Iowa State freshman quarterback Todd Bandhauer couldn’t be happier with his situation. The Lecanto, Fla., native, who led ISU to a 38-14 victory over Oklahoma State in his first start, is living the life so many young athletes dream of.

“It was a huge victory for our program and for the school. I think it boosts our confidence up another level. We’ve won three more games than anyone expected us to,” Bandhauer said.

ISU head football coach Dan McCarney also voiced his approval of Bandhauer.

“I’m extremely happy. It’s his first start and he steps in there and he’s over 90 percent from a decision standpoint. He had no interceptions and three touchdowns. Nobody on the field had more fun than Todd did, “McCarney said.

“His family was here from Florida, and you can’t write much of a better script for a young man in his first college start. It was an outstanding job.”

Bandhauer connected on 11 of 18 passes for 137 yards and three touchdowns on Saturday. He is the Daily’s Cyclone Profile player of the week.

Bandhauer’s statistics are even more impressive when you consider that he only played quarterback his senior year in high school.

But Bandhauer’s senior year was impressive. He connected on 199 of 252 pass attempts for 1,655 yards. That performance earned him a place on the all-Gulf Conference team and a place on the District VIII all-star selection team.

“We thought he was a project when we first signed him. We thought he’d be a year or two away from being a real-time player. But he made real fast progress. You could just see it each day. He just really started to get a feel for our offense. He just has great, great potential and has came along faster than any of us ever envisioned,” McCarney said.

“We anticipated redshirting him when we signed him. He needed to get a little more stronger and a little more physical. We knew he was extremely bright. He had a chance to go to the Ivy leagues. He’s one of the top students here on campus.”

Bandhauer also excelled in the high school classroom where he was selected as a National Honor Society member and earned four academic letters. He was also Lecanto High’s trigonometry champion.

The mathematical interest has carried over into the ISU classroom where Bandhauer is currently majoring in mechanical engineering.

Still the biggest challenge lies ahead for him.

The Cyclones travel to Lincoln this Saturday to take on the No. 1 ranked Huskers and a soldout Nebraska crowd.

Many Cyclone fans still have the 1992 ISU-Nebraska match up in their minds, with visions of Marv Seiler leading the Cyclones to victory. Those same fans are hoping for the same out of young Bandhauer.

“I heard it was a great win. I heard it was just one of the greatest experiences that they’ve ever had, especially the older guys that I talked to. They said that you never forget a feeling like that,” Bandhauer said.

For a young quarterback, Bandhauer showed his confidence by eagerly welcoming the Husker challenge and the Lincoln Memorial crowd.

“We’re not frightened. I don’t think we’re the least bit frightened. Anybody can beat anybody on any given day. College football is a funny game,” he said.

“I love playing in front of a big crowd. It’s great playing in front of a bunch of people anytime you’re doing anything.”