempt has won four straight games since becoming the starter. He threw for 202 yards and two touchdowns in the game.

“We felt great going into the week that they were going to give us chances on the outside, It was just about putting the ball in the right place and giving our guys a chance to make plays,” Kempt says. Kempt says the kick return for a touchdown to start the second half didn’t bother the team, as they were confident in how they were playing.

He says they knew TCU was going to get a touchdown at some point as they are a great football team and he says none of the Cyclones quit on defense, offense or special teams and they just kept executing what they had to do.

The Cyclones will look to continue the win streak on the road Saturday at West Virginia.

Iowa State unveils new helmet logo for Texas game

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The Iowa State Athletic Department unveiled a new logo for Cyclone football team helmets late today.

The logo is being used for the first time as ISU hosts Texas in Jack Trice Stadium in a nationally televised game on ESPN.

The Athletic Department says it is the latest step in Coach Matt Campbell’s transformation of the Cyclone football identity. The new Cyclone logo was created by Joe Bosack & Co. this summer to serve as a nickname logo for the athletics department.

The I-State mark will continue to be Iowa State’s primary athletic mark. The athletic department will also continue to include logos of Cy as a mascot mark in its portfolio.

Hawkeyes down Cyclones in wild overtime game

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The Hawkeyes on offense in their 44-41 overtime win against ISU.

Iowa got the ball last and scored to win an overtime shootout against Iowa State 44-41 Saturday in the annual rivalry game in Ames.

Iowa had to overcome a 10-point fourth quarter deficit to even have a chance to score the game-winning touchdown in overtime. Hawkeye coach Kirk Ferentz says it was exactly what he expected.

“You know every year there’s a lot of hype, a lot of talk about this game. I think it is so good for our entire state, no doubt about that, “Ferentz says. “Today this game certainly lived up to all that hype — it was a heck of a football game. Both teams competed extremely hard, it was hard fought back and forth obviously and both teams left everything they had out there.”

Kirk Ferentz

Iowa saw an 11-point lead in the third quarter slip away before mounting the comeback.

“While there’s a lot of things we need to improve on, it’s pretty evident just like last week. The thing our guys are doing is they are playing hard, they are playing together and they fight to the end. If we can continue to do that we’ve got a chance to shape into a pretty good football team,” Ferentz says. He says he is proud of the way they fought to the end because that’s what it took to win. Sophomore quarterback Nate Stanley passed for 333 yards and five touchdown, with four of the five drives being 89 yards or more.

“For him to do this on the road….this is such a tough environment for us to come into. So, for him to play the way he played in this environment I think that just says a lot,” Ferentz says. He says it reminded him of the plays C.J Beathard made in Ames two years ago.

Nate Stanley

Stanley says he was not as nervous in his second start. “I felt a little more confident and that goes back to preparing all week and having the trust in my teammates. All week they did stress that they have my back…and that they trusted me and have all the confidence in the world in me and trusted me and that means a lot,” Stanley says.

Stanley did not throw an interception, but did overthrow a couple of wide open receivers and says that’s something they have to continue working. He did convert each time the team got in the red zone, including the winning touchdown pass in overtime.

He says they had the mindset that they were not going to be stopped when they got there, and says both teams had that mindset. One of the key scoring passes was to Akrum Wadley out of the backfield that went for 46 yards to tie the score with 1:06 in regulation. Wadley wasn’t thinking of scoring when he caught the ball.

“In those two-minute situations we always talk about if you catch the ball inside the numbers be a player and run. I actually had a chance to get out of bounds and people were telling me to get out of bounds, but I scored,” Wadley says. Wadley’s stop and go moves froze the defenders and then he broke free and took it in to score. He says the moves are instinct.

“I’m a small guy you know I’m not just going to power my way through…so I got to freeze them up and try to get what I can,” Wadley says. He finished with 127 yards rushing and one touchdown with a career high 28 carries. He had four catches for 72 yards and the touchdown.

Ferentz says Wadley’s late game score and the overtime continue the tradition of the rivalry. “This is the way this series is, “Ferentz says, “we been on the short end of this one down in that same end zone, same spot coincidently, not that long ago. When you get a chance to enjoy it, you enjoy it.”

Cyclone coach Matt Campbell credited Iowa for closing out the game. “You know they made those different plays at the end of the football game to win that game. I think that’s really what it came down to — some critical situation moments they were able those plays to win that game and we didn’t,” Campbell says. While they didn’t win, Campbell says this team play hard all the way through and he sees improvement.

He says it is night and day from last year’s game as his team kept coming back, but just couldn’t make the final dagger play they needed to win. Cyclone senior wide receiver opened the scoring with a leaping touchdown catch and had one other score. He says they have to keep working to complete the details to finish games.

He says they were up 10 and let it slip away because they couldn’t get a couple of first downs. “It’s a whole team thing, it’s not an offense, defense or special teams — it’s everyone one through 120 or whatever it is. Just being able to lock in focused on.” Lazard was asked if the loss is tougher coming in this rivalry game.

