Caden Crawford’s route to Iowa State has taken him through both sides of the Cy-Hawk rivalry, and that makes Saturday’s season finale of the nonconference slate a little different for the Cyclones defensive end.
Crawford spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons at Iowa, then moved on to FCS South Dakota and made his first career start in 2025 against his current team. Last weekend, he was back on the field for the 16-13 loss to the Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium, another stop in a path that now has him lined up as the starting bookend opposite Isaac “Bobby” Terrell on Iowa State’s defensive front for Saturday’s 11 a.m. game against Bowling Green (0-2).
“It was a very unique experience,” Crawford said of competing on the other side of the Cy-Hawk equation. “Obviously, we didn’t finish the game how we wanted to. We came in with complete confidence that we were going to win that game and there’s some stuff defensively we’ve gotta clean up.”
That cleanup starts with the kind of big play that swung last week’s game. Iowa State (1-1) allowed only one truly explosive snap, a 56-yard pass from Hank Brown to Tony Diaz that set up the Hawkeyes’ only touchdown. That score came right after the Cyclones had gone ahead 10-0 on Jaylen Raynor’s four-yard touchdown pass to Vince Benetti.
Now the focus shifts to a Bowling Green offense that has not found much rhythm through two games. Crawford said the Cyclones have to be sharper this week, especially after a loss in which the defense had the right energy but not the finish.
“(We) could have played better,” said first-year head coach Jimmy Rogers, whose defense has given up just 2.2 yards per carry so far. “We didn’t.
And we need to in critical moments, and not let the moment get too big. Our effort was on point.
The energy was there.”
Terrell brings a reputation for that kind of energy, having played for Rogers last season at Washington State. Crawford has that same kind of juice, even when it doesn’t always jump off the stat sheet. The 6-4, 251-pound edge rusher earned second team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference honors last season after piling up 78 tackles, including a team-high 10.5 for loss.
“His jump and how he played last year was exponential in terms of just his ability and his playmaking ability and his production, I would say,” defensive coordinator Jesse Bobbit said during fall camp. “And then you get him here and learn a little bit more about him (and) you realize he’s gonna make more exponential growth because of the person he is.
That dude shows up to work every day with the mentality of no complaining. ‘I’m gonna be at the front of the line.
I’m gonna be at the front of the group. I’m gonna give my best.
No one’s gonna question my effort and I’m gonna do it technically sound and execute at a high level.”
Crawford said he’s still chasing more consistency, both in practice and in the film room, with an eye on turning that work into production on Saturdays.
“I think we can be more disruptive,” Crawford said. “Like, all of us.
There (are) things I’m trying to work on every day in practice to get better at and help my teammates out. I think we’re headed in the right direction.”
For him, that means more knock back against offensive linemen, better one-gap movement and more pressure with his hands in the pass rush.
“Personally, I think I need to get more knock back on the offensive line,” Crawford said. “Play on the opposite side of the ball, be able to have one-gap movements better - things I’m looking forward to using. And then pass-wise, I need to be more productive using my hands and try to get more disruptions.”
Bowling Green comes to Ames after a 56-7 loss at Nebraska, and Crawford said the Cyclones can’t afford to treat that as anything less than a serious challenge.
“(They’re) gonna come in here with all the intent to beat us, so we’ve gotta have a good week of practice,” Crawford said.
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