AMES – After admitting that his team played through some fatigue following the Cyclones' 16-13 victory over rival Iowa on Saturday, No. 14 Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell says his team is prepared for intense weather conditions in its next game.
Iowa State goes on the road to play at Arkansas State on Saturday. Projected weather forecasts include temperatures in the mid-90s around kickoff. But July and August training camp practices and scrimmages prepared Iowa State for the weather.
"I think the last scrimmage we had was at 4 o'clock and the heat index was 107 degrees," Campbell said. "And we had 124 reps. So, we've been there. We've had this. We've prepared for this and the reality of it is we know what it takes physically to prepare yourself to do that."
Iowa State is preparing to enter its fourth game of the season on Saturday. Officially, Iowa State has already played a quarter of its 12 regular season games. Sitting at 3-0 with three-point victories over rivals Kansas State (24-21) and Iowa (16-13) along with a blowout triumph over South Dakota (55-7), the early season schedule could have gone better for the Cyclones. Yet, with the nonconference portion of the scheduling closing on Saturday, Campbell's challenge is clear.
"I said this Saturday," he said, "Great teams get better."
That's the task Iowa State is facing. The Cyclones will enter Jonesboro, Ark., favored to win by roughly three touchdowns on Saturday. Undoubtedly, the more talented team, Iowa State, is partially focused on continuing to overcome any lingering fatigue of playing in Dublin, Ireland, in Week Zero against Kansas State.
"I think you can do all the research you want," Campbell said. "But the reality of fatigue in both mentally and physically, I think, has paralyzed everybody in Ireland."
On the previous six teams to play in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic post-COVID-19, only 2023 Notre Dame has won three straight games following the contest in Ireland. The 2023 Irish defeated Tennessee State 56-3, North Carolina State 45-23 and Central Michigan 41-17.
"I think every other team that's played in Ireland is cautionary tale enough," Campbell said. "Nobody's had success. And there are great programs and great teams that have played at that game and had the opportunity to have success. But they didn't."