Matt Campbell unintentionally left Iowa State football in a tough spot upon leaving for Penn State.
Campbell took 24 players with him, and others, such as Wisconsin RB Abu Sama III, transferred elsewhere.
Campbell also left Iowa State looking for a new coach in early December, which is late in the game for modern college football, and ISU eventually picked Washington State’s Jimmy Rogers to succeed him.
So while Campbell certainly wasn’t trying to make like difficult for Iowa State upon leaving, it was just an unavoidable consequence. But so far, Iowa State, all things considered, is doing ok.
Yes, ISU’s 3-2 record isn’t remarkable.
But for one, both losses are to top 15 competition in No. 13 Utah and No. 14 Iowa, with the latter coming by just three points on the road.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Another thing is that Penn State isn’t doing any better, and in fact, Iowa State has something that Penn State doesn’t through five games: A Power 4 win.
Iowa State checked that off the list by beating West Virginia 45-42 Saturday in Ames.
A few days after Iowa State’s season opening win over Southeast Missouri State, he was asked if he’ll still be following ISU.
“The one thing that you always do, you’re tracking all your former players,” he said. “I think that’s one thing, the culture of the relationship that you had with so many great players. I think the only thing you saw is so many of our guys have a great day there last Saturday. I think you’re more tracking the individual performance of your players. Across some other schools, too. Guys had great games, great start to things. For me, it’s really about the people and about the players. Really, you track those humans. You want the absolute best for them.”
