Campbell led Iowa State to an 8-5 finish
There were moments last fall when it seemed Iowa State was destined to fall just short — like so many other times in the program’s history — and that the promise in the second season under coach Matt Campbell would go unrealized.
“This team had multiple opportunities to quit, but this team’s never done that,” Campbell said after a victory in the Liberty Bowl.
“One of the things I’m most proud of is that Iowa State football is a player-led program. Iowa State football is being led inside-out.”
And by Campbell, under whom the Cyclones finally realized their potential, going 8-5 and winning a bowl game for the first time since 2009 and the fourth time in school history.
Campbell is one of five finalists for the American Football Coaches Association’s 2017 National Coach of the Year award. He joins Paul Chryst, Georgia’s Kirby Smart, Fresno State’s Jeff Tedford and Scott Frost, formerly of Central Florida, as regional winners. The national award will be announced at the American Football Coaches Awards presented by Amway.
In early October, a few days before a game at Big 12 power Oklahoma, which owned an 18-game winning streak against Iowa State, the Cyclones’ starting quar- terback left the team for personal reasons. The replacement: Kyle Kempt, a well-traveled, fifth-year senior walk-on who had two career pass attempts.
Kempt threw for 343 yards and three touchdowns, including a 25-yard pass for the winning score in a 3831 upset.
The win was one of two against Big 12 powers. Later, Iowa State beat TCU.
Iowa State completed an 8-5 season by edging Memphis in the Liberty Bowl — in essence, winning a road game.
“It creates belief,” Campbell said after the Liberty Bowl. “When you’re dealing with 18- to 22-year-olds, you eventually want to see a direct result to the hard work. The thing that finally resonates in our program is that this can happen. Success and winning football games in Ames, Iowa, can really happen.”