Hines: A manageable October could lead to a historic November for Iowa State football

AMES – Welcome to October.

Consider this your reminder to start finalizing your Halloween costume now. Otherwise, you’re going to wait until the last minute and end up with something lame. And not something ironically lame, just out-and-out lame. So get to it or wear that “Normcore” costume with shame. 

With that out of the way, let’s get to the important stuff for this month. Which is to say what the 19th-ranked Iowa State football team has in front of it. 

Which, in a word, is opportunity. 

The Cyclones sit 4-0 with a 1-0 mark in a Big 12 that feels as wide open as an Iowa prairie. They’ve got a gnarly defense, a dangerous offense and a lot of intangibles to like.

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Now comes a critical month that can elevate the Cyclones even further and put themselves in a position not to be just striving in that final month, but to be driving toward Arlington and the Big 12 title game. 

Iowa State will not emerge from October as a college football darling. If anything, a perfect October will probably bring scrutiny from the national media about just how good the Cyclones are after an undefeated start featuring little in the way of marquee opponents. 

But who cares? 

The only thing that should matter to you, Cyclone fans, is that Iowa State can give itself incredible options and serious margin for error in its most difficult stretch of schedule. 

If they take care of business in October. 

It starts Saturday with a 2-3 Baylor team that is absolutely reeling and appears on the verge of free fall. 

The Bears surrendered a Hail Mary touchdown at the end of regulation before losing to Colorado. Then fell behind 21-0 the following week in a loss to BYU. Coming off back-to-back losing seasons after the 2021 Big 12 championship, coach Dave Aranda is certainly under pressure in Waco. 

Then comes a trip to 2-2 West Virginia followed by 3-1 UCF at Jack Trice Stadium before a bye week. 

So that’s two home games and a winnable road game against teams with a combined mark of 7-4 at the moment. Iowa State will likely be a betting favorite in all three, including being nearly a two-touchdown favorite this weekend. 

The opportunity is right there for Iowa State to seize. Three wins, and the Cyclones are 7-0 heading into a bye week to recharge before one of the most meaningful months of November in program history. 

Seems like a big deal. 

And nowhere as easy as I just made it sound. 

“Our sport is extremely humbling,” Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said. “As soon as you think you’ve figured it out, you’re going to get humbled really fast. It’s just too competitive. There’s too many good teams. Too many good situations.  

“You’ve got to be hungry, and you’ve got to be a team willing to sacrifice everything it takes.” 

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Maybe most important of all, Iowa State has to be mature about its position. It can’t get out in front of the actual results. The Cyclones have to be who they always say they are – process-driven. 

“It’s fun, but it’s not the end of the season yet,” senior J.R. Singleton said. “Coach always talks about how they crown you king for a day, and we’re king right now but if we lose (the media) will be talking to me next week about how we lost so I don’t really look at it that much.” 

That’s a pretty good perspective from a team captain, and if it’s indicative of the rest of the Cyclones’ roster, we’re going to have to retire the bygone “Brocktober” bit and revert back to “Roctober.”

“Just seeing we’re in the rankings, having the ability to compete with these teams, it’s awesome to see,” quarterback Rocco Becht said, “but we’re just focused on each and every game and trying to get better because what we put on Saturday (against Houston) wasn’t our best.” 

With so much returning from last year’s young and surprising seven-win squad, it long appeared to me that the maturity to grind through a season of expectations would be a huge determinant in how Iowa State’s season would unfold. After a come-from-behind win in Iowa City, two blowouts of lesser opponents and a patient performance against Houston, the early results are that this team is wise beyond its grade level. 

Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht on offense’s play against Houston

Hear from Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht, as he discusses how the Cyclones’ offense performed against Houston on Saturday and looks ahead to more Big 12 play.

“What’s the challenge of having elite success at this level?” Campbell said. “Are you mentally tough enough to really show up every day and be your best? That’s hard for the coaches to do, let alone asking 18- to 22-year-olds.  

“It’s a global challenge to our whole program.” 

And the challenge renews again for this three-game stretch that won’t define the 2024 season for Iowa State, but it will narrow or broaden its margins and possibilities. 

“Great teams are defined in November and December, not September and October,” Campbell said. “You’re just trying to pound away and grow and become your best along the way.  

“Hopefully our kids are tough enough to understand that.” 

If they do, Iowa State will go into those defining months with more on the line than any other team in program history. 

If they don’t, they risk seeing their possibilities disappear on Nov. 1 like those pop-up Spirit Halloween stores, which, again, you may want to visit sooner than later so you’re not stuck wearing that Iowa State t-shirt and going as a “football fan” for the fourth year in a row. 

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.