College football has undergone many changes over the past few years. One change that has largely flown under the radar is the addition of a second bye week for all teams. An off-week in week three may feel strange, but the Cyclones are hoping they have used their first of two bye weeks to continue to improve.
“Yeah, a lot of rest and we needed it,” Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht said. “I didn’t expect that bye week was going to be so beneficial for us, but it was.”
Having the first bye week after a win against Iowa is definitely beneficial. It is easy for teams to have a let down game the week after taking down its biggest rival and this bye gave the Cyclones a chance to catch their breath.
“I think that is nice,” head coach Matt Campbell said. “From my end of it, you don’t control really the schedule. So you play the cards you’re dealt and you try to use it the best way possible. I was certainly excited about how our schedule fell in terms of having that early bye.”
“Coming off a win against our rival, I think it just gave us the momentum and the confidence and going to that bye week,” Becht said.
The biggest question surrounding the Cyclones remains health, another reason why an early bye week could prove to be so beneficial for the Cyclones, as two offensive linemen, Jalen Travis and Deylin Hasert, will be back in the lineup against Arkansas State.
“I think both [Travis and Hasert] will be available,” Campbell said. “It certainly looks like we are trending that way now. I don’t know if I would say they are at full strength. But I would say they are really close to it. I think both guys would certainly be available.”
Now, the focus turns toward Arkansas State in the final non-conference game of the year. Arkansas State may be a team in a lower conference, but it put together a solid performance against defending national champion Michigan, losing by just 10 points.
“We don’t really look at that stuff, if they’re in a lower conference or not,” Becht said. “We’re kind of just going at it like it’s another team that’s circled on our list, and so we’re gonna go in there and play like it’s any other team.”
The Cyclones will still be missing two of their starting linebackers in Caleb Bacon and Will McLaughlin, but that doesnt mean the pair isn’t helping this linebacker room grow into their new roles.
“That group has had just a warrior spirit in terms of how it responded,” Campbell said. “I think the first point is you have to talk about the guys that are injured and how they’ve been elite coaches. Literally, [Bacon] is in the hospital and Cael [Brezina] is sitting in the hospital bed going through practice film with him. To watch those guys, and watch Will McLaughlin, and the value of being able to play as a young freshman, helping those guys from a mentality standpoint, it’s been really rewarding to watch.”
The linebacker room will have to vastly improve this week if the Cyclones want a comfortable victory. The Cyclones run defense has been very subpar over the first two games, allowing 212 yards per game on the ground so far. Arkansas State struggled to run the ball against Michigan, but they’re no pushover.
Iowa State has proven that its run defense could struggle against anyone, and Arkansas State could easily expose that weakness.
“You see a good football team, like, that’s what I see on videotape,” Defensive Coordinator Jon Heacock said. “You don’t see sloppy stuff all over the place. They know exactly what they’re doing with that scheme, and they’ve been doing it a while. They’re really good at it.”
If the Cyclones reserve linebackers can step up to the test and stuff the Arkansas State run game, the defense should flourish and the game should not be much of a sweat. But if they continue to get gashed on the ground, this game could be tighter than people expect.
The bye week is over, and it’s time to see just how beneficial the first bye week was. As Campbell said: “You never know how beneficial a bye week is until you get back on the field and play.”
