Iowa State head football coach Matt Campbell addressed the media Friday afternoon after practice. Here are the biggest takeaways.

Kene Nwangwu battling back from injury

Campbell said Iowa State still hasn’t decided what to do with sophomore running back and kick returner Kene Nwangwu.

Nwangwu suffered an achilles injury during the offseason and is still recovering.

“By the end of September I’d like to have a really good understanding of what we’re going to do with him,” Campbell said. “I think that’s our aiming point, to get to the end of that month and and figure out where he’s at, what’s in the best interest for him, what’s the best interest for our football team.”

Nwangwu would likely be the third option at running back this season behind fellow sophomore David Montgomery and junior Mike Warren. However, his impact at kick returner will be hard to replace. Nwangwu’s return average of 26.4 yards per return was the second-best average in the Big 12 and the 15th-best average in the nation last year.

Depth in the trenches

When Jake Campos broke his leg before the start of the 2016 season, Iowa State was put into an even bigger hole than it started in.

Because of injuries, Iowa State had to play some guys earlier than it wanted. Julian Good-Jones got 11 starts as a redshirt freshman. Bryce Meeker earned a start in the season-opener against Northern Iowa and appeared in all 12 games.

However, Good-Jones and Meeker are the exceptions. Guard Robby Garcia spent the first three-and-a-half years of his college career as a defensive lineman and didn’t move to the offensive side of the ball until the middle of last season. Oge Udeogu has never played at the Division I level, yet he was listed as the starting right guard before fall camp began.

Needless to say, Iowa State’s lack of experience on the offensive line is evident.

“I feel excited that we have numbers,” Campbell said. “I’d love to sit up here and brag and tell you that I think those guys are the greatest thing in the world but that’s coach talk. The fact of the matter is, they have to go prove it.”

Getting ready for September 2

The Cyclones are just two weeks away from taking the field at Jack Trice Stadium for the first game of the season. The opponent is a familiar one.

Iowa State has a 21-6-3 all-time lead in the series against Northern Iowa, but the series is tied at three wins apiece since former Iowa State head coach Dan McCarney resigned after the 2006 season.

The Panthers gave Matt Campbell a rude welcome to his new job last year when they upset Iowa State, 25-20, in last year’s season opener.

“Coach [Mark] Farley has been there for a long time,” Campbell said. “Their formula for success doesn’t vary. They’re going to run the ball, they’re going to take care of the football, they’re going to play really good with their front seven on the defensive side of the football.

“They’re going to try to do a great job of not beating themselves.”

The task for Iowa State against UNI will be similar; don’t beat themselves. Iowa State threw two interceptions, lost two fumbles and committed four more penalties than the Panthers. Northern Iowa’s go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter came after a Joel Lanning interception on second down with a one-point lead.