This week’s Cy-Hawk matchup puts a familiar face on the Iowa State side, and for defensive lineman Caden Crawford, the spotlight feels especially sharp.
Crawford’s path through college football has already taken plenty of turns. He grew up in Lansing, KS, and originally committed to Iowa, but his run with the Hawkeyes never really got off the ground.
As a freshman, he redshirted and didn’t play. In his redshirt freshman season, he appeared in just one game and didn’t record a stat.
Then came his redshirt sophomore year, when he finished with two tackles - one solo and one assist - along with a fumble recovery.
After three years in the program, Crawford transferred and headed to the FCS level with South Dakota. That move paid off in a big way. He posted 78 tackles, three pass deflections, and 5.5 sacks in a strong season with the Coyotes.
That performance led him to Iowa State, where he now starts at defensive end and is viewed as a key part of what has been the Cyclones’ best position group. His first game this season wasn’t his sharpest, though. In Week 1, Crawford had two tackles and was one of the only Iowa State defensive linemen not to record a sack in a game where the team finished with six.
Even with that uneven opener, Crawford still brings the kind of production and presence Iowa State needs in a game like this. The Cyclones are focused on stopping the run, and that responsibility will be front and center against Kamari Moulton, who had nearly 200 yards and two touchdowns. If Iowa State wants to leave with a road win, Crawford will need to play a major role.
It’s a tough stage, and the setting won’t make anything easier. But for Crawford, this is a chance to show the Hawkeyes what they missed.
In Other News...
Cy-Hawk Just Got More Tense For Iowa State's 2028 Recruiting Push
Jimmy Rogers and his staff at Iowa State are still sorting through the ripple effects of the coaching change, trying to stabilize a recruiting class that took some hits after Matt Campbells departure. The Cyclones have kept building with the Class of 2027, which sits No. 43 nationally with 24 commitments and includes names like Isaiah Hansen and Will Slagle, but the bigger long-term work is already underway for 2028.
Thats where this weekend carries a little extra weight for the Cyclones. Iowa State has already brought in several Class of 2028 prospects, including defensive lineman Hunter Mosolino and quarterback Chase Grove, and both are set to visit rival Iowa this weekend. For a program trying to reassert itself in the next recruiting cycle, every cross-border visit in the Cy-Hawk orbit matters a little more than usual. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma State Enters A Pressure Week Fans Cannot Ignore
Early-season pressure always feels a little louder in the Big 12, and Iowa State is tied into it through Jimmy Rogers as the leagues coaching carousel gets its first serious stress test. The conference landscape has already started to sort itself by expectations and urgency, with several programs measuring themselves against tough starts, uneven performances and the kind of games that can shift the tone of a season before September is over.
For the Cyclones, that broader picture matters because the scrutiny is not limited to one sideline or one school. Rogers is part of a group of first-month coaches whose next few Saturdays will help shape how their teams are judged, and the stakes are especially high with key matchups approaching across the league. In a conference where patience can disappear quickly, Iowa State knows the conversation around its coach is only going to get sharper from here. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa State Still Carries Mari-Rae Soppers Powerful Legacy 25 Years Later
Twenty-five years later, Mari-Rae Soppers story still reaches beyond gymnastics and well into the larger memory of September 11. Before her life was cut short, she had been a former gymnast and a Navy JAG officer who left a high-paying attorney job to chase a collegiate coaching career, a choice that said plenty about the kind of path she wanted to build. For Iowa State, her legacy remains tied not just to what she accomplished, but to the ambition and purpose she brought to the sport.
Sopper boarded American Airlines Flight 77 on Sept. 11, 2001, and was among those killed when it was hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon. Her name lives on at Arlington National Cemetery, the Pentagon Memorial and the National September 11 Memorial, reminders of a life remembered in more than one place. For the Cyclones, the resonance is especially powerful because her story still represents a blend of sacrifice, service and the pursuit of coaching that continues to matter long after the calendar turned on that day. [Read more 🡒]