Top Three Offensive Performers in Week 3 Victory for Iowa State Cyclones

Here were the best performers from the Week 3 victory for the Iowa State Cyclones.

Iowa State football head coach Matt Campbell speaks during Iowa State football media day at Stark Performance Center on July 25, 2025, in Ames. | Lily Smith/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Iowa State Cyclones were able to escape with their first road win of the 2025 season in what ended up being a much closer game than many would have anticipated. 

With it being their first road game of the season and their fourth game in as many weeks, it was understandable that the Cyclones didn’t play their best against the Arkansas Red Wolves. However, they were able to win their fourth game of the year and will be heading into their bye week undefeated. 

Iowa State has a couple of signature wins already, and they will be hoping to pick up where they left off in Week 5 when they face the Arizona Wildcats. That is going to be an important game, and the team will hope to continue to play like they have for the most part this campaign. 

In the win over the Red Wolves, the offense might have been a bit inconsistent and struggled to finish drives, but the unit had some encouraging performances. Here were the top three offensive players for the team in the win. 

Abu Sama III

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One of the big takeaways from the game was the performance of the running game for the Cyclones. This was a unit that had been a bit inconsistent so far to start the year, but they looked strong in Week 3. 

Even though he wasn’t the leading rusher for the team, Sama was able to show some big-play ability for Iowa State in the win. Overall, he totaled nine carries for 69 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown. With a 44-yard run, the junior running back had one of the most explosive plays for the team in their win. 

Rocco Becht 

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The talented junior quarterback for the Cyclones might not have had his best performance against Arkansas State, but he once again helped lead the team to victory. Becht was able to total 265 passing yards to go along with one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown. 

Unfortunately, Becht did throw his first interception of the season, but he has really shown a lot of improvement in that area so far this campaign. As the team enters conference play, they will be relying on their talented quarterback to lead them. 

Carson Hansen

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The other part of the two-headed rushing attack that performed well was Carson Hansen. So far this season, Hansen is the leading rusher out of the two, and he had a fantastic performance against the Red Wolves. 

In the win, Hansen led the way for Iowa State with 116 rushing yards on 18 carries. After a couple of lackluster games in a row, this was his best performance of the season. Going forward, establishing both Hansen and Sama is going to be key for the offense.