It’s become an admitted cliche for Matt Campbell and Iowa State football over the years, but after Friday’s 23-20 win over Texas, the idea of “loving the process” couldn’t be ignored any longer.

Iowa State not only beat Texas in Austin for the first time since 2010 but also officially clinched a share of first place of the Big 12 regular season standings, a feat Iowa State was far away from during Campbell’s first recruiting class in 2016.

But now, four years later, Iowa State is slowly moving closer to reaching the top of the mountain in the Big 12 with just one more opponent standing in its way.

As No. 12 Iowa State (7-2 overall, 7-1 Big 12) prepares to end its regular season schedule with a senior night clash with West Virginia (5-3 overall, 4-3 Big 12) Saturday, the 17 seniors, and the process they believed in, were the focus of Tuesday’s media availability. 

Senior class giving back hope

Campbell’s first recruiting class in 2016 came into an Iowa State program with a lot of work to accomplish, and it was clear from the very first season in Ames.

Iowa State went 3-9 in the 2016 season, losing its nine games by an average of 16 points per game. But as frustrating as it looked from the outside, Iowa State continued to stay the course, led by the now-seniors that have watched the program transform into a place to truly believe in.

“This is a group that came on hope and have really given back hope to everybody else around this program,” Campbell said.

Campbell said he has had and will continue to show an appreciation for the seniors weathering the storm that existed in the program when they arrived and staying the course during one of the most challenging football seasons ever.

One of the names Campbell mentioned from his beloved senior class is Landen Akers, a player who does pretty much everything for Iowa State.

Whether it’s on the punt return team, kickoff team, punt team or at wide receiver, Akers’ name has been involved with some of the biggest plays from the historic 2020 season for the Cyclones.

“When I think of Landen, I think the glue of what makes our football program really special,” Campbell said.

Akers admitted there were some doubts on his mind after the 3-9 season to begin his time as a Cyclone, and he said the buy-in didn’t start until after Iowa State went down to Norman, Oklahoma, and took down the Sooners in 2017.

“We’ve all been grinding to get to moments like these, so it really means a lot to us right now,” Akers said.

Offensive lineman Sean Foster had similar reservations after a 3-9 start to “the process” in 2016.

After a few seasons being placed lower on the depth chart and not starting games, the time away from the field allowed Foster to look inward and start to ask himself the same questions Campbell has preached since he first arrived.

Foster said it’s been a long journey, but he’s glad to see the program come full circle like it has shown in 2020.

Staying the course with the process

With a roster of 18- to 22-year-old student athletes, buying into a long and uncertain path toward success might be a hard sell on paper. Starting his tenure off with a 3-9 record, or losing so many one-score games in 2019, the thought of the process never loving you back like Campbell said could have crept in the minds of some. But not Iowa State.

It starts with checking ego at the door once you enter the program, a lesson Campbell said many in society don’t want to accept. Campbell said the world finds itself in a state of instant gratification, but Iowa State has never and can’t afford that luxury.

Iowa State needed to be built from the ground up slowly and with care, an idea that Campbell said the players and coaches had to trust. It wasn’t what the world expected, but Campbell said time is a great ally when building something that’s never been done before.

“We’ve become an instant gratification society; everybody wants success and everybody wants it now,” Campbell said. 

All Iowa State needs to do is win Saturday, clinching a spot in the Big 12 Championship, and the years of working at the process will look to finally love the team back.

Scouting West Virginia

The Mountaineers have not played a game since their win over TCU on Nov. 14, but the time off has not made Campbell and Iowa State forget just how good they can be.

Campbell said in the games West Virginia has played up to this point, the idea of playing “team football” has been evident on film. Offense, defense and special teams have played together and have brought intensity into every game they’ve played.

“They jump off the film with just how talented of a football team they really are,” Campbell said.

Defensive back Lawrence White echoed his coach’s praise, giving credit to West Virginia’s receivers and the experience they have. In his final game in Jack Trice Stadium, White expects Saturday to be a four-quarter battle.

“They play hard, they play all four quarters and it’s going to be a really good game,” White said.