Iowa State Cyclones College Football Pregame Quote, 09/23/2025

On the team’s overall health out of the bye week

We get a lot of guys back, which is really big for us.

I think we were really dinged up. I think really everybody that you would ask me about, looks like we’ll be back. The only guy that’s probably not back this week is Kyle.

I think the one thing positive for us with Kyle is it’s not going to be a long-term situation, but it’s, the reality of it is to be able to get Gabe back, to get Willich back, to get John Klosterman back. I think those are huge. Aiden Flora back.

I think all those things will really help our football team, and those guys are really good football players, and we need to step into a powerful role and continue to move ourselves forward.

I think the positive is so many guys, even last Saturday, got great reps, meaningful plays, and, you know, we got to evaluate who those guys were and then even move into the bye week and continue to pour some great reps into our football team.

On who will be Iowa State’s kicker on Saturday

Yeah, Chase has been. I mean, he’s kicked already a bunch this year.

So, I think he’s had, boy, I think he’s kicked off two games, right? Didn’t he kick off the whole South Dakota game? He kicked off the whole game last week. Kicked off against Iowa, and then, he’s been the point scorer on some extra points. So, got a lot of confidence in him, and, again, he’s done a great job when his numbers got called and really been a great surprise for us.

I thought he had a great fall camp, so have a lot of confidence in him.

On Chase Smith being a good athlete, multi-talented kicker

Did a lot, yeah, yeah. So, I think that mentality, and we’ve talked about that at times, sometimes those specialists, and I think those guys that have been, all-sport players, it’s been great because I think it gives those guys great confidence to go in and do their job.

And he certainly has got that kind of mentality for us, and we’ve got a lot of belief in him.

On how Konrardy being out affects how the team operates

Yeah, I think it all depends. I don’t know how much that really changes who we are or what we’re about.

I think, again, there’s a lot of confidence from myself and our staff on what Chase can do. So, I think that’s probably a lot of that is more of and flow of the game a little bit than it is maybe so much of what those guys can do.

I think the great thing is Chase has shown to be very consistent when he’s been in, and he’s been able to do a really great job for us so far.

On Arizona QB Noah Fifita

Yeah, I mean, I feel like we’ve gotten a lot of athletic quarterbacks so far this year, and I think you guys have seen it as well as I have. It stresses the defense in every way, shape, and form.

I think what you’ve seen from this young man is just a great confidence. Now year two in this system, year three as the starter. Boy, is he confident.

He’s confident where he’s going with the football. He’s got elite arm strength. He’s got the ability to make all the throws, which is uber impressive.

And, yes, he is mobile, but he’s also confident enough to step up in the pocket and make the big throws over the middle, and that’s what’s really impressive about him. So I think he not only does he challenge you with his feet, but he’s got really elite arm talent. He’s got the ability to make all the throws in great precision, and he’s got some real talented, skilled players on the outside that deliver the football too.

On injury details with Kyle Konrardy

Yeah, I think it’s more of a leg injury in terms of a strain than it is anything else, and I really think it’s more week-to-week right now. I think we’re certainly excited about that it’s not a long-term deal, and I think he’s excited. He’s having a great year, but one of those situations we’ll just go week-to-week with.

On if kicker Jace Gilbert will miss the game with injury

Jace was. He got hurt in the South Dakota game after the first kickoff. So, you know, he’ll be out.

Hopefully we’ll get him back by the end of the football season.

On if he feels like it was a productive bye week

Boy, I did. I mean, I thought it was a huge bye week.

I think just, man, when you have the collection of four-game data, where are you? What are you doing well? I think we played a lot of football players in those first four football games, so guys also had videotape evidence of themselves. And to be able to, collect that, really sit down on Sunday and Monday, do a great job, where’s our gaps? Where do we got to get better? And really had great practices. I thought Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, really physical football practices, which I thought we needed.

And then the opportunity to kind of take a breath there on Friday and get our kids back Sunday ready to go. So, I think a lot of emphasis was on ourselves and then as we got into the weekend moving towards Arizona.

On now being the longest tenured Big 12 coach (Utah’s Kyle Whittingham has been with the Utes longer)

Boy, it doesn’t sound like it’s a good thing to me. So who knows? Who knows? Who knows?

On how he feels the team got better during the bye week

Well, I don’t know if we’ll know until Saturday. To be honest with you. I think the hard part about having a bye week is the rhythm that you gain or lose by going into a bye week.

And I think there’s a maturity, and I’ll throw the word toughness out again, that you have to have to kind of regain that momentum going into game week. And so I think this will be another great test. I know I’ve said this, 70% of Power 5 football teams lose coming out of the bye.

And I think it’s a real challenge because it’s a mental toughness to continue to pound away at your habits and stay in that great routine that it takes to have a great Tuesday, a great Wednesday, a great Thursday to go play the game on Saturday.

So, I think the biggest thing you hope that you improved on is some of the fundamental things that, when you have four games and you kind of get tired along the way, some of those fundamentals and details can go by the wayside. You hope that we were able to kind of regain that. I saw that happen, in a positive way. And then now you’ve got to get yourself ready to get yourself back into game week. And, you’ve got a great team coming in here, a team that’s undefeated that’s going to challenge you in every way.

And, how do you show your growth from where you were the last time you were on that game field to the next time you’re on a game field? So I’m excited for that challenge.

On how WRs Xavier Townsend, Chase Sowell have influenced Iowa State’s offense

I just think the biggest thing is their health.

I think not being healthy all fall camp was a real challenge for them to get in rhythm, let alone learn a new offense and be in a new system. And so, I just think those guys continuing to gain, I almost felt like by the end of that Arkansas State game, you were kind of at the end of fall camp for what Xavier and Chase was. That’s a four-week block that, was really kind of like their fall camp.

So I think for them, what a great opportunity for them to step away, what I do well? What we do well? How do I get better? And then, for Rocco and those guys to really go to work on some of their rhythm.

I think the big thing for Xavier, you felt like visually you saw him get better every single game that he’s played over a four-week period. I think Chase has really showed up in some really positive ways as well during that block.

And, I think if you go back to, the last time when we had Jayden, it was really game five and six that it really took for him to kind of step into the offense and be successful. It was that Oklahoma game and TCU game where he really kind of came out. So, I just think there’s a time and a growth period, and especially when you lose so much in fall camp, that’s really hard.

So I think you see those guys continue to fundamentally get better and feel comfortable on the offense for sure.

On the biggest challenge for newcomers learning the offense

Yeah, no, I think any offense probably has its own complexities to it. But I think the reality in, different than when we had Jayden, there’s a lot of really good players in this offense.

So the ball can’t just go to one guy. I think the reality of all of it looks like, man, does your number get called? And when it does get called, are you going to be ready to make the play? And, I think that’s the great thing that you’ve seen from X. His number got called a couple times on Saturday that the coverage dictated him being open and he was able to make some huge plays when it came open.

I think Chase has had a couple of those moments in the last two games and made some really good plays as well. And so, I just think that’s probably the fun thing about us. I know I said this and I think I’ll probably be a broken record on this.

I mean, I think every game offensively, my guess is there’s going to be new guys step up because I just think the coverage, man, where the ball goes is going to be based on, what coverages and what defense come their way. And, I think one of Rocco’s great strengths is delivering the football to where the defense is allowing the ball to go. And I think he’s certainly grown immensely in that asset.

On the injury status of Jontez Williams

Yeah, Jontez was good Saturday. He kind of dinged up his foot.

It was a bruise. We just didn’t feel like, what it was. But he’ll be fine. He’s totally fine. Practiced all last week, so not injured

On where the defense has progressed in containing mobile QBs

Well, I think at times we’ve done a good job and at times we haven’t so far. I think that, and I don’t know if it’s just this defense. I think that’s the challenge with a mobile quarterback.

I think the thing that mobile quarterbacks do is, that gives the offense it allows you to equate hats in the run game and in the pass game you better have great precision and detail on your rush lengths because I think if you’ve made an inch off against a really mobile quarterback they can make you pay.

So not only are you playing pass defense but quickly you’re going to have to transition into run defense. So, I think that’s a challenge for any defense in the country and certainly has been a challenge at times for us when we’ve had great discipline and how we address who’s got the quarterback in our run game and certainly our ability to navigate pass rush lanes.

We’ve been really at our best and when we’ve been off those guys can make you pay and that certainly happens. We’ll have to have great discipline. We’ll have to have great detail on Saturday for sure.

On how roster limits affect the kicking position

Boy, I mean, and I said this before the season I think that’s the hard thing in college football you’re asking all these teams to play a lot of games, right? In the NFL, there’s a roster limit but you can also add guys at all times, right? And so I think that it is going to be vital. I mean, I think at some point could you get to where we’re fortunate we’ve got Chase.

I mean, Chase is a damn good kicker and we’re fortunate to have him but you can imagine if you didn’t have that situation what a tough situation you could be in and will that happen to some teams? I’m sure.

I just think that’s the nature of our business you’re dealing with. College 18 to 22-year-olds that are growing physically and injuries are going to happen you can’t control that. So I think that is probably the one thing I was scared about when you said you’re going to have a 105-man roster limit and not be able to replace anybody in your roster.

Nobody still made sense of that rule to me but I get it. What do I know? But the reality of that situation I think it can be certainly really challenging for sure.

On who Iowa State’s backup kicker is vs. Arizona

Can you kick? Can you go? I might put you on the roster.

On the strain having to kick FGs and do kickoffs puts on a kicker

I think minimal. I mean, most kickers in football do multiple things. I think we’re probably the only school in America that would ever have somebody do one thing.

So the reality of it is most kickers are doing both. Or punting and kickoff or point scorer and kickoff. So, I don’t think that really had much to do with it.

He had been dealing with a lot here over the course of the last month. And we’ve tried to really do a great job, be smart, and again, I think that’s why you saw Chase.

Really, that’s not really true. Those guys were splitting the reps of the kickoff. Both those guys did, really both games. So, yeah, it is part of the deal.

I think both those guys, especially when you talk roster limits today, boy, those guys are going to have to be multifaceted in terms of what they do for a football team, for sure