During last year’s football season opener, Iowa State lost to Texas Christian University 23-20 before limping to a 3-9 record for the year.

Last night, the Cyclones proved they finally may be a force to be reckoned this year, as they trounced divison-2 Indiana State by a score of 33-7.

The Cyclones looked impressive throughout the game, with solid offence and a defense that didn’t allow a touchdown until the fourth quarter.

Darren Davis and Ennis Hayward both ran for more than 100 yards, and Sage Rosenfels showed he was ready for Big 12 football by passing for one touchdown and running for another.

More impressive, however, were the ISU fans that turned out for the game.

Last year, ISU averaged only 35,181 fans a game during the entire season, compared to 60,748 for other Big 12 schools.

This year, 33,936 showed up for the first game, cheering the Cyclones onto victory. While that still may be below last year’s average, it’s not bad for a Thursday night.

And, student season tickets are already sold out. The tickets were gone by 4 p.m. Thursday afternoon.

Students — and other Cyclone fans — can still buy single-game tickets, and if you haven’t already, you should.

You haven’t really experienced Iowa State until you’ve stood among the throngs of Cyclone fans, cheering on the cardinal and gold.

Buy a ticket for one of the team’s many games. You won’t regret it.

And if you have a ticket for next weekend’s Iowa-Iowa State game, be there.

Cyclone football looks like it’s back. Don’t miss a second.