Peterson: Matt Campbell feels for the seniors amid Iowa State's turnover-itis
STILLWATER, Okla. − A questionable play call. A dropped pass. An interception, a missed field goal and a fumble. You name, it, those plays (or some of them) have cost Iowa State football victories this season.
Plain and simple.
Catch passes that are thrown to you. Don’t drop the ball. Don’t throw passes the opponent can catch. Make a kick.
Yes, those plays are the difference between the Cyclones having a much better record than the 4-6 they carry into next Saturday’s game against Texas Tech at Jack Trice Stadium. That’s the point-blank explanation after Saturday’s error-filled 20-14 loss against Oklahoma State.
That’s easy for us to say, of course. We’re not the ones playing our guts out against more experienced opponents. We’re the second-guessers, the first-guessers, the people who ask the pointed questions when they need asking. We’re watching from afar what happens on the field, but from any vantage point – what happened from an Iowa State standpoint Saturday certainly wasn’t pretty.
The plain truth is that’s what has held this team back, a fact that was never more evident than what unfolded on the Cowboys’ home turf.
Three Hunter Dekkers interceptions. Two lost fumbles. A pass that would have meant a touchdown, had usually-dependable Jaylin Noel caught the ball around the 40-yard line. The odd throw that Dimitri Stanley couldn’t catch around the Oklahoma State 20-yard line in the first quarter.
Wow. You name it, it happened for an Iowa State team that must rally to reach its sixth bowl game in a row. Bowl game? I don’t even know why I brought that up, except that it’d be neat if the seniors finished careers the way they started.
“Next week is Senior Day,” coach Matt Campbell said after the game. “Why we’re even close, is because of our senior class. I would understand why our fans are frustrated. I would understand why everybody is frustrated because we all want to win.
“What I see behind closed doors, is our senior class. Could Xavier Hutchinson do any more for this team? Could O’Rien Vance do any more for this team? Could Anthony Johnson do any more? Tayvonn Kyle stepped up in a big way, Kendall Jackson stepped up a big way.”
And the Cyclones still lost against an opponent that came into the game with a two-game losing streak.
As usual, there was no quit in Campbell’s team. As usual, his guys went down fighting, this time the knockout blow being Dekkers' fourth-down sack at the Cowboys' 33-yard line with 19 seconds to play.
“Ninety percent of the teams I’ve been around folds their tent,” Campbell said. “The next thing you know, you get blown out here, you get blown out there, but this team never has, and it hasn’t because our seniors have held the standard.
“They’ve been elite givers. Their leadership has been nothing short of exceptional. The pain that I have, the frustration I have, is for the seniors who have laid it on the line every day.”
The problem hasn’t been the end. The problem has been that mistakes have forced a team with an inconsistent offense, to play from behind. Mistakes Saturday like:
∎When Noel dropped a pass that would have put Iowa State into the lead.
“Goes with the theme of the day, right?” Campbell said. “You’re right there to make the plays. Man, for whatever reason, our ball security – three of them in the red zone or inside the 50-yard line as you drive the ball up down the field. Man, a couple plays here and there ... we’ve got to be able to make the plays.”
I can throw out the inexperienced line here, but really, it’s 10 games into the season. Is anyone really inexperienced anymore?
∎The pass Stanley didn’t catch earlier in the game? My initial thought was that when Stanley looked back to catch the ball, all he saw was sun on the cloudless day. Campbell had another view.
“I think it was a little bit off and outside,” the coach said of Dekkers’ throw toward the sideline. “I don’t think it was the sun, in my opinion. It didn’t look like it was a catchable football, though it was in the sun.”
Sun.
No sun.
Iowa State lost the football and another game. It’s a trend. It’s a disturbing trend, one that I don’t know how it gets corrected. There’s no time to focus on ball-security during practice during game week, so just expect a few fumbles and a few interceptions in the remaining games against the Red Raiders and TCU. Expect them until proven different.
“It is what it is,” Campbell said. “You can’t win football games that way. You move the ball up and down the field, and you turn the ball over five times. You can’t win football games that way. It’s disappointing, obviously. . . .
“I look at us as teachers and coaches, and how do we continue to do a better job empowering our young guys moving forward?”
We’ll find out.
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 carelessness for the football dooms team in loss
