Past stars agree that Iowa State could be headed to more history in 2020
To this day, Seneca Wallace doesn't just feel he was in the end zone on what could have been a last-minute game-winning touchdown against third-ranked Florida State in 2002. He's positive that end zone pylon camera angles of today would have proven it.
“And just think what if the refs would have gotten it right,” one of Iowa State's truly all-time greats told me late last week. “Five, six wins in a row?”
Bad call or good call, coach Dan McCarney's team won the next six games after that heartbreaking loss at Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium, three of which were Big 12 victories. That 3-0 conference start was matched by Matt Campbell's 2020 team two weeks ago against Texas Tech. Now it's time to start thinking about school history.
Never, and that's what's on the line during Saturday's 2:30 p.m. game at seventh-ranked Oklahoma State.
Iowa State is 3-1 overall and coming off its second bye Saturday. The Cowboys are 3-0 overall, 2-0 in the Big 12 and haven't played in two weeks. To the winner goes a big step in at least playing in the Dec. 12 or Dec. 19 championship game in Arlington, Texas. To the loser goes an “L” in the loss column, and that's about it.
Iowa State already holds the tiebreaker should it end up tied with Oklahoma, while this is the first of a four-game Oklahoma State grinder that also includes
Texas, Kansas State and Oklahoma.
“A lot of it is timing,” Wallace said. “I think it's our time. It's Iowa State's time to take the next step. We've beaten Oklahoma. Texas is not very good. This stuff goes through cycles — and it's our turn to be involved in that.”
The 2002 team reached 3-0 with victories against Kansas, Nebraska and Texas Tech. This team got there by beating TCU, Oklahoma and Texas Tech. The 2002 team had a veteran quarterback in Wallace. Brock Purdy is the veteran playrunner of this team. This team has a better defense. That team was ranked as high as ninth by the Associated Press.
“Also, we had a strong running game the first half of that year, and this team has Breece Hall running as well as anyone in the conference,” 2002 receiver Jack Whitver said. “This team has so much more depth than we had. This team has a number of veteran defensive linemen, where we
didn't always have a healthy second string like they do now.”
Saturday isn't make or break for either team, but it's still a showdown in Stillwater that at least for Iowa State can be historic. Fans all know what happened the last time the Cyclones played there, right?
Purdy suddenly sprung from the bench as a true freshman, led a 48-42 upset and the rest is history. He's broken most of the school's season and career quarterback records. He's a major reason the Cyclones are where they are today, and just like the last time this program was 3-0 — it's largely because of a quarterback.
“Seneca made plays with his legs and by passing,” Whitver said. “Brock's versatile, too.”
Wallace was the team's No. 3 rusher in 2002, behind Hiawatha Rutland and Mike Wagner. Purdy is Iowa State's third-leading rusher, behind Hall and Kene Nwangwu.
The 2002 team went 1-6 against ranked opponents. The 2020 team beat 18th-ranked Oklahoma, and according to the most recent USA Today Coaches poll has 22ndranked Kansas State, top 10 Oklahoma State and presently unrated Texas remaining.
Rankings-wise, the 2002 team had a much tougher remaining schedule that included No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 7 Texas, 12th-ranked Kansas State, and No. 17 Colorado. The Cyclones lost against each. They went 1-6 (including a loss against Boise State in the Humanitarian Bowl) after the 3-0 Big 12 start.
This team hopes to avoid that post-success fate.
“Frankly, I don't know that we were prepared to come away with a win against an elite team like Oklahoma back then,” Whitver said. “We played Texas the next game and it rained the entire game.
“We didn't win down the stretch, but most everyone we played was ranked. We had some injuries. We didn't quite have the depth that this team has.”
That's one of the hallmarks of the 2020 team. It has significant depth on both sides of the ball, and especially on the defensive line.
“Oh man, they've got some players there,” Wallace said. “They're doing such good things defensively that coaches from other schools are coming to Ames to see what they're doing and to steal their schemes.”
It's what happens with good programs, and as Wallace proudly said:
“It is our time to ride this wave.”