“All loses suck. This one obviously a little bit more because we had them. We’ve just got to bounce back from it,” Lazard says. It is the first loss of the season, dropping ISU to 1-1. Coach Campbell says the next game will tell him where the team is.

“I think you are going to find a whole lot about who we are next week and how we are able respond to this to be honest with you,” Campbell says. “You know, I thought our kids played as hard as they could for as long as they could. But I think you are going to find out a lot about who Iowa State and Cyclones are in how we respond to this situation in my opinion.”

Iowa State goes on the road to play Akron Saturday in another nonconference game. Iowa returns home to play North Texas State Saturday.

Iowa has now won three straight in the series for the first time since winning three in a row from 2008-2010. The Hawkeyes have won in their last three trips to Ames.

(Photos by Joe Danielson)

Cyclones use defense to rally and down UNI 42-24

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ISU Marching Band.

Northern Iowa struck first and kept Iowa State in check early before the Cyclones rallied and went on to a 42-24 season opening win over the Panthers Saturday in Ames.

UNI scored a touchdown on its opening drive and had control of the game until ISU returned two interceptions for touchdowns.

Matt Campbell

“I thought a good team win. Was it perfect, no. I think the thing that I probably was most impressed with is we didn’t panic throughout the football game,” Cyclone coach Matt Campbell said after the game.

He said they have emphasized the importance of playing through rough stretches.”We talked so much about control the controllables and I thought our kids really did a great job of that throughout the football game. Offensively we kind of got off to a slow start…I think we were 0-4 in the first half on third downs. They did some things, we didn’t panic, we made some adjustments and really were able to come back in the second half and be excellent…on third downs. So, I thought those were positives on our end,” according to Campbell.

He said their ability to handle adversity was the difference in winning this game after losing to UNI last year. He said last year when they got a lead they panicked and had some turnovers and didn’t makes some stops they needed to make. “And I think that’s the biggest difference that I’ve seen, when we got some adverse situations we were able to step up and make those plays,” according to Campbell.

Allen Lazard

Cyclone senior wide receiver Alan Lazard says the offense had trouble getting things going early. He said it was very disappointing to start out and not be able to convert a third down in the first half, but he says they have been preaching all through fall camp that that they need to stick with it and get things to go in their favor.

Lazard credits the interception returns for touchdowns by Willie Harvey and Kamari Cotton-Moya for turning things around. “You take away those two pick sixes, it’s a whole other ballgame,” Lazard said. “UNI played a heck of a game and having those two pick sixes and also the third pick from (Brian) Peavy was just a huge momentum swing. You could just see the energy on their side die out and the crowd got into it a lot more.”

Lazard caught eight passes for 108 yards and that made him the all-time leader in receptions for ISU.  Lazard said it’s a huge honor and shows how much hard work he has put in and how much the program means to him. “It’s all great an everything, I’m not worried about that. I’m just happy that we won and I’m just focused on Iowa now.”

The Cyclones host Iowa this Saturday. Lazard said it’s always an important game and more so after losing to Iowa last year.

“It’s our instate rival, we are going to go out there and prepare — especially after last year. Just the embarrassment that we left on the field at Kinnick Stadium,” he said. “We’ve just got to go out there and play with a chip on our shoulder and make sure we bring that trophy back to Ames.”

Iowa comes into the game 1-0 after beating Wyoming in their opener.

 

 

Former ISU football player accused of theft

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Jake Knott (file photo)

A former Iowa State University football standout is accused of stealing merchandise from a central Iowa sporting goods store.

Twenty-six-year-old Jake Knott was arrested Saturday by Ankeny Police, who say Knott took items from Sportsman’s Warehouse valued at $777 during two separate stops at the store.

Knott was an all-Big 12 linebacker at ISU after graduating from Waukee High School. He spent a short time in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles and Miami Dolphins.

Knott is charged with third-degree theft and has a court appearance scheduled for September 5th.

Experience has slowed the game down for Cyclone QB

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Jacob Park talks with the media.

Jacob Park hopes to complete a rarity at Iowa State: Start and finish the season as the Cyclones’ starting quarterback.

The native of Charleston, South Carolina, began last season as the back up to Joel Lanning before taking over as the starting signal caller the final five games.

He finished 2016 with nearly 1,800 yards of passing and 12 touchdowns and says the experience has helped his confidence.

“It’s really big, I got comfortable, I got used to it….I think I watched more film than these coaches have in the last 6 months. I know the game, I know what we’re trying to accomplish. Hopefully I can get to the point where I can actually call plays,” Park says.

Jacob Park

The redshirt junior began his college career at Georgia and feels much more comfortable in his second year with the Iowa State program. He says he comes out every day to see if he can be perfect, not great or good.

“I want to be perfect with every read, every decision, every throw. I’ve been pretty close a few times. My preparation has put me at a whole other understanding of the game an it’s fun,” he says.

He says his expectations for this season are much higher as he says the game has slowed down for him — making it more fun and more like high school again.

Park will have plenty of weapons at his disposal with experience at running back and receiver. He says with the receivers he has, anyone can make a big play and that make his job easy as it will be hard to cover any of them.

The Cyclones open September 2nd against Northern Iowa.