Good morning from Iowa State country, where the Cyclones are rolling out of a season-opening win and straight into Cy-Hawk week.
Jimmy Rogers’ first game at the helm finally arrived, and it ended with Iowa State beating Southeast Missouri 38-10 on Saturday at Jack Trice Stadium. That gave Rogers his first victory in Cyclones colors and got Iowa State to 1-0 on the year.
There was plenty packed into that opener beyond the final score. Rogers, the 34th coach in school history, became the 22nd Iowa State coach to win his debut with the Cyclones. Thirty players saw their Iowa State debuts, 19 of them started for the first time in a Cyclones uniform, and Iowa State used 65 players overall - 31 on offense and 34 on defense.
The box score had some eye-catching numbers, too. Iowa State won the turnover battle, and Rogers’ teams are now 30-2 when finishing on top in that category across his stops at South Dakota State, Washington State and Iowa State. The Cyclones also piled up six sacks, their most since a 2020 regular-season win over TCU.
Isaac Terrell was all over the backfield with three sacks, matching the team lead set by Caleb Bacon in the 2025 season. That three-sack performance is tied for the third-most in a game by an Iowa State player and is the most sacks in an Iowa State debut since Rashawn Parker in 2006.
A few other defenders hit personal milestones. Sullivan Schlimgen tied a career high with nine tackles and picked up his first career sack, while Carson Willich had seven tackles and Willie Breland III finished with five, both career highs. Beau Goodwin also came away with the first takeaway of his career on a fumble recovery forced by Drew Surges.
On offense, Jaylen Raynor accounted for four total touchdowns, with two passing and two rushing. It was the third time in his career he has had multiple passing and rushing touchdowns in the same game. Raynor now has 21 career wins, which is tied for the third-most in the country and the second most in the Big 12.
There were firsts for several receivers as well. Easton Miller’s first career catch went for a 10-yard touchdown, and it was also his first career touchdown.
Dominic Overby posted a career-high 85 receiving yards and a career-best 45-yard catch. Tight end Vince Benetti caught his first career pass, a 25-yard touchdown from Raynor.
The crowd was part of the story, too. Iowa State had 50,000 fans in attendance for the 92nd straight game at Jack Trice Stadium.
Now the attention shifts to one of the biggest dates on the calendar. Iowa State heads to Iowa on Saturday night for a 6:30 p.m. CT kickoff on NBC.
The rivalry has been played 72 times, with Iowa holding a 46-25 edge in the series. The Cyclones have won back-to-back games in the matchup and three of the last four, with Iowa’s lone win in that stretch coming in a 20-13 victory at Jack Trice Stadium in 2023.
Before this recent Iowa State run, the Hawkeyes had taken six straight from 2015-21, including a 27-17 win in an AP Top 10 game at Jack Trice Stadium. Iowa State’s largest victory in the series remains a 31-0 win in 1978, while its longest winning streak is five games from 1998-2002.
Iowa’s biggest win in the series came in 1985, a 57-3 result that stands as a 54-point margin and was part of a 15-year Iowa winning streak from 1983-97.
One note that stands out in this year’s edition: Iowa State has won back-to-back games in Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium for the first time since winning three straight road games in 1998, 2000 and 2002.
Kirk Ferentz enters with a 14-13 record in 27 career meetings against Iowa State. He lost his first four in-state games against the Cyclones, but his 200th career win came against Iowa State in 2023.
The games have been tight lately. In the last eight years, the final score has been decided by 10 points or fewer every time, and four of the last five have been separated by a touchdown or less.
This year’s matchup also brings a few unusual numbers. Iowa is a 14.5-point favorite, the first time either team has been favored by more than 4.5 points since 2016, when Iowa beat Iowa State 42-3 and covered a 15.5-point spread.
It will also be just the sixth night game ever between the schools. The previous under-the-lights meetings came in 1999, 2002, 2013, 2016 and 2019, though the 2019 game was delayed because of bad weather.
The in-state action doesn’t stop with football. Iowa State volleyball, now 4-1, faces Iowa on Tuesday in Ames. The Cyclones’ lone loss came in straight sets against Georgia Tech.
Women’s soccer is also on the road Thursday night at Loyola Maryland. Iowa State opened the season 2-0 before losing at Drake and tying Creighton, then dropped a home match against Iowa 2-0 on August 27. The Cyclones bounced back with a 5-0 win over Northern Iowa on August 30 and then beat Missouri State 2-0 last week.
And after Cy-Hawk, volleyball keeps the road swing going with a matchup against Villanova in Washington, D.C. American is next on September 12, one day after the Villanova match.
In Other News...
Iowa State Needs To Know These Hawkeyes Before Kinnick Turns Hostile
The Cy-Hawk buildup always comes with a little extra edge, and this one is no different as Iowa State heads into Kinnick for a nationally televised kickoff at 6:30 p.m. The matchup brings plenty of familiar names into focus, from Iowa quarterbacks Hank Brown and Jeremy Hecklinski to playmakers like running back Kamari Moulton, tight end DJ Vonnahme, defensive tackle Bryce Hawthorne and safety Zach Lutmer, all of whom could shape how hostile the environment feels for the visitors.
For Iowa State, the intrigue goes beyond just the rivalry backdrop. Head coach Jimmy Rogers brings his own coaching history into a game that has stayed tight in recent seasons, and the Cyclones know the Hawkeyes are built to make every possession feel heavier than it should. The next wrinkle is the one Iowa has not fully sorted out yet, and it could matter a lot once the crowd settles in and the first real pressure hits. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa State May Have Found A New Threat In Its Receiver Battle
Iowa States opener against Southeast Missouri State offered the kind of first impression a new staff hopes for, with Jimmy Rogers picking up a win in his debut and the Cyclones rolling to a 38-10 finish. Jaylen Raynor set the tone with four touchdown passes, Isaac Terrell piled up three sacks, and the game quickly turned into a showcase for a team that looked sharp in several phases right out of the gate.
Amid all that, Dominic Overby made himself impossible to ignore in the receiver mix. He was not listed as a starter on Iowa States first official depth chart, but he finished with two catches for 85 yards and both receptions came on explosive plays of 40-plus yards. For a depth chart battle that was supposed to sort itself out over time, Overby gave the Cyclones a new name to watch very early. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa State Has A Real Opening In The Cy-Hawk Fight For The Trophy
The Cy-Hawk game has a familiar feel to it again: plenty of noise, plenty of history, and not much separating Iowa and Iowa State as they head into a rivalry that rarely gives either side much breathing room. Iowas quarterback situation remains unsettled, which adds another layer to a matchup that already tends to turn on small edges, while the battle up front figures to be a major factor in whether the Cyclones can control the pace and keep the trophy chase on their terms.
Jaylen Raynors first outing in a Cyclone uniform gave Iowa State a glimpse of what the passing game can look like when he is comfortable, and that makes the stakes in this one even more interesting for a team looking to build on that start. Still, the setting matters too, because Kinnick Stadium has not exactly been a welcoming place for the Cyclones in this series, and the recent run of tight finishes suggests this one could come down to the same kind of late-game edge that has defined so many of these meetings. [Read more 🡒]