As No. 18 Iowa State left its dominating 52-7 win over Arkansas State last Saturday, the Cyclones prepared to start the Big 12 conference season on the right note, taking on the Houston Cougars on the road.

Led by a shutdown defense, along with a second-half offensive outburst, the Cyclones bullied their way to a 1-0 start in conference play, as they shutout Houston 20-0 on Saturday. This win also brought Iowa State to its first 4-0 start since 2000.

Jayden Higgins’ record-breaking touchdown wakes up Cyclone offense

In Iowa State’s first offensive drive, they did anything they wanted. The Cyclones marched right down the field on an 11-play, 65-yard drive that took 5:25 off of the clock.

The only problem was that they couldn’t finish the drive with a touchdown, instead settling for a 27-yard field goal from freshman kicker Kyle Konrardy.

From there, Iowa State struggled to get itself into scoring position, as the following four drives would all result in punts with no scores.

All of a sudden, it was halftime, and the Cyclones had only put three points on the scoreboard but still led thanks to the defense holding Houston to a shutout.  

No Cyclones played particularly badly in the first half. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Rocco Becht went 7-for-13 for 78 yards, and they averaged 4.2 yards per attempt on the ground. Iowa State just could not keep drives moving. 

That was the story until the second offensive drive of the second half. 

The Cyclones offense drove down the field. On the seventh and final play of an 80-yard drive that took 2:31 off the clock, Becht found wide receiver Jayden Higgins for a touchdown to extend Iowa State’s lead to 10-0. 

This was the sixth consecutive regular season game that Higgins has recorded a receiving touchdown, breaking the program record that was previously held by Todd Blythe and Ty Watley.

From there, the Cyclones offense found a little bit of a groove. On the next two drives, Iowa State would score a field goal and a 77-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Abu Sama III. The next time the Cyclones touched the ball, all they had to do was run out the clock, securing the 20-0 victory. 

Iowa State shutdowns Cougars’ two-quarterback system

After Houston was shut out against Cincinnati, they decided to shake things up at the quarterback position by rotating senior Donovan Smith and sophomore Zeon Chriss.

The Cougars called on Smith to do most of the passing in this game, but he found limited success. Smith went 8-for-12 for just 71 yards and one interception, courtesy of Cyclones defensive back Jontez Williams, but he did gain 47 yards on the ground on seven attempts. Smith has played good football in his career but has struggled mightily in his senior season. 

Meanwhile, Chriss didn’t do much either. Houston’s coaching staff obviously didn’t use the sophomore much in the passing game, and maybe for good reason.

Chriss went just 1-for-4 for one yard and an interception. The interception came from Iowa State defensive back Jeremiah Cooper, who had his second consecutive game with an interception.

Chriss showed potential on the ground, but it still wasn’t enough to get the Cougars offense on the scoreboard, as Houston found itself shutout for the second straight week.

Through the first four weeks, the Cyclones defense has looked elite, allowing just 8.25 points per game. Iowa State’s defense may still have some work to do in the run game, as they allowed 5.5 yards on the ground against the Cougars, but still led the way in the Cyclones’ first 4-0 start since 2000.

Matt Campbell makes history

In just his ninth season and 105th game as Iowa State’s head coach, Matt Campbell has recorded his 57th win. This win broke former head coach Dan McCarney’s record for most wins by a head coach in program history, a record that took McCarney 11 full seasons to reach.

Some people forget the state of the Cyclones football program before Campbell left Toledo for Iowa State. 

In the three seasons before Campbell took over, Iowa State never won more than three games in a season and had just four total Big 12 wins. The Cyclones also hadn’t been ranked in the top 25 since 2005. 

In the nine seasons since Campbell has become the head coach, Iowa State has only missed a bowl game twice, one of those times being in Campbell’s first season. 

The Cyclones have also been ranked in the top 25 in six out of nine seasons, something that had only happened one time in the previous 13 seasons. 

In this era of college football, it is typical to see head coaches of lower-profile programs leave for a new job the second they find success, but not Campbell. 

Throughout his tenure, Campbell has been at the center of many high-profile coaching searches, and it’s hard to believe that he was never officially offered a job. 

Regardless, Campbell didn’t jump ship like a lot of coaches would have. He decided to stay in Ames, Iowa, and build this Iowa State football program from scratch. He is, without a doubt, the greatest coach in Cyclones football history, and there is still so much more to come.