It’s no secret that Iowa State has played a challenging schedule this season. In fact, Iowa State plays one of the nation’s toughest schedules among all Bowl Subdivision teams.

The combined records of Iowa State’s first eight opponents is 41-16. All the opponents have winning records, and three of them have already locked up bowl eligibility.

“To be at 4-4 and have the resiliency that our kids have shown to this point, and to come away from Austin, Texas, with win number four and win number two in the Big 12, we’re very happy,” said ISU coach Paul Rhoads at his weekly news conference Monday.

With Kansas and Colorado still on the schedule, Iowa State’s bowl chances have increased. The Cyclones will likely be favored against both teams, and both are below the Cyclones in the Big 12 standings.

This marks the second-straight season Rhoads has coached his team to a monumental win on the road. Last season, Iowa State knocked off Nebraska in Lincoln for the first time since 1977.

Rhoads was unable to pick which one was more significant, saying they were both significant but in different ways.

“They were at different points of the season and had different impacts on the season,” Rhoads said. “Both were certainly historic. One win put us at 5-3 and we were coming off a victory; this win was on the heels of two big losses that got us back to .500.

“You can’t argue that beating traditional programs like that gives a huge boost to a program that’s trying to make a name for itself.”

Iowa State was a 21-point underdog heading into the game with Texas.

The Longhorns were coming off a victory over Nebraska in Lincoln, a team they’ve lost to only once. Their other losses this season have come to UCLA and now Iowa State.

Impact on recruiting

Usually it is the coaches that are calling the recruits.

In the wake of the victory over the Longhorns, Rhoads and the ISU coaching staff experienced how monumental wins can help recruiting.

“On the bus, our coaches received phone call after phone call from recruits offering congratulations,” Rhoads said. “When you have that happening, you know you’ve already impacted the kids, and a win impacts that even more.”

Rhoads himself stopped counting his text messages at 125 after turning his phone on after the game.

Jacob Lattimer

In his first-ever start, junior Jacob Lattimer made a big impact at defensive end.

Lattimer recorded two sacks, forced a fumble and hurried Texas quarterback Garrett Gilbert four times starting in the spot formerly occupied by junior Patrick Neal.

The former linebacker made the switch to defensive end before the season started, and his performance against the Longhorns earned him Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors.

“The production was fantastic,” Rhoads said. “[Lattimer’s] been coming along, and that’s why we made the move. He was relentless in the victory on Saturday, but I thought the whole front four made an impact on the game and had the quarterback scrambling quite often.”

Fans’ reception

After hearing about the victory, an impromptu pep rally was scheduled at the Bergstrom Indoor Practice Facility to welcome the team home.

While Rhoads would like to get the program to a point where victories over teams like Texas become common practice, his players were grateful.

“It reminded me so much of last year when we beat Nebraska,” said quarterback Austen Arnaud. “To come home to that is unbelievable and these fans, the way they come out and support us, they deserve to have us win every weekend. We’re just trying to give back to them.”

Running back Alexander Robinson was also encouraged by the huge fan support the team received upon returning to Ames.

“It was huge for us,” Robinson said. “It just shows how much our fans stick behind us after two losing weeks, and then you get a win like that. They come back and pack the indoor for us and celebrate with us.”