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.” 

More: Hines: Iowa State football’s defensive dominance takes center stage vs Houston

More: Hines: Matt Campbell becomes winningest coach in Iowa State football history with win over Houston

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.

A banner advertising an event for the University of Iowa’s Young Americans for Freedom chapter was vandalized on Monday, mere hours after it was put up, the organization said.

Vandals allegedly scribbled “ignorant” on the photo of Ian Haworth who is visiting Iowa City on Oct. 7. The banner was hung on a black fence surrounding Hubbard Park near the Iowa Memorial Union Monday morning, which YAF representatives say was vandalized within two-and-a-half hours.

Haworth is a British-born conservative that YAF’s website describes as a “conservative writer, speaker and podcast host.”

The Young Americans for Freedom released a statement Monday, saying the alleged vandalism “openly call(s) for violence against Jewish students.”

“It is appalling that at a Big Ten University, where tours are happening regularly and the administration promotes ‘inclusion,’ ‘safe spaces,’ and ‘welcoming,’ members of the Hawkeye community still openly call for violence against Jewish students,” the University of Iowa YAF organization said. “Terrorist sympathizers should not be celebrated—they should be held accountable for the hateful, criminal rhetoric they spread.”

YAF President Jasmyn Jordan told the Press-Citizen that she submitted a formal statement to the University of Iowa Police Department and plans to request a meeting with UI President Barbara Wilson “because blatant and deliberate hatred should not be tolerated whatsoever.”

More: Iowa governor deploys National Guard to help North Carolina after Hurricane Helene

Graffiti included Palestinian flag and the phrase “Free Palestine”

A Palestinian flag was also drawn next to Haworth’s face and was accompanied by the phrase “Free Palestine.” In small writing, a person allegedly scribbled “From the river to the sea,” a contentious phrase common at pro-Palestinian rallies that demonstrators say is a call for Palestinian freedom.

The American Jewish Committee says the ‘From the river to the sea’ phrase harkens back to Hamas’ 1988 founding document, which called for the destruction of Israel. A U.S. House resolution declaring the phrase antisemitic passed by a 377-44 margin in April.

“(L)eftist groups continue to engage in this behavior without consequence,” YAF’s statement continued. “How can prospective and current students feel safe, included, or welcome when their identities and fundamental beliefs are constantly under attack?”

More: When does early voting start in Iowa? Here’s when you can vote in-person this fall.

Conservative host visiting on anniversary of deadly Hamas attack

The UI chapter of Young Americans for Freedom will welcome Ian Haworth to the Iowa Memorial Union on Monday, Oct. 7.

His talk, titled “October 7: One Year Later – Hamas’s War on Jewish, Christian, American, and Western Values,” will explore how Hamas’ deadly attacks “targeted the foundational values of these groups,” according to a release from the Young Americans. Haworth will “advocate for the release and safe return of hostages taken during the conflict,” “honor the victims of terrorism” and “address the rising threat of antisemitism.”

Haworth previously worked at The Daily Wire, the Ben Shapiro-founded media organization.

“(H)ostage-taking is not a political issue and should never be silenced,” the YAF statement concluded. “By vandalizing our materials and attacking our promotions, these terrorist sympathizers are aligning themselves with the most unethical and immoral groups, whether they realize it or not.”

More: Protesters gather on Pentacrest in Iowa City as Israel ramps up conflict with Hezbollah

YAF regularly hosts conservative speakers

The Young Americans for Freedom chapter at the University of Iowa has hosted several notable conservatives over the past 18 months. They brought in well-known conservative Matt Walsh, Chloe Cole and Vince Everett Ellison as well as former University of Penn swimmer Paula Scanlan. Walsh’s appearance in April 2023, in which he also screened the “What is a Woman” documentary, drew hundreds of protesters to the Iowa Memorial Union and nearby streets.

One protestor was eventually convicted of disorderly conduct following a jury trial in April

More: Protesters gather on Pentacrest in Iowa City as Israel ramps up conflict with Hezbollah

Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached at rhansen@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.

A Black man alleges in a lawsuit that an Iowa trucking company fired him as a driver because he wouldn’t cut off his dreadlocks, the latest in a series of incidents across the country over an issue activists have dubbed hair discrimination.

Drew Harvey, 26, of Crete, Illinois, accused Des Moines-based TMC Transportation of racism in the lawsuit filed last week in state court against the company and two of its employees. The company didn’t immediately respond Monday to phone and email messages from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Similar issues have arisen in places like Texas, where a Black high school student was suspended because of his dreadlocks. And in Kansas, the American Civil Liberties Union raised concerns over a grade school forcing an 8-year-old Native American boy to cut off his hair after he grew it out for cultural reasons.

In Iowa, Harvey was hired as a flatbed truck driver in June. But one day after beginning orientation, his instructor told him to report to human resources, where he was told his hair was creating a “safety issue” and that he needed to cut his deadlocks or be fired, the lawsuit said.

According to the lawsuit, Harvey said his hair was “important to his culture and spirituality” and he offered to address the concerns by trimming his hair, styling it differently, wearing it in a hair wrap or purchasing a different hard hat.

But the lawsuit said the company told him the proposals weren’t acceptable. Fired, he was sent home on a bus in tears, the lawsuit said.

The suit said the policy was inconsistently enforced and a violation of the Iowa Civil Rights Act. Harvey said that during his short time with the company, he observed several non-Black male and female workers who had long hair. The suit said he was even more upset when he learned online that TMC previously fired another Black man for the same reason.

Harvey is seeking unspecified damages for lost wages and emotional distress.