Under Matt Campbell, Iowa State has been very good as the underdog. Since 2017, They’ve beaten seven ranked opponents, going 7-8 in those games. Meanwhile, Iowa State is 2-4 in games while both teams are ranked.
This team has played very well when being doubted, but when they have expectations, they underperform. Saturday was a prime example of the stage being too big for the Cyclones. The offensive game plan was extremely stale, and outside of two long Breece Hall runs, the offense averaged just 3.7 yards per play. Of course, that’s on execution as much as play-calling, but to me, this game did not appear like it was treated as big as it should’ve been.