Iowa State Coach Matt Campbell Talks OSU, Injuries

Iowa State has played in a lot of close games so far this season; Oklahoma State, not so much.

The Cyclones’ games have been decided by an average of nine points this season, where as the Cowboys’ 20-point victory against Kansas on Saturday was OSU’s closest game of the year.

A lot of this has to do with the teams’ styles. ISU has relied heavily on its defense so far this season, as the Cyclones rank last in the Big 12 in offensive yards (299.5) and points (17.5) per game. OSU follows the traditional Big 12 shootout style, something ISU coach Matt Campbell was asked if his team could keep up with Tuesday.

“They’re gonna push the ball down the field,” Campbell said Tuesday. “Their running back, they’re gonna hand it to him 25 times a game, and he’s gonna get some big plays. What that does to the flow of the football game, and especially on the other side of it, is: How do you help your defense out? How do you give that ebb and flow in the football game? You know those things are probably going to happen in the game. We’ll play good defense, but they do a tremendous job of creating big plays and giving themselves opportunities in the game.”

With as much differences as the two teams have shown this year, like Oklahoma State, Iowa State is dealing with some key injuries.

It started in the Cyclones’ Week 2 game against Iowa when ISU quarterback Kyle Kempt went down with a knee injury. Kempt threw for 1,787 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2017. He has since returned to practice, but when asked about his status entering the Cyclones’ game against OSU on Saturday, Campbell said Kempt wouldn’t play.

So, it looks as if redshirt sophomore Zeb Noland will be at quarterback again this weekend for the Cyclones. Noland had decent games against Oklahoma and Akron, but against TCU last week, Noland completed only 50 percent of his passes and was held to  only 79 yards.

The Cyclones latest injury woes revolve around junior running back David Montgomery. Montgomery, a Pro Football Focus All-American in 2017, left late in the fourth quarter in a tie game against TCU on Saturday and didn’t return.

Campbell said MRIs and X-Rays didn’t reveal anything major, but he said Montgomery is dealing with deep bruising in his upper arm that has been causing him pain.

Campbell said Montgomery’s status entering the OSU game is day-to-day, but he said if Montgomery can play, he will. If Montgomery isn’t able to go, though, Campbell said his teams approach won’t change much.

“I don’t think (the approach) changes much (if Montgomery can’t play) because we have great confidence in that running back room,” Campbell. “We’ve got a lot of guys in there that A: are waiting for their opportunity, and B: have proven that they’re ready for their opportunity. If David is not there, we think David is a tremendous football player, as we all know, and believe in him, but if he’s not healthy enough to go play in the football game, we got a lot of guys in there that we think really highly of.”

Despite his confidence in his backup running backs, redshirt freshman Johnnie Lang is the Cyclones’ second-leading rusher (behind Montgomery) with only eight carries and 24 yards this season. Then there is Sheldon Croney, who has 10 carries this season for 20 yards.

Most of Campbell’s talk about OSU on Tuesday was to do with getting into the flow of the game, a flow given the Cowboys’ frantic pace will likely be different from what Iowa State has had to deal with this year.

“The last two years we’ve played, we’ve been able to find that rhythm at times and at times we’ve lost that rhythm in the game just enough to cost us the football game,” Campbell said. “They create pressure for you because you know they’re gonna make big plays.”