For Oklahoma State, Iowa State looks like one of those 2026 opponents that can be hard to pin down because so much has changed on both sides. The Cyclones brought in more than 50 players through the transfer portal after more than 20 players followed Matt Campbell to Penn State, and Jimmy Rogers is working with a fresh staff around him. Tyler Roehl is in charge of the offense, Jesse Bobbit is running the defense, and Bobbit comes over from Washington State with Rogers.
The quarterback spot gives Iowa State a real foundation. Jaylen Raynor has spent the last three years proving he can handle life at the Group of Six level, and his résumé is stacked with production.
At Arkansas State, he was the 2023 Sun Belt freshman of the year and finished with 8,694 passing yards, 52 touchdown passes and 28 interceptions. His completion rate climbed every season, from 58.2% as a freshman to 66.5% as a junior, and he added 1,183 rushing yards and 15 scores on the ground.
That matters because the Cyclones are expected to lean on a downhill rushing game and play-action passing. That setup should help Raynor ease into the offense before Big 12 play gets rolling, and it gives him a chance to become one of the conference’s quieter breakout quarterbacks.
There’s also some real intrigue on the back end of the defense. Iowa State has a mix of returners and transfers that could fit together well in the secondary.
David Coffey and Drew Surges are back after contributing last season, even though neither was a starter. Coffey recorded 11 tackles and two pass breakups.
Surges finished with 26 tackles, one interception and two pass breakups.
The newcomers there bring some punch too. Keyon Washington arrives from Bowling Green after putting up 37 tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and three pass breakups.
Duhron Goodman comes in from Washington State with nine tackles on his ledger. That group has a lot of room to make noise.
Up front, though, the picture is much less settled. The offensive line is basically starting over because of the coaching change and the portal.
Jake Taylor, who transferred in from Oklahoma, is the name Iowa State is leaning on as the leader, but he has only started four games in four seasons and still has work to do to keep the job. The rest of the group includes FCS standouts from strong programs, including Montana’s Coin Amick and Tarleton State’s Braden Smith, who was an all-American.
That makes the line a true question mark. It might come together.
It might not. And if it doesn’t, the concern is whether Rogers and his staff have enough depth to survive if the projected starters don’t hold up.
One of the most dangerous pieces Iowa State added is Bowling Green running back and return man who earned all-MAC and freshman all-American honors last season. He piled up 900 yards between rushing, receiving and returns, and he scored touchdowns as both a receiver and on special teams.
At 5-10 and 190 pounds, Pettaway brings a lot of ways to hurt a defense. In a system built around downhill runs, swing passes and a vertical passing game, he should get plenty of chances to create problems for Oklahoma State on Halloween.
In Other News...
Big 12 Tension With Texas Tech Just Put Houston Fans On Notice
The Big 12s media days in Frisco had the usual polished rollout on the surface, including commissioner Brett Yormark talking up the leagues new Monster Energy partnership and weighing in on playoff expansion and sports gambling. But the event also carried the kind of edge that tends to linger around this conference, especially when Texas Tech is involved. Yormark found himself in a tense exchange with Texas Tech media personality Sean Dillon, a reminder that the leagues public messaging and its member-school frustrations are not always in sync.
At the center of the irritation is a long-running dispute over how Texas Tech has been handled, from fines and banned traditions to the perception that other schools have been treated differently. The friction has also spilled into a broader power struggle with booster Cody Campbell, who has sparred with Yormark over scheduling and the leagues direction. For Big 12 schools like Oklahoma State, it is the sort of backdrop that can shape everything from conference politics to game-week optics, and it is clear the temperature between the league office and Lubbock is still rising. [Read more 🡒]
Big 12 Just Took Oklahoma States Jersey Patch Reality League Wide
College sports uniforms have been headed this direction for a while, and the Big 12 just made it official on a league-wide scale. The conference announced a $20 million partnership with Monster Energy that will put a Big 12-Monster patch on football and basketball uniforms for all 16 member schools, a move that is expected to bring each school about $1.25 million a year.
For Oklahoma State, the news lands in a landscape it already helped normalize after previously dropping its patch with the Osage Nation. The Cowboys are hardly alone in this new era, with Kansas, Arkansas, LSU, Michigan State, Memphis, UNLV and Wisconsin among the schools that have already gone down the jersey-sponsorship road, but the Big 12s deal takes the concept from isolated experiments to a conference standard. [Read more 🡒]
One Oklahoma State Holdover Just Sent A Big Rebuild Message
Amid a roster reset and coaching turnover, Jaleel Johnson has given Oklahoma State something every rebuilding program needs: a veteran holdover willing to stay the course. The defensive lineman confirmed he is returning for his final college season, a decision that gives the Cowboys some continuity on a defense that has been asked to absorb a lot of change at once.
Johnsons choice matters even more because he is coming off a season interrupted by injury, and new head coach Eric Morris has already made clear he sees a real role for him in the front. Johnson has framed the decision around loyalty and a desire to help Oklahoma State climb out of the recent struggles, and in a spring full of new faces, that kind of commitment can carry real weight. [Read more 🡒]