Rocco Becht Reveals How He Can Help Iowa State Cyclones Correct Penalty Issues

Penalties have become a major issue for the Iowa State Cyclones. Quarterback Rocco Becht has offered how he can help get things back on track.

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The Iowa State Cyclones are heading into their most important game of the 2025 college football season on Saturday afternoon. They will be hosting the BYU Cougars, who are 7-0 and ranked No. 11 in the country.

If the Cyclones want to have any hope of making a run to the Big 12 championship game, and subsequently earning a spot in the College Football Playoff, this is a game they have to win.

Their margin of error is razor-thin now that they have lost two conference games in a row. After losing to the Cincinnati Bearcats in Week 6, they were defeated by the Colorado Buffaloes in Week 7.

One of the major reasons that the team saw its record drop to 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the Big 12 is penalties. Iowa State had a lot of self-inflicted damage being done, especially on the offensive side of the ball.

Penalties have been major issue for Iowa State in recent weeks

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In the loss to the Bearcats, seven of the eight penalties called against the Cyclones were on the offense. An illegal substitution, an illegal shift and an illegal formation are all controllable things. As is the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty charged against them.

Against the Buffaloes, it was multiple false starts and a delay of game that stood out amongst the five offensive penalties. Those all come down to the execution of a game plan, with the players all being on the same page.

It is why quarterback Rocco Becht is taking some of the onus for the sloppiness of the offense in the last two games.

"I think it's leadership," Becht said, via Alec Busse of Cyclone Alert, part of the 247Sports Network. "I think it's calming everybody down, just getting back to the basics and the details and the precision. And that just comes from great practice reps, not messing up in practice, being detailed in practice."

Rocco Becht shares how Iowa State can fix penalty issues

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Communication is key, and it is something that he spent the bye week working on with his teammates. The entire process has to be a clean one, from signals being relayed from the sidelines to Becht announcing the play in the huddle.

One part of that chain being out of sync can ruin the subsequent play being called on the field. Their third-year quarterback is making it a point to improve in the areas he can control, such as the volume of his voice in the huddle and more intentional claps to get the attention of center Jim Bonifas.

"Everybody's got to be on the same page," Becht added. "And that's why this bye week was so beneficial for us."

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— Iowa State Football (@CycloneFB) October 21, 2025

The bye week could not have come at a better time for Iowa State. Not only did it give them a chance to reset in the midst of a two-game losing streak, but it also enabled them to get a few key contributors healthy and back in the lineup.

Kicker Kyle Konrardy and running back Carson Hansen are both expected to suit up on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, they did receive another blow defensively.

Star defensive tackle Domonique Orange is heading in the wrong direction when it comes to his availability. He is now listed as doubtful, which would create a massive void in a defensive front that is already struggling.