Iowa
Hines: Iowa State football has big opportunity against Houston in Big 12 Conference opener
Hear from Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht ahead of Houston matchup
Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht breaks down the Cyclones’ 3-0 start to the season and looks ahead to starting Big 12 play against Houston.
AMES – It’s not easy for an athletic department to go from the Group of 5 to the Power 4. It’s incredibly difficult, actually.
And it’s probably most difficult for the football programs within those athletic departments. They, and the money they hope to generate, are the reason for the move, and yet they are the most disadvantaged by it on the field. When you’re facing the teams that historically could poach your best recruits on a whim at the 11th hour, you’re gonna have a problem.
That was certainly the case for the Big 12’s four newcomers last year. BYU, Cincinnati, UCF and Houston went a combined 4-24 against the league’s legacy programs in 2023. Houston was the only team to accrue two wins against those Power 4 mainstays, and coach Dana Holgorsen got fired for his efforts.
That puts the Cougars in a doubly difficult spot – trying to level up in a league while also implementing a culture of a first-year coach.
More: Join Travis Hines’ Cyclone Insider text-messaging group for behind-the-scenes access
“You throw in the two mixes of new league and new coaching staff,” Iowa State football coach Matt Campbell said Tuesday, “that’s just unique.
“It’s not easy.”
Houston coach Willie Fritz would certainly appear to be up for the job, with Tulane’s turnaround under his watch the most recent accomplishment in a career that spans three decades and includes four Division I head coaching stops.
But there’s a lot of work to do.
More: Hines: How Iowa State football set up and executed Ben Brahmer’s big play Saturday
The Cougars will host No. 19 Iowa State (3-0) on Saturday (6 p.m.; FS1) with a 1-3 record that most recently added a 34-0 loss to fellow Big 12 newcomer Cincinnati. They played No. 18 Oklahoma tough in a road loss, but a 27-7 season-opening home setback to UNLV certainly doesn’t inspire confidence that this team may be better than its early outcomes.
“They’ve got elite playmakers and elite talent,” Campbell countered, “and it’s just trying to find that consistency.
“Any time there’s a coaching change, you’re trying to create the mentality that you want, and there’s going to be a little bit of inconsistency at times.”
More: Hines: Matt Campbell is set to become Iowa State football’s winningest coach
Houston’s situation, to state the obvious, is quite different than Iowa State’s. Though they are not unrelated.
The Cyclones will head to Texas riding just the second 3-0 start for the program in the last decade, with a top-20 ranking and real designs on a Big 12 title game appearance. Much of those Big 12 aspirations – and the College Football Playoff implications associated with them – are tied to a schedule that features, well, several teams like Houston.
Which is to say, eminently winnable games.
This, of course, is not a ‘must-win’ game in September for the Cyclones, but it definitely is a ‘should win.’ Campbell talked last week about building momentum with the 52-7 win over Arkansas State, and the Cyclones’ November prospects will be hugely determined by the momentum they can build in this stretch of their schedule.
With games against the Cougars, Baylor (2-2), at West Virginia (2-2) and UCF (3-0) rounding out the October schedule, this is where Iowa State can establish itself as a true Big 12 and national threat. It could also establish itself as a team capable of playing good football but also losing against so-so competition.
More: Hines: Iowa State football shows its potential in runaway victory over Arkansas State
To demand a 7-0 record heading into the season’s final month is probably a bit much, but, looking at what Iowa State has on its roster and these teams on its schedule, anything short of 6-1 probably feels like a major missed opportunity, right?
Just like Iowa State did against the Red Wolves last week, now is the time for simply taking care of business. Style points are nice, but convincing performances and wins are better.
They’re nearly essential for Iowa State to piece together the type of special season it last enjoyed in 2020, and completely required if the Cyclones want to exceed what that team full of future NFL players accomplished.
A trip to a rebuilding Houston program isn’t the most exciting way to open Big 12 play, but, with the heights Iowa State hopes to reach this season, every single step matters. Even the easy strides can threaten a stumble, and they’re essential to get where you want to go.
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.
A lawsuit brought by publishers and authors including John Green and Jodi Picoult has led to a portion of a law banning Iowa school libraries and classrooms from carrying books depicting sex acts being halted.
On Tuesday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the measure, writing that it had been applied unconstitutionally in many schools and that books of “undeniable political, artistic, literary, and/or scientific value” had been caught up in it, including Ulysses by James Joyce, Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, Beloved by Toni Morrison and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
This is the second time that US district judge Stephen Locher, a Joe Biden appointee, has blocked the ban. The law, Senate File 496, was first approved by Iowa’s Republican-led legislature and governor Kim Reynolds in 2023, however, Locher placed an injunction on it in December 2023 after authors and publishers sued the state.
