Ames has a way of making the little things feel bigger, and right now that includes Iowa State’s running backs counting the days until they can finally stop being eased into fall camp.
Aiden Flora has been especially restless. The former walk-on has turned into a real piece for the Cyclones, but his value in the return game has forced the staff to be careful with his workload. That’s left him with a different kind of frustration during practice.
“I just called my dad the other day,” said Flora, who averaged an eye-popping 26.1 yards on eight punt returns last season. “I was like, ‘I don’t like this. This feels weird.’”
Cameron Pettaway has been in a similar spot. The former Bowling Green standout led the FBS with a 33-yard average on kick returns last season, and Iowa State has been mindful about keeping him fresh, too. Pettaway understands the plan, even if he’s itching for Sept. 5 to get here.
“Everyone’s starting to get the urge and ready to play week 1,” said Pettaway, who also averaged 5.1 yards per carry last season while earning MAC freshman of the year honors. “SEMO’s on the clock, so every day is just pushing harder and harder to get to that first game.”
Those two are expected to be major parts of the Cyclones’ offense in year one under new head coach Jimmy Rogers, and not just as runners. Flora, now in his third year, has 15 career carries for 111 yards and two touchdowns. Pettaway, a true sophomore, brought in 504 all-purpose yards for the Falcons a year ago and also caught two touchdown passes.
That versatility is exactly what first-year running backs coach John Johnson wants to tap into.
“We’re trying to push that forward, because we feel like they have really good hands out of the backfield,” said Johnson, who worked under Rogers in 2017-18 and 2020. “(We’ll) try to put them in some situations and create some matchups on the perimeter so those guys can get out there and work.”
Iowa State also has Arnold Barnes in the mix, and he brings the most experience of the group. The Tulane transfer arrived late through the portal, but the 5-11, 215-pound back has already fit into the room and gives the Cyclones another option, especially in tighter spaces.
“He brings another dynamic skill set to the room,” Johnson said of Barnes, a fourth-year player who’s turned 161 career carries into 757 yards and six rushing touchdowns. “He’s powerful.
Strong. (The) type of back that has a little burst and a little twitch to him.
So I think there’s gonna come a time when his number is called and he’ll answer the bell.”
The depth chart doesn’t stop there. First-year offensive coordinator Tyler Roehl’s physical system is expected to lean on the ground game, and Johnson said he’ll use every healthy body he can as the season moves along. That opens the door for freshman Caleb Francois and for Easton Miller, a 230-pound redshirt junior who has already carved out a role on special teams.
“Coach Roehl, in this offense, makes it very multiple for me, so it’s another opportunity for me to get on the field, which is great,” Miller said.
Miller entered the program as a preferred walk-on in 2023, which makes him easy to compare with Flora. Both are products of patience and persistence, and both are now pushing for bigger roles on a team that has embraced the outsider label.
“If you play against a team that has nothing to lose, you don't know what to expect, and we have nothing to lose right now,” Flora said. “We're picked to be dead last (in the Big 12), and we're going to throw everything we have at every opponent.”
In Other News...
Iowa State May Be Showing Early Life In A Crucial QB Race
Iowa State is spending the early part of this rebuild trying to establish a new identity under Jimmy Rogers, and the quarterback room is one of the clearest places where that reset is taking shape. After the departures that followed Matt Campbells exit, the Cyclones are leaning on a young group at the position while also trying to keep future recruiting classes moving in the right direction, a delicate balance for a staff that is still filling in the edges of the roster.
One name worth watching is quarterback prospect Luke Toland, who already has multiple scholarship offers and a connection to new quarterbacks coach Keith Heckendorf. With limited commitments in the upcoming classes, the Cyclones cannot afford to be passive here, and the early work in the QB race may end up telling as much about the long-term direction of the program as the depth chart itself. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa States 2027 Commits Are Trending In Very Different Directions
247Sports latest update to the 2027 basketball recruiting class brought a mixed read for Iowa States early commitments, with three Cyclones heading in different directions as the summer circuit continues to shape their stock. Josiah Harrington slipped from No. 40 to No. 48 in the new rankings, while Jack Kohnen inched up from No. 60 to No. 57, giving Iowa State a little bit of movement on both sides of the ledger.
The bigger picture is still forming through their work with Team Herro on the Nike EYBL circuit, where summer performances are becoming a major part of how evaluators sort out the class. Kohnen, Davis and Harrington all logged enough visible run to factor into the conversation, and for Iowa State the intrigue is less about where the rankings stand today than how much they could keep shifting before this class is finished taking shape. [Read more 🡒]
Arizona Just Entered The Big 12s New Experience Arms Race
Iowa States backcourt took a hit when point guard Killyan Toure went down with a shoulder injury that is expected to keep him out for about half of the season. For a Cyclones team trying to stay sharp in a Big 12 that has leaned hard into veteran experience, that kind of absence matters even more now, especially with roster construction changing around the league.
The new 5-for-5 eligibility rule has given players five years to use five seasons, and it has already pushed more proven older transfers into Big 12 lineups. Several conference teams have gone shopping for fifth-year seniors, raising the bar for experience and making depth a bigger part of the conversation in Ames. For Iowa State, the challenge is not just replacing minutes, but keeping pace in a league that keeps finding new ways to stockpile it. [Read more 🡒]