Two days before Iowa State’s 2018 season opener against South Dakota State (which was famously canceled before halftime due to lightning), Matt Campbell called a true freshman linebacker’s mom to let her know that her son had won the starting middle linebacker job and that he would be starting the first game of the season. That true freshman was Mike Rose.
While the first game of the season was canceled, the freshman Rose was a standout performer in his first official game of the season, a defensive slugfest at Kinnick Stadium against Iowa. While the Cyclones lost that day, Rose showed why he had earned the starting job before ever taking a collegiate snap.