The preliminary injunction was reversed by the US Eighth Circuit appeals court last August, leading publishers and authors to file a second complaint, arguing that the ban violates free speech and “goes far beyond prohibiting books that are obscene as to minors because it prohibits books with even a brief description of a sex act for students of all ages without any evaluation of the book as a whole”.
In his decision, Locher wrote that the ban has resulted in “forced removal of books from school libraries that are not pornographic or obscene”, and that unconstitutional applications of the law “far exceed” constitutional applications.
after newsletter promotion
The ultimate fate of the ban still hangs in the balance, as Iowa officials could appeal this week’s ruling.
In response to Locher’s decision, Iowa attorney general Brenna Bird, a Republican, said that parents “shouldn’t have to worry about what materials their kids have access to when they’re not around.”
“This common sense law makes certain that the books kids have access to in school classrooms and libraries are age-appropriate,” she added. “I’m going to keep on fighting to uphold our law that protects schoolchildren and parental rights.”
The Iowa law is among several book banning measures enacted across the US in recent years. Publisher-led lawsuits have also been brought in Florida and Idaho.
Other books unconstitutionally caught up in the law, wrote Locher, include Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Song of Solomon and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, and Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.
DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) – Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird released a statement Tuesday following the announcement that a federal judge blocked part of an Iowa book ban law.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher blocked part of the law that bans school libraries and classrooms from carrying books depicting sex acts.
“As a mom, I know how important it is to keep schools a safe place for kids to learn and grow,” says Attorney General Bird. “Parents shouldn’t have to worry about what materials their kids have access to when they’re not around. This common sense law makes certain that the books kids have access to in school classrooms and libraries are age-appropriate. I’m going to keep on fighting to uphold our law that protects schoolchildren and parental rights.”
Copyright 2025 KCRG. All rights reserved.
The Iowa Hawkeyes have landed a new coach in Ben McCollum, beginning a new era in Iowa City. McCollum certainly has his work cut out for him given all of the departures Iowa has had recently, but perhaps he could bring in some big additions via the transfer portal?
Black Heart Gold Pants has speculated on a few potential Drake Bulldogs players that could potentially make their way to the Hawkeyes, as McCollum coached Drake to a 31-5 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance this past season.
The top name that surfaced was guard Bennett Stirtz, who just led the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring.
“His abilities on full display in the tournament should help to ease concerns over McCollum’s ability to recruit,” Black Heart Gold Pants wrote. “Stirtz very clearly belongs, even getting some NBA buzz on Thursday, but was overlooked by D1 coaches out of high school.”
Stirtz averaged 19.2 points, 5.7 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 2.1 steals over 39.4 minutes per game on 49.8/39.5/79.4 shooting splits this past season.
He has spent his entire collegiate tenure with McCollum, as he began his career at Northwest Missouri State, but transferred after his sophomore campaign after McCollum made the jump to Drake.
It’s only natural to wonder if the 6-foot-4 sharpshooter will follow McCollum once again, especially now that McCollum is at a Big Ten program.
Iowa has lost a massive chunk of its roster to the transfer portal after the firing of Fran McCaffery, so now, it’s up to McCollum to repair the damage. Perhaps he could convince Stirtz to come on board.
MORE: Iowa Hawkeyes Transfer Guard Drawing Interest from 5 Intriguing Teams
More: Iowa Hawkeyes Land Proven Winner In New Head Coach Ben McCollum
More: Iowa Hawkeyes’ Coaching Search Takes Odd Turn
MORE: ESPN Drops Huge Take on Iowa Hawkeyes’ Top Recruit
MORE: Iowa Hawkeyes’ Transfer Portal Disaster Continues
Top takeaways from Mayor Mike Duggan’s final State of the City address
San Francisco Giants Add Former A’s Reliever to Roster
Dallas Cowboys’ Brian Schottenheimer, Matt Eberflus attend high-profile Pro Day
Will Lionel Messi Play for Inter Miami vs. Philadelphia Union?
Hey, ‘Daily Show’: Stop calling Boston the most racist city in America. It’s not funny. – The Boston Globe
-
News1 week agoTrump Administration Ends Tracking of Kidnapped Ukrainian Children in Russia
-
News1 week agoVance to Lead G.O.P. Fund-Raising, an Apparent First for a Vice President
-
Business1 week agoEgg Prices Have Dropped, Though You May Not Have Noticed
-
Technology1 week agoThe head of a Biden program that could help rural broadband has left
-
Technology1 week agoDude Perfect and Mark Rober may be the next YouTubers to get big streaming deals
-
World1 week agoCommission warns Alphabet and Apple they're breaking EU digital rules
-
News7 days agoTrump’s Ending of Hunter Biden’s Security Detail Raises Questions About Who Gets Protection
-
News1 week agoU.S. to Withdraw From Group Investigating Responsibility for Ukraine Invasion