Iowa State Being Without Key Player in Week 7 Will Impact Gameplan

Will the Iowa State Cyclones be impacted by a key player missing the game in Week 7?

Iowa State Cyclones head coach Matt Campbell reacts in the third quarter of the NCAA football game between the Cincinnati Bearcats and Iowa State Cyclones at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati on Oct. 4, 2025. | Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Coming off their first loss of the season, the Iowa State Cyclones will be looking to bounce back in Week 7 against the Colorado Buffaloes. This should be an easier matchup for the Cyclones, but with it being on the road once again, anything could happen. 

Week 6 was certainly a bit of a wake-up call for Iowa State against the Cincinnati Bearcats. The Bearcats were able to do seemingly whatever they wanted against the Cyclones’ defense and scored 38 points. It was by far the most points that Iowa State allowed this year, and the first time that an opponent has scored more than 21 points on them. 

This unit will have to be better for the Cyclones in Week 7 if they are going to earn a conference road win, but they will still have some looming injury concerns. While the secondary is still banged up, a couple of other key players are injured as well. 

Cyclones head coach Matt Campbell recently spoke to Alyssa Hertel of the Des Moines Register about injured kicker Kyle Konrardy. Unfortunately, he will be out once again Week 7, and the hope is to potentially return after the bye week. 

“I do know, he has started kicking again. I think those things are at least positive (and) trending in the right direction. (But he) will not be available again this week. But we hope with the bye and maybe the opportunity that he’s healthy enough coming out of it that you have a chance to get him back.”

Iowa State Missed Konrardy 

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The talented kicker has been a very valuable weapon for the Cyclones in 2025, and he was certainly missed in Week 6 against Cincinnati. In what ended up being a very high scoring game, some of the play calling decisions that the team had to make were because they clearly didn’t have much faith in kicker Chase Smith. 

Smith missed the only field goal that he attempted in the loss, and it was clear that the team was trying to be ultra-aggressive without Konrardy in the lineup. Unfortunately, it might be more of the same in Week 7 with him out once more. 

Matt Campbell clearly didn’t have much faith in Smith to make some kicks, and that puts a lot of pressure on the offense and the play calling. While they might be able to get away with it against the Buffaloes, they won’t against better opponents, as shown in Week 6. Hopefully, the offense will be able to avoid some similar situations as last week and make the decisions for Campbell and the coaching staff a bit easier.