AMES - Isaac “Bobby” Terrell didn’t arrive at Iowa State as some polished, can’t-miss edge rusher. He got here the hard way, and that’s exactly why the Cyclones trust him to help lead a defense that’s trying to hold opponents to 14 points or fewer this season.
Terrell’s story starts back at Washington State, where he was a 6-foot, 205-pound freshman trying to fight his way into a future at defensive end while playing defensive tackle. He remembers the doubts that came with that version of himself.
“The biggest part of my motor is I’ve had to will my way through everything,” said Terrell, who recorded seven sacks as a Cougar last season. “And my freshman year, when I’m 6-foot, eating as much food as I can to be 205 (pounds), playing (defensive tackle), and telling people I want to play defensive end at the next level - there (are) gonna be a lot of people who tell you you can’t.”
Now, the senior from Lehi, Utah looks the part. He’s 6-2 and 255 pounds, built lean and muscular, with the kind of relentless burst that has already made an impression inside the Iowa State locker room. The Cyclones voted him one of six team captains this season, a nod to both production and presence.
Sullivan Schlimgen, another Washington State transfer and now an ISU sophomore linebacker, said Terrell recently laid out his path for the team.
“He gave his testimony to the team the other day of how he got here, and it was nothing short of who he is as a person,” Schlimgen said. “He put in every ounce of hard work he could (to become) who he is today. That’s something that I think I, as a player, and this entire team can take from him.”
The nickname is Bobby, a throwback to Adam Sandler’s hard-nosed character in the 1998 football comedy “The Waterboy.” That’s what teammates and coaches call him.
His parents, Jen and Lance, and his five siblings call him Isaac. Either way, the name fits a player whose identity is built on effort, not flash.
“There are a lot of people (who) say things but don’t truly live it out,” said Cyclones defensive coordinator Jesse Bobbit, who also coached Terrell last season at Washington State. “But it’s cool that everyone can see that this guy lives his life the right way.”
That mindset traces back to a family that never let him coast. Terrell is one of six siblings, with four older brothers and a younger sister, and he said the standards set at home shaped everything that came after.
“When I was younger, my parents and my older brothers never let me quit in anything,” said Terrell, who’s expected to help anchor a reconfigured ISU defense that aims to limit opponents to 14 points or fewer this season. “And if I ever said I couldn’t do it, they always proved to me that I could do it.
So there have been moments I’ve called my brothers, my parents, my sister, but how they’ve helped me most is I had already known internally that I could do it by the way I was raised. They raised me to earn things and to be respectful, (and) be kind.”
That kindness doesn’t carry over once the ball is snapped. Terrell’s engine never seems to cool, and his game is built to stress quarterbacks snap after snap.
Iowa State hasn’t had a defensive lineman post seven or more sacks in a season since Will McDonald and Enyi Uwazurike did it in 2021, with McDonald at 11.5 and Uwazurike at nine. Both are now in the NFL, with McDonald on the New York Jets and Uwazurike on the Denver Broncos.
The Cyclones believe Terrell can be the next one in that line, even if he once looked like a long shot to become this kind of pass rusher. Jalon Bibbs, Iowa State’s defensive line coach, says the edge defender has a gear that’s hard to match.
“(He’s) different,” Bibbs said. “I’ve never really seen anything like it in person.
I still haven't seen anything like it in person, other than him. He only knows go.
… I’m so excited for him to be able to be out there in Jack Trice (Stadium) come the fall because I think it's going to be something pretty special to see.”
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