Iowa State gets its 12th game in unusual matchup vs. Drake

AMES, IOWA» No matter that the opponent is a small private school with an FCS team that does not offer athletic scholarships.

Iowa State coach Matt Campbell and his players are just happy to be playing a 12th game.

The No. 24 Cyclones will host Drake on Saturday to replace the season opener with South Dakota State that was called off because of lightning after just a few plays. Drake (7-3), a perennial contender in the Pioneer Football League, also had its opener scrubbed because of weather.

“You only get guaranteed 12 opportunities,” Cyclones tight end Sam Seonbuchner said Tuesday. “You grind all year, you want to be able to take advantage of every opportunity and have all of those opportunities.”

The tendency is to view the game as little more than a scrimmage for an Iowa State team that tied for third in the Big 12.

Campbell doesn’t see it that way.

“To me, it’s not like you’re playing a spring game or something like that,” he said. “You’re going to play a game against an opponent that will come in here, their kids are going to want to play and what a great opportunity for them and us. So I think the reality of it for us is we’re treating it just like we would any other football game.”

The game would seem to offer Campbell a chance to give his younger guys some playing time that might prove valuable down the road. But he insisted he has not mapped out any scenario for working those players into the game and is more concerned about how the team as a whole develops, especially with a bowl game on the horizon.