Matt Campbell discusses Texas ahead of huge game with Big 12 title implications
After a difficult 3-3 start that included a loss to Ohio, many pundits and fans left Matt Campbell and the Iowa State Cyclones for dead this season. That six-game stretch did include a win over Oklahoma State that looks bigger now than it did then, but culminated with a 50-20 loss to Oklahoma, though it was a bit more competitive than that score indicates.
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Since the defeat to OU, Iowa State is 4-1 with a close loss to Kansas as the only blemish. At 6-4 overall and 4-2 in conference, Campbell’s program finds itself in four-way tie for second place in the Big 12. Their opponent Saturday night, Texas, sits alone atop the Big 12 standings. However, due to tiebreakers, Texas’ path to the Big 12 title game narrows considerably with a loss.
A potential hidden gem on the calendar
While much of the talk this week will be centered on UT’s terrible 30-7 loss in 2021 or the very close game in Austin last year where Texas prevailed, this game has snuck up as one of the marquee games of the Big 12 season.
Campbell, now in his 8th year in Ames, met with the press on Tuesday afternoon. Many of his takeaways regarding Texas make it seem he’s only been scouting UT’s first halves the last four games.
“Uber-talented everywhere you look. It is Texas. It’s what they’ve been about. It’s what they’ve stood for. I certainly feel like Coach Sark has done a great job over the course of the last couple of years of just continuing to build that football program to what it certainly has the ability to become. They’re clicking on all cylinders in every phase of the game. They’re elite on special teams. You look defensively across the board, at every level they’ve got great football players. Flip it over on the offensive side, and they’ve got elite playmakers on the outside. Certainly a great quarterback. Veteran offensive line. What a great challenge for this young team to step into an arena with this kind of football team. We’ll have to have a great team game plan in order to win the football game,” said Campbell.
Culture Wars
Talent is frequently mentioned when it comes to Texas versus Iowa State, or as Breece Hall famously called it in 2021, “five-star culture versus five-star players.”
Despite that somewhat fair characterization, at least in years past, Campbell has plenty of respect for Steve Sarkisian and the amount of growth Texas has shown since its last trip to Iowa.
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“I know personally, from the inside, our respect for Texas in terms of playing down there and certainly what the history of that football program has been about. Playing them here, you know what you’re playing against. You’re playing against some of the absolute best players in college football. I’ve got the utmost respect for Coach Sark, how he goes about it, what he’s done to that program, and just the elevation that he’s had in a couple of short years has been really special to watch.”
Given the infamous Bo Davis tirade two years ago after a string of Texas losses, to the two teams now playing with conference stakes on the table, Texas has indeed elevated.
But Iowa State has come a ways since a disappointing 4-8 year last season, and it’s come a long way within this season.
Saturday will be an interesting game as Texas looks to prove there’s plenty of culture to go along with the talent. The best way to prove that is to play extremely hard for four quarters, just like Iowa State.
