Three Things Iowa State Cyclones Must Improve During Bye Week

Here are three things the Iowa State Cyclones must work on during their bye week.

Iowa State football head coach Matt Campbell celebrates with players after a touchdown against Arizona on Sept. 27, 2025, at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Iowa State Cyclones are heading into their second bye week of the season and unlike the first bye, there is some reason to be concerned. This was a team that was 4-0 entering their first week off, but heading into their second bye, they are now 5-2 and on a 2-0 losing streak. 

While the overall record is still solid for the program, they have a lot of things to work on after the last two weeks. Losing two games in the conference was far from ideal for the team and there is quite a bit that the team should be looking to work on. 

Even though things are looking bleak for the program right now, with two conference losses in a row, the team still has the opportunity to make some noise in the Big 12. They will have a key stretch coming up with the chance to improve their resume. Here are three areas that the team must improve after the bye week. 

Get Kicking Game on Track

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After missing the last couple of games, the hope is that Kyle Konrardy will be back and healthy following the bye week. He is an excellent kicker, and his presence has been missed. In the two losses, the team has frequently had to make decisions that they usually wouldn’t have if they had their reliable kicker, and it has had a negative impact on the team. 

As a true freshman, it was hard to expect much from Chase Smith, and he also came up hurting in the recent loss to the Buffaloes. Getting Konrardy back should help fix this issue for the team.

Fix Up the Defense

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While this is a unit that has been hit hard by injuries in their secondary, they have really struggled the last two weeks. Against the Cincinnati Bearcats, it was the rushing defense that was torn apart, resulting in the team suffering a loss. 

Against the Buffaloes it was the secondary that got exposed for some big plays down the field. While the secondary isn’t going to have some of their stars for the rest of the year, they have to find a way to survive. Getting some extra practice reps so that new players can get comfortable should help improve the unit. 

Improve Road Play

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It is no secret that the Cyclones have not played well on the road so far this year. Besides playing well in Ireland to start the campaign, they followed that up with a very close game on the road against the Arkansas State Red Wolves. 

The last two weeks, it has been two road games and two losses for the program. Iowa State isn’t a particularly young team that should be struggling in road environments, but