A year removed from a storybook season, coach Paul Rhoads couldn’t sound happier.

The fourth-year coach of the ISU football team spoke with thundering enthusiasm — more than he’s typically known for — for the start of the 2012 season at Aug. 2’s ISU football media day at the Jacobson Building in Ames.

“There’s a great energy around our football program,” Rhoads said in his opening statement. 

“I’ve said it and will continue to say it. Why? Because our kids play hard. They play hard, and they play with a great passion.”

Despite closing last season with a loss to the Rutgers in the Pinstripe Bowl and record of 6-7, last season’s slate featured the Cyclones facing a school record seven ranked teams with monumental upsets against Iowa and No. 2 Oklahoma State — the highest-ranked opponent to ever fall to an ISU team.

This year presents new challenges for the team, with nine opponents on its schedule having won a minimum of seven games. 

Six of those teams — Oklahoma State, Baylor, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Texas Christian and West Virginia — come into this season having each won at least ten games last season.

“We wouldn’t be in the Big 12 if we didn’t want to have a challenge,” said free safety Jacques Washington. 

“Every week is going to be important this year. Every win is going to be important, and I think we’re looking forward to being a championship competitor this year.”

With the departure of Texas A&M and Missouri to the Southeastern Conference, the Big 12 will be welcoming West Virginia and Texas Christian to its gauntlet of competition. 

Both teams come into this season having won the Big East and Mountain West conferences last season.

“They make it an even tougher league,” said senior linebacker Jake Knott. 

“They’re two great teams that are always in the top 25, and both have two great offenses that have won a lot of games.

“To have those two talented teams come in, it’s going to be a challenge, and we’re looking forward to that challenge and embracing it.”

Texas Christian will be a Bowl Championship Series school for the first time this season, having competed in the non-Bowl Championship Series Mountain West Conference since 2005.

As a member of the Mountain West, Texas Christian went 12-3 against BCS schools — 6-3 against Big 12 schools and 3-1 against recurring opponent Baylor — before joining the Big 12 this year.

For running back James White, a Dallas native, going down to Fort Worth, Texas, for Iowa State’s Oct. 6 matchup against Texas Christian will provide an extra benefit.

“It’s good for me, and it’s good for my family to not wait a long, long time [to see them],” White said. 

“It’s good that I get to go down to Texas to see my family from time to time when we’re headed to Austin or TCU or Baylor.”

The Cyclones will be on the road when they play Texas Christian and Texas this season.

Iowa State will play West Virginia for the first time this season, hosting its new conference foe Nov. 23 in its regular season finale.

West Virginia’s closest opponent in the Big 12 is Iowa State — about 870 miles separates the two campuses — which has some folks buzzing about the creation of a potential rivalry between the two.

“The way coach was describing Morgantown, [W.Va.], it’s a lot like Ames. 

Their stadium’s a lot like Jack Trice — it’s got a lot of character,” said running back Jeff Woody. “A lot of what we’re doing here they’re trying to do over there, so there’s a lot of similarity. Similarity can sometimes breed contempt.”

However, Rhoads said he can’t call it a “rivalry” between his team and West Virginia quite yet.

“It will have to happen on the field,” Rhoads said. 

“I understand it, and I think it’s smart to talk about it. The fact that we’re playing them our last game … might add to that.

“But any rivalries that are going to come out of these new members will take a couple years on the field.”