Peterson: To Iowa State's Matt Campbell, winning is about more than having a 1,000-yard rusher

AMES — In case you didn’t know it, Matt Campbell isn’t a huge stats guy.

When asked last Saturday about defensive end Will McDonald inching closer to becoming the Big 12 Conference’s career sacks leader, Iowa State's football coach preferred to talk about other things the All-America tight end does so well.

“He’s always been grading out very high on the film,” Campbell after the Ohio game. “He’s playing great football for us.”

I’m guessing Campbell has never thought much about recruiting rankings, national rankings, and how many times conference coaches have disrespected his team in preseason predictions.

So while many fans may have been surprised that Jirehl Brock wasn’t in last Saturday’s 43-10 blowout of Ohio long enough to get the 24 yards he needed for a third 100-yard rushing game in a row ... Campbell probably sees things differently.

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The Cyclones were comfortably in control. Backups, including at the running back position, needed to gain some experience. Iowa State’s best running back was among the regulars who cheered their backups during the final two quarters.

More significant games were to be played. Having a major contributor risk injury during a game that had already been decided would be the definition of irresponsible.

If that decision helps Iowa State during Saturday’s 11 a.m. home game against 17th-ranked Baylor, then no one (especially Brock) will care that he didn’t rush for 100 yards. There are nine Big 12 games to play over the next 10 Saturdays. Having a healthy No. 1 running back is more important than statistics.

So in case you’re wondering, that’s why Brock left a play or two after a 61-yard rush late in the second quarter.  He was done. He had nothing more to prove. He was ready to enter another Big 12 scheduling grind. And besides, Campbell didn’t have a clue how many yards Jirehl had, nor did he care.

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“I don't even know if he did or didn't play in the second half,” Campbell said during Tuesday’s press conference.

That’s how locked in he is to the team aspect of this job that he does very well.

Iowa State is 3-0 for the first time since 2012. It’s obvious that passing is becoming the offensive identity, and it's apparent there’s pretty good depth in the running backs room. That’s what’s important, and to be honest a solid team rushing total beats a 1,000-yard rusher playing in a bad backfield for a bad team.

“A while back, maybe that would mean something,” Campbell said of teams boasting about a 1,000-yard rusher. “I think today, it's about efficiency in running the football, which is still the key to success.”

Remember 1996, when Cyclone Troy Davis rushed for what then was an NCAA-record 2,185 yards, yet finished second to Florida quarterback Danny Wuerffel in Heisman Trophy balloting?

Davis, the first college football player to run for 2,000 yards in consecutive seasons, won three regions in the Heisman voting — the Southwest, Midwest and Far West.  Wuerffel, who passed for 3,625 yards and 39 touchdowns that season, won the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and South.

Wuerffel’s team had an 11-1 record. Davis’ Cyclones were 2-9.

“I don't know if there's a premium on where or how we get the yards as long as we can get the yards, whether it's from a lot of guys or just one guy,” offensive coordinator Tom Manning said.

Breece Hall led Iowa State rushers in 2019 with 897 yards, yet the position group as a whole rushed for 1,700 yards during a season that ended in the Camping World Bowl against Notre Dame. College football teams don't necessarily need a 1,000-yard rusher to be successful.

Campbell is more into his guys averaging four or more yards a rush, about rushing aggressively in short-yardage situations, and in the red zone.

Brock enters the Baylor game averaging 5.6 yards a rush, Cartevious Norton is at 7.0, Deon Silas at 4.7, and Eli Sanders 3.3.

“We’ve got a strong running back room,” Campbell said. “I think about how you're running the ball, rather than do you have 1,000-yard rusher.”

Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson embarked on his 50th year of writing sports for the Des Moines Register in December 2021. Reach him at rpeterson@dmreg.com, 515-284-8132, and on Twitter at @RandyPete.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State's Matt Campbell focuses on running the ball, not the rusher