Meet Your Insider
Good evening, Cyclone Nation, and here's your Saturday forecast from The Cover Window! I'm Twyla Hemmingsen, your Iowa State insider, coming to you live from the Ames weather center. Okay, it's my kitchen, but it has a very nice map on the wall. I'm high-energy, a little nerdy and joyful about it, and I talk about football the way the TV meteorologist talks about a cold front: pressure systems, wind shifts, and a big red blob moving across the screen. Every week I'll bring you the players, the coaches and the matchup, plus a full radar sweep of the opponent. Expect conditions to change quickly. When things are going our way, you'll hear "Seventy percent chance of loud." When it's really rolling: "Cyclone warning in effect." Umbrellas optional, joy mandatory.
The School in 60 Seconds
Our home is Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, which holds 61,500. It's named for Jack Trice, Iowa State's first Black athlete. The stadium got his name in 1997, and it is still the only major college football stadium named for a Black man. Every Cyclone fan should know his story. On the field, Iowa State went 8-4 last season. Then came the biggest offseason storm in the country. Coach Matt Campbell left for Penn State and took three-year starting QB Rocco Becht with him. More than 50 Cyclones entered the transfer portal, including 16 starters. That's a full barometric reset.
The Coach and the Scheme
Jimmy Rogers was named Iowa State's 34th head coach on Dec. 5, 2025, coming from Washington State on a six-year contract. Before that he went 27-3 and won an FCS national title at South Dakota State, and he brought in more than 45 transfers to rebuild this roster. The 2026 numbers say this team runs. Iowa State runs on about 59% of its plays, at 5.0 yards a carry, for 181.5 rushing yards a game. It averages 29.7 points and 359.7 yards a game, which is 12th in the Big 12 in total offense. The defense allows 21.7 points a game. The best part of the forecast: Iowa State has forced eight turnovers and lost only five.
Players to Know
RB Aiden Flora: 680 yards and 6 TD on 90 carries. That's the jet stream right there. He ran for 86 yards at BYU.
QB Jaylen Raynor: 85 of 148 for 1,001 yards, 7 TD and 4 INT. At BYU he went 16 of 29 for 98 yards and a touchdown.
WR Dominic Overby: 10 catches for 212 yards. He left the BYU game in the first quarter with a knee injury, and it has been reported as season-ending.
LB Sullivan Schlimgen: the team's leading tackler. Sources differ on his total: 56 in one CFBD-based preview and 35 in another snapshot (conflicting).
DE Isaac Terrell: 3 sacks.
The Conference Picture
Iowa State is 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the Big 12, 3-1 at home and 0-2 on the road. The Cyclones are not ranked. They lost 16-13 at Iowa, 31-17 at home to Utah and 24-10 at BYU, and beat West Virginia 45-42 at home. A road win at a ranked team would brighten the whole radar.
This Week: Iowa State (3-3) at No. 25 Arizona (5-1)
Saturday, Oct. 24 · 7:30 p.m. ET (4:30 p.m. MST) · Casino Del Sol Stadium, Tucson · ESPN2 · Arizona homecoming. It's Iowa State's first game in Tucson since 1966.
Last time out: Both teams are coming off bye weeks. Iowa State lost 24-10 at No. 8 BYU on Oct. 9 and was held to 200 total yards. Arizona won 52-31 at West Virginia, its fourth straight win.
Our offense vs. their defense: Arizona allows just 3.34 yards a carry and 19.0 points a game, and it has 15 sacks. Our ground game will be heading into a strong high-pressure system.
Their offense vs. our defense: Arizona throws for 303.8 yards a game. QB Noah Fifita has 1,756 yards and 16 touchdowns, and at West Virginia he threw for 341 yards and 3 TDs, 183 of them to Isaiah Mizell.
Series: Arizona leads 4-2-1. Iowa State won the last meeting, 39-14 in Ames on Sept. 27, 2025.
One more set of numbers for the notebook: this team has 9 sacks and has allowed 8, with 8 takeaways against 5 giveaways, and it has 11 rushing and 9 passing touchdowns.
Availability: Overby is reported out for the season. I found no other official availability report for either team as of Oct. 18, 2026.
What decides it: (1) Can Flora and our run game stay ahead of the chains against a defense allowing 3.34 a carry? (2) Can our secondary keep Fifita's deep shots under control? (3) Turnovers. We're plus-3 and Arizona is minus-3.
And to Inez Paloverde, Arizona's insider: your forecast says sunshine, dear. Mine says a 30% chance of a Cyclone in the desert. Bring a light jacket.
My call: Arizona Wildcats 30, Iowa State Cyclones 21.