Iowa State credits leadership committee, Jaylin Noel, for getting team through rough patches

In the course of a college football season, you are going to have to survive the bad with the good. No matter the team, there will be trials and tribulations, and that has been the case for Iowa State this past year.

But the Cyclones (10-2) have grown from their mistakes and are now one win away from ending an incredibly long drought with a Big 12 Conference championship.

Iowa State takes on Arizona State (10-2) Saturday from AT&T Stadium in Dallas for the league title. The winner will also likely earn a spot in the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff, which begins later this month.

Seniors such as Jaylin Noel, Beau Freyler and Darien Porter have all led the way on and off the field. They are part of a 20-player leadership committee that meets with head coach Matt Campbell each week to discuss issues, concerns and just becoming better people.

“I just hate losing,” Noel told ESPN. “We’ve been through it so much in the past here. At some point, you’re gonna get tired of it. Guys don’t want to lose and aren’t willing to lose, so they’re willing us to victory.”

That was the case following two consecutive losses seemed to put the Cyclones on the outside looking in towards the conference title game. But Iowa State regrouped, winning its last three to earn a shot at the crown.

Any day I get to suit up and play football is a great day,” Freyler said. “I’m gonna play ‘til the wheels fall off.”

Noel is part of the first-ever 1,000-yard receiver duo in school history with Jayden Higgins, a transfer from Eastern Kentucky. This also marked the first time Iowa State has won 10 games in a season, and just the second time they are playing for the Big 12 title.

Team and culture matters,” Campbell said. “It doesn’t matter if somebody’s paying $32 million for a team in college football and somebody’s paying $1 million for a team. Culture matters.

“If you can get aligned and you can get the most out of your team, you still have a chance to win on Saturday, no matter what your bduget is.”

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