Following a two-game road trip and an important bye week, the Cyclones are back in Jack Trice Stadium for Homecoming weekend to take on No. 11 BYU at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
The Cougars are undefeated at 7-0, and have the chance to hand the Cyclones their third straight loss. As for Iowa State, it is looking to right the ship and get a marquee win over a high-ranked opponent.
BYU is sitting at the top of the Big 12 as the only team that is still undefeated, and it has won some close games over other talented Big 12 teams. Most recently, the Cougars took down No. 23 Utah 24-21 in the 2025 rendition of the Holy War rivalry.
“They’re a really great team,” Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell said. “I think, you know, I’ve talked about Kalani [Sitake] before, my respect for him. If my own son could play for anybody in college football, I would want my son to play for him.”
Since taking over as head coach for the Cougars in 2016, Sitake has had three double-digit win seasons, and has a chance to reach that mark again. This time, he has a true freshman quarterback in Bear Bachmeier leading the way.
Bachmeier has thrown for 1386 yards this season, but has also been effective on the ground. On 82 attempts, Bachmeier has run for 359 yards and eight touchdowns, tied for the most rushing touchdowns in the Big 12 this season.
“The tough ones are like this week, where they can run it and throw it,” defensive coordinator Jon Heacock said. “They’re throwing strikes down the field and because they run it so well, obviously you have to get extra hats in the game.”
The Cyclones have struggled a bit with mobile quarterbacks this season. Arkansas State quarterback Jaylen Raynor ran for 83 yards, Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby ran for 64 yards and Colorado quarterback Kaidon Salter ran for 57 yards. Bachmeier will offer up a similar challenge Saturday.
“I see a team that’s going to run the ball, be physical with you, and you just got to give it back to them,” sophomore defensive back Marcus Neal Jr. said. “You know, we got to be physical with them.”
To add to an already dynamic offense with Bachmeier under center, the Cougars have the Big 12’s leading rusher in terms of yards with LJ Martin, and he has over 100 yards more than the next closest player, with 774.
“When you start with this BYU team, you talk about physicality and their ability to run the football,” Campbell said. “On top of that, they’ve got playmakers on the perimeter.”
The perimeter playmakers Campbell is likely referring to are receivers Chase Roberts and Parker Kingston. Roberts has 463 yards and four touchdowns this season, including an 85-yard touchdown catch, and Kingston has 383 yards and two touchdowns.
Following the 24-17 loss at Colorado, Becht was emotional when talking about his game against the Buffaloes and what more he could have done to impact winning. Campbell saw this as a sign of leadership.
“You want to have leaders that want to take responsibility, and unfortunately, we’re probably in a world where I don’t know if the leaders want to take the responsibility,” Campbell said. “But in this building, the leaders want to take responsibility and lead from the front. I’m way more grateful to have those kind of guys in this football program.”
After a bye week allowing the Cyclones to regroup and reset, Becht is ready to play freely again, knowing that not everything he does will be perfect.
“I just love this team so much, I don’t want to mess up for them,” Becht said. “I don’t want to be the person to mess up. But it’s kind of like realizing that the quarterback, you know, he’s going to make a lot of mistakes and I got to know that.”
Becht is averaging a little over 231 passing yards per game this season and has been crucial for the Cyclones’ success, especially in three one-score wins that they have completed this season, one of which was the season-opening 24-21 win over then-No. 17 Kansas State.
“Rocco [Becht] has given us every opportunity to win every game we played, and that guy puts it on his shoulders,” Campbell said. “No different than I feel like I put it on my shoulders and Coach Heacock puts it on his shoulders and Mouser puts it on his shoulders. You want to have leaders that want to take responsibility.”
With redshirt sophomore kicker Kyle Konrardy and junior running back Carson Hansen expected to be back in action Saturday, the Cyclones are inching closer to being at full strength with the exception of season-ending injuries. Senior defensive lineman Domonique Orange is listed as questionable, but Campbell is hopeful that he is able to play.
Iowa State will take on No. 11 BYU at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, looking for its second ranked win of the season and an opportunity to stay in the hunt for a top spot in the Big 12. The game will be televised on Fox.
