Just less than a year ago, coach Matt Campbell and the Iowa State football team walked off the field at Jack Trice Stadium in disbelief.

Campbell’s debut at Iowa State ended in a 25-20 defeat at the hands of in-state foe Northern Iowa. Penalties and turnovers plagued the Cyclones in the loss, and some members of the team felt the loss was self-inflicted.

Campbell labeled it “hugely frustrating.” Former quarterback and current linebacker Joel Lanning said Iowa State “deserved to lose.” Senior wide receiver and team captain Allen Lazard described the game as “terrible.”

“We obviously shot ourselves in the foot numerous times that game,” Lazard said this week.

Players, of course, weren’t the only people disappointed.

“[Turnovers are] something that we’ve worked on with detail that didn’t get displayed tonight,” Campbell said last year after the game. “That’s certainly an area that is huge. How are you going to win a game when [the margin is] 4-1?

“We’re not good enough and neither is anyone else to win games with that situation.”

The Cyclones haven’t forgotten that feeling, and it’s easy to see why. After all, tomorrow’s game features the same two teams, in the same stadium, with the same kickoff time, on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend just like last year.

Simply put, a lot about this matchup is familiar. But a lot can change in one year.

All spring and summer, Campbell and the Iowa State coaching staff have talked about the difference from year one to year two. Last year, Campbell said, only one player could bench press 400 pounds or more. Now? The number is around 15.

It’s difficult to overstate how much has changed in the program over such a short period of time. Players on both sides of the ball have gained confidence, thanks to game experience they gained in 2016.

“I’m a lot more confident [right now],” Lazard said. “Not only in myself but in the team as well. We’ve got a really good vibe in the locker room.”

Lazard has been in the program for over three years now, and has played in 35 of Iowa State’s 36 games since the start of the 2014 season. He’s seen the changes in the program firsthand.

“It makes a huge difference from last year to this year,” Lazard said. “Last year, people individually were trying to find themselves and their roles on the team, as well as figure out what the coaches were wanting from them.

“Just seeing the change over a year and being comfortable within the program, you can just see the growth and what it’s made.”

Redshirt junior quarterback Jacob Park didn’t play against the Panthers last year, as Lanning was still the starter at that point.

“It’s definitely fun,” Park said about the difference since last year’s opener. “It’s fun to go out there every day and have guys that want to be at practice, want to get better and do the right thing. It’s contagious around here right now.”

Lanning, now a linebacker, won’t have the same chance at revenge as some of his teammates. His role has changed, but his memory of last year’s opener hasn’t.

“Last year we went into the game still trying to figure out who we were,” Lanning said. “We’re a lot closer as a team now.”