Let’s be real: Iowa State’s had its fair share of terrible opening weeks.

Just two short years ago, in coach Matt Campbell’s first year, the Cyclones fell to Northern Iowa, 25-20.

In 2014, North Dakota State (led by future NFL quarterback Carson Wentz) marched into Jack Trice Stadium and won by 20.

It’s hard to look at any season-opening game for Iowa State (or any Iowa State game at all, for that matter) and say it’s a lock. Nothing drains the hype entering college football season like dropping the first game of the year to a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) opponent.

And because of that, Cyclone fans, just be happy with a win this week, even if it doesn’t look pretty.

For the record, I think Iowa State wins — convincingly, I might add, and you can check out my full prediction in Friday’s Gridiron section — but South Dakota State is no slouch.

Remember last year’s game against Northern Iowa? You probably don’t remember it very well, because it was a comfortable, relatively uneventful win for Iowa State. UNI scored on its opening possession, but by the end of the first quarter, Iowa State held a lead it would keep — and extend — for the rest of the game.

Never mind the fact that Iowa State only outgained the Panthers by 27 total yards, or that the Cyclones racked up seven penalties for 74 yards, or even how the Iowa State rushing attack mustered just 3.8 yards per carry against an FCS defense.

The point is that Iowa State won, and nobody cares anymore about the rest of those details. The Cyclones didn’t play perfect football in week one, and they didn’t need to play perfect football. No Cyclone fan that I know looks back on the 2017 season opener with disappointment.

That’s the lesson for this year, too.

At the end of the day, an ugly win is still a win. Campbell won’t love an ugly win and neither will the players. But with such a tough first-half schedule, a new receiving corps and defensive secondary and a revamped offensive coaching staff, there will be bumps in the road.

Maybe the best example is David Montgomery. You know, the junior running back who last year, as a sophomore, was first team All-Big 12 by ESPN, the Associated Press and the coaches.

He ran for a grand total of 82 yards against Northern Iowa last season. Eighty-two total rushing yards. Granted, this was on only 14 carries, but 82 yards was only Montgomery’s 7th best total of the season and it was his lowest total of Iowa State’s three non-conference games. Again, this was against an FCS opponent that allowed over 125 rushing yards per game.

The recipe for Iowa State to have a successful week one is pretty simple: don’t suffer major injuries, find a way to eke out a victory and fix the inevitable problems before week two’s matchup with Iowa. A 1-point win is still a win.

Iowa State has the potential to make something special happen in 2018. That won’t happen if the train falls off the tracks in week one.