Matt Campbell could be Iowa State’s Earle Bruce. The second Earle Bruce, I mean. The first Bruce won eight games at ISU three years in a row, but couldn’t get over a conference hump. He left ISU to go to a place where his teams would be the pursued rather than the pursuers — Ohio State — where they eventually got tired of him winning “only” eight games a year.
Matt Campbell could be Iowa State’s John Cooper. Cooper, a player on Iowa State’s “Dirty Thirty”, replaced Bruce as Ohio State’s coach. He won three conference championships and lost more than four games in a season only twice, but was fired because he couldn’t beat his school’s biggest rival and lost more bowl games than won.
(Ohio State could really, really use an actual period of wandering in the wilderness.)
Matt Campbell could be Iowa State’s second Dan McCarney. McCarney took an ISU program that was extremely down in the dumps, rebuilt it over five years back when coaches were allowed that much time, and brought it to heights not experienced before. Then, through both comedies and tragedies of errors, he watched it crumble enough that the leadership demanded someone else.
But right now, Matt Campbell is 0-1-1 in regulation against Northern Iowa and 0-4 against Iowa. The most hyped ISU team in a generation is a fumble recovery away from starting 0-2.
The 2019 Iowa State team started with a preseason ranking, the first time that’s ever happened. ESPN spent a morning here. Lee Corso put on Cy’s mascot head. The atmosphere was electric, and yes I very intentionally mean it that way.
And all that national attention boiled down to … this.
When Paul Rhoads was fired, I compiled a list of the most Iowa State ways possible that Iowa State has lost games this century. It’s been updated not just with this game, but others from the Campbell era.
Campbell’s done some good things (the outfits not among them) and has one huge data point in his favor. The season is young and Big 12 play is still ahead.
Go Cyclones.