Jimmy Rogers didn’t open Tuesday’s press conference with a speech, but he still found a way to make one point crystal clear: the fans mattered.
After getting through a rough half of football, Rogers paused long enough to praise the crowd that stayed put and rode out the frustration with the team.
"I do appreciate the fans that came out and were a part of, for one, staying through a rough half of football and honestly probably wanting to pull their hair out. But if we want to be the program we want to be and have the success that we want to be, I can tell you firsthand that everybody, including Utah, felt the momentum shift inside of that, and the fans are a big part of that.
"Our players fed off that energy for that really probably 18-minute stretch where we were starting to get in rhythm. That's pivotal. Although you might want to rip your hair out with this football team, sometimes we can be bald together, but you've still got to show up and stick with us and work through the hard times because I can promise you it will only get better and better the more we learn and grow as a football team."
Iowa State has drawn at least 50,000 fans to Jack Trice Stadium for each of its three home games so far, and Saturday’s homecoming matchup with West Virginia offers another chance to keep that number rolling. The Cyclones are also hoping to creep closer to the stadium’s 61,500 capacity.
Basketball is about to take center stage, too. In less than two weeks, the media circuit will start heating up around T.J.
Otzelberger’s team, beginning with Iowa State’s local availability on Monday, October 12, in Hilton Coliseum. About a week after that, the Cyclones will head to Big 12 Basketball Media Days at Kansas City’s T-Mobile Center.
The league’s media days are getting a new look this year. In 2026, the event will stretch across two days, with each school sending both its men’s and women’s teams to speak on the same day in Ames. The idea is to make coverage cleaner and communication easier.
That first local basketball media session should carry extra weight, especially after Iowa State announced that Tamin Lipsey is with the program on Monday. It will be the first chance for Otzelberger and Lipsey to speak publicly about the process of bringing the Ames native back for a fifth season in Hilton Coliseum.
On the football side, Week 5 in the Big 12 brings six conference games and one nonconference matchup. The weekend slate includes West Virginia at Iowa State (-3), UCF at No.
20 Houston (-12.5), Middle Tennessee at Kansas (-18.5), No. 10 BYU at TCU (+6.5), No.
12 Texas Tech at Colorado (-13.5), Baylor at Arizona State (-4) and Cincinnati at Arizona (-7).
The league enters the week with five teams in the AP Top 25: No. 10 BYU, No.
12 Texas Tech, No. 13 Utah, No.
19 Oklahoma State and No. 20 Houston.
It is also the first time since 2017 that Iowa State has had three teams in the Top 15 entering October.
The numbers keep stacking up from around the league. No FBS conference had a smaller margin of victory in Week 4 than the Big 12’s 14.3 points, and the league is 21-8 against nonconference FBS opponents.
Big 12 backs also made noise on the ground, with West Virginia’s Cam Cook (193 yards), Oklahoma State’s Caleb Hawkins (180) and Utah’s Wayshawn Parker (174) finishing No. 4-6 nationally in rushing yards in Week 5. That gave the conference consecutive weeks with three 170-plus-yard rushing performances for the first time since 1997.
The rushing depth doesn’t stop there. Seven of the top 20 rushing teams in Power Four leagues come from the Big 12: West Virginia (1), Cincinnati (3), BYU (4), Houston (7), K-State (11), Utah (15) and Oklahoma State (17).
Houston’s Amare Thomas has also caught a touchdown in nine straight games, the longest active streak in the FBS and the fifth-longest in Big 12 history. And Oklahoma State became the first Power Four team in 30 years to have a 175-plus-yard rusher, Hawkins, and a 175-plus-yard receiver, Wyatt Young, in its league opener.
Off the field, the Protect College Sports Act cleared the Senate on Monday night in a 77-22 vote and now moves to the House of Representatives. If it passes there, it would go to President Donald Trump.
The bill includes an antitrust exemption for the NCAA, a one-time free transfer before a one-year sit-out for a second transfer, a $21.6 million revenue-sharing cap for schools, a new $22.5 million retention fund, and $5 million reserved for women’s and Olympic sports. It would also cap conference membership at 20, prevent coaches from leaving for other jobs midseason, cap player agent fees at 5%, and require schools to maintain minimum sport offerings and baseline roster sizes.
The next step is uncertain. House members are out of session until November 9 because of the mid-term elections, so a vote is unlikely in the immediate future.
The earliest realistic window could be the lame duck period from November 9 through Dec. 17.
Politicians on both sides still have serious concerns about what the bill would mean for athletes, universities and college athletics as a whole.
In Other News...
Iowa States Passing Struggles Just Put Jimmy Rogers In A Tough Spot
Iowa States passing game has become a sore spot early enough in the season that Jimmy Rogers felt compelled to address it directly, and he did so with a message aimed as much at the fan base as at his own locker room. Rogers acknowledged the frustration around the offense, but asked for patience and support while the staff works through a rough stretch through the air. He also made clear he was not interested in placing the blame on one player, stressing that football problems rarely belong to just one person.
The challenge now is figuring out how the Cyclones move forward without turning the discussion into a public quarterback debate too quickly. Changes at quarterback or in the offensive approach are on the table if the passing game doesnt improve, and Rogers comments suggest he knows the pressure is building. For now, though, he is trying to keep the focus on the bigger picture, even as the aerial issues make every offensive series feel a little more urgent. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa States Early Problems Are Getting Harder To Ignore
Iowa State has already shown enough through four games to suggest it can hang with quality opponents, but the Cyclones have also made the kind of early mistakes that can turn a promising start into a frustrating fall. A 2-2 record leaves room for optimism, especially with competitiveness against ranked teams on the rsum, yet the recent loss after a flat first half also put a spotlight on problems that have been there from the start.
The issues are showing up in more than one phase. The tackling has been shaky, particularly in the space between the cornerbacks, and the defense has had trouble closing off runs to the outside. On offense, quarterback Jaylen Raynor has been uneven as a passer, and the missed opportunities on deep throws have made it harder for the Cyclones to push the ball downfield with any consistency. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa State Faces A Bigger Problem Than Just Bouncing Back
West Virginia and Iowa State both head into Ames looking to steady themselves after recent home losses, and the matchup brings a little extra weight because both coaches know their teams are searching for more than just a quick reset. Rich Rodriguez and Jimmy Rogers each had to address what went wrong and what needs to change, and that makes this a useful early-season checkpoint for two programs trying to define themselves in Big 12 play.
For the Cyclones, the backdrop is bigger than simply getting back in the win column, because the next step has to come with cleaner execution against a West Virginia team that is also trying to find its footing. The game also gives the spotlight to two of the leagues top running backs in Cam Cook and Aiden Flora, a matchup that could shape the rhythm of the afternoon even before either side starts worrying about the long view. [Read more 🡒]