Three Pressing Questions for Iowa State Cyclones After Their Bye Week

What are three pressing questions for the Iowa State Cyclones After Their Bye Week?

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

The Iowa State Cyclones will be on their bye in Week 8 following two straight conference losses on the road. Playing on the road has clearly been an issue for the team this season and now things have become a bit uncertain for the program. 

In their first games, the Cyclones were 5-0 and 2-0 in the Big 12 conference. The strong start resulted in them being ranked in the AP Top 25 and things were going along smoothly. Now, the team has been bounced from the Top 25 and they have fallen way down in the conference standings. 

This is still a very talented group that Iowa State has, but they will be entering a challenging part of their schedule after their bye week. Due to the losing streak, there are numerous questions regarding what the rest of the campaign might look like. Here are three pressing questions for the Cyclones after their bye week. 

Who Will Be Lead Back?

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After suffering a concussion against the Cincinnati Bearcats, running back Carson Hansen missed the last game against the Colorado Buffaloes. In both of these matchups with more playing time and opportunities, Abu Sama III has really taken advantage. 

Sama came up just short of 100 rushing yards against the Bearcats, but he blew past that number against the Buffaloes in the best game of his career. Hansen is expected to be back soon, and it creates a bit of a question in the backfield for Iowa State. Having two talented running backs is a good problem to have, but the coaching staff will have to find ways to get both touches. 

Can the Defense Improve?

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In both of the losses for the Cyclones the defense showed some flaws. Strangely enough, while it was expected to be the pass defense that struggled against Cincinnati, it was instead the rushing defense that gave up a ton of yards in the loss. 

Fortunately, the run defense was much better against Colorado, but they were able to attack Iowa State in the air and hit on some big plays. With two of the top defensive backs out for the Cyclones, they have to hope that extra practice has helped their secondary improve. 

Is the Big 12 Title Game Unreachable?

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Coming into the season, one of the top goals for the program was to compete for a Big 12 title. To start the year, things were trending in the right direction. They were able to pick up a conference win in Week 0 matchup against the Kansas State Wildcats and followed that up with a win over the Arizona Wildcats just a few weeks ago.

While things were looking great, they have since gone south for the Cyclones and with two losses, making the Big 12 title game is going to be hard. Iowa State is undoubtedly still in the mix, but they are likely going to need to win out and potentially get some help along the way.