Iowa State’s loss pushed the Cyclones down to 0-2, but it propped up a budding star.

Hakeem Butler’s five catches for 174 yards and two touchdowns in Iowa State’s 37-27 loss to Oklahoma shattered his career-high for receiving yardage in a game.

On a pair of those receptions, Butler’s ability to shuck off defenders shined.

“[Quarterback] Zeb [Noland] put it in the right spot, and then from there it was just on me,” Butler said about his 51-yard touchdown.

While Cyclone fans witnessed glimpses of dominance from Butler last season and early into 2018, Butler hasn’t shown the ability to string together multiple stellar performances throughout his career.

In Iowa State’s game against Iowa, the Hawkeyes bottled Butler up, limiting the 6-foot-6 wide receiver to three receptions and 35 yards (both statistics tied or led the Cyclones.) Part of the lack of statistics tallied in the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk series can be attributed to Iowa’s stout defense and an out-of-sync offensive line.

A rough game followed by a Butler outburst hasn’t been uncommon.

One of Butler’s strongest performances as a redshirt sophomore occurred in Iowa State’s 21-20 win over Memphis in the Liberty Bowl back in December 2017. Butler snared five passes for 111 yards and a score.

The game before the Liberty Bowl, Butler recorded two catches for 23 yards, although he snagged one score. Butler started last season blazing hot, compiling 12 catches for 203 yards and three touchdowns against Northern Iowa and Iowa.

Butler’s numbers fizzled in the middle stretch of the season, failing to catch a touchdown in his next five games.

Meanwhile, Iowa State went 4-1 during that stretch. The Cyclones had the luxury of Allen Lazard, Marchie Murdock and Trever Ryen to pick up the slack.

This year, Butler is shouldering some of the workload left by the trio. Another difference early in the 2018 season is Iowa State’s starting quarterback. Noland started against Oklahoma and is pegged to start against Akron. The redshirt sophomore played some last season but not this early in the season.

Butler said nothing changes with Noland at the helm, but Noland brings a bigger arm with a risk-taking mentality compared to redshirt senior quarterback Kyle Kempt.

Noland also has a fondness of slinging the ball to Butler.

“I did my best job to get 1-on-1 and get him the ball and let Hakeem do Hakeem things,” Noland said. “He did it last year against Baylor when I played. I just did my best to let him go out there and do his thing.”

Against Baylor, Butler had one catch, but he made it count. Butler’s catch went for 67 yards and a touchdown with 2:19 left before halftime in Iowa State’s 23-13 win over the Bears.

Fast-forward to this season, and Butler looks to head the wide receiver unit.

If Iowa State wants to buck its 0-2 start and qualify for a bowl game, Butler needs to make an impact for the rest of Iowa State’s games.

“Hakeem, I thought, took his game a week ago to where he is today and I think really improved greatly,” said coach Matt Campbell. “Hakeem’s had a phenomenal summer. I know I’ve spoken very highly of him. I trust him, and I think he’ll be an anchor for us as we go.”