AMES — Back in then-No. 11 Iowa State’s 23-22 loss to Texas Tech, which ended its perfect 7-0 start to the season, it was a crushing blow to see this team not only fall but to fall the way it did.
Multiple inconsistencies from both the offense and defense resulted in the Cyclones dropping their first game of the season and ending the chances to set a new program record for the best start to the season.
One of those falters came at the start of the second half, where Iowa State started with the ball after taking a 13-10 lead late in the first half.
It looked like the Cyclones were going to increase their lead over the Red Raiders when it all came down to one play, where quarterback Rocco Becht found redshirt sophomore tight end Gabe Burkle for an 18-yard completion, only for the ball to be ripped out and recovered by Texas Tech.
While the Red Raiders did not take advantage of this opportunity, it still played a massive part in Iowa State’s first loss of the season, as the Cyclones would have been at the Texas Tech 20-yard line with a first down.
However, while the game resulted in a loss for Iowa State, this turnover was used as fuel to improve for Burkle.
Entering the game against the Red Raiders, it was expected that Burkle, along with the other tight ends, would get an increased snap count after the injury to sophomore tight end Benjamin Brahmer in the 38-35 win over UCF two weeks prior.
Despite the one fumble, Burkle still finished the game second in receiving yards with 45 on four receptions.
Even after causing a crucial fumble, Burkle still used his mistake to his advantage by getting to grow and learn from that event.
“I was in a bad spot after that,” Burkle said. “You can’t look back at your mistakes, you just gotta focus in and look forward.”
That growth showed in the Cyclones’ next two games, but the most impactful game for Burkle was in Iowa State’s 34-17 win over Cincinnati.
In that game against the Bearcats, Burkle led the team in both catches (six) and receiving yards (73), with his longest catch being a 32-yard catch-and-run that ended up resulting in a two-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Carson Hansen to tie the game up at seven apiece.
“It was definitely special,” Burkle said. “I’m just glad I could do it for these seniors and the coaches out there.”
“It helped my confidence a lot,” Burkle said.
Even entering this game, the starting tight ends would be left to Burkle and redshirt senior Stevo Klotz, who had himself a game highlighted by his 22-yard fake punt run.
That meant that Burkle would see even more snaps, following an injury to redshirt junior tight end Tyler Moore, which he took advantage of in Iowa State’s big bounce-back win.
“The extra reps have definitely helped me,” Burkle said. “Being out there and getting into the flow by not subbing out a lot has kept me in that flow state.”
Before the Texas Tech game, Burkle had caught two passes for 13 yards. In the past three games, Burkle has amassed 139 yards on 12 receptions.
During his freshman year, Burkle had not seen this amount of workload on the offensive side of the ball, as he had only caught two passes for nine yards.
Burkle’s recent success comes as no surprise for head coach Matt Campbell and senior captain wide receiver Jaylin Noel, as they had looked forward to seeing his success in the passing game.
“We knew that [Burkle] was one of those guys who can go make plays whenever,” Noel said. “So for him to do that on Saturday, I was very happy to see him get those catches.”
“His role took a different tune on Saturday,” Campbell said. “None of those things surprised us since we knew he was a great pass catcher. The ball kind of just swung his way and [it was] great for that guy to make those plays in the moment because I think they’ll only continue to come to him, so I’m just really happy for him.”
Along with the recent success on the offensive side of the ball, Burkle continues to see consistent playing time on the special teams unit, as he adds to the multitude of ways that he can help the Cyclones.
“We ask so much of [Burkle],” Campbell said. “He’s so trusted that he starts on all the special teams and was averaging almost 55-60 plays before [Brahmer] got hurt.”
“He’s curious to get better,” Noel said. “For him to be able to constantly grow as a player has been very beneficial for our team.”
