Matt Campbell addresses how Iowa State can field elite defense in 2023

Defense wins championships. Unsurprisingly, Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell is focusing on building an iron curtain this season for that very reason.

Despite successful defenses in the past, it’s never been enough to push the Cyclones to an elusive Big 12 title. The closest Iowa State has come was in 2020 when the program fell to Oklahoma 27-21 in the Big 12 Championship. The Cyclones weren’t even close to this standard last season.

In 2022, Iowa State went 4-8 overall and 1-8 in conference play. Early on, the Cyclones looked dangerous, defeating a tough Iowa team in Week 2. Nonetheless, the season would soon spiral in front of Campbell’s eyes. The 43-year-old head isn’t afraid to admit his shortcomings.

“Last year, you can point to a lot of different things. There are a lot of things we did well, and there were a lot of things we didn’t do well. I think all of us, from myself to our assistant coaches to our players, having the humility to see where our gaps are, and how we do a great job of filling in those gaps together moving ourselves forward, that’s critical for us.

“The one thing that I’ve always said about our program, and you look at our seven, eight years, is we’ve been worthy to suffer sometimes. I think at our place, our ability and hopefully our humility to understand why there have been setbacks, and whatever has impeded us has been able to dissect that and then come together as one to empower us forward,” Campbell said.

An excellent defense can empower a team, and Iowa State has one. In 2022, the Cyclones finished fourth nationally in yards allowed per game (285.6). Although the program lost several key defensive pieces such as Will McDonald IV and MJ Anderson, it returns talented veterans in T.J. Tampa and Myles Purchase.

Campbell believes that experience will do wonders for the Cyclones.

“We were a really young football team a year ago. We were the third youngest team in college football, and sometimes we acted like it, and maybe sometimes we coached like it, too,” Campbell said. “But, the ability to learn and grow from what I saw a year ago and take the positive and negative and move forward, that’s really what it’s going to take.”

After adding four transfers and 27 freshmen this offseason, Iowa State has plenty of growth to go around. Campbell knows it won’t be easy, but he’d expect nothing less.

“Our ability to have success at Iowa State is probably different than a lot of places. We’ve got to go up the rough side of the mountain. There’s no easy fix, and we’ve got to win as a team. We’re not going to have just human erasers just running all over the film. Our team has to play together to win football games,” Campbell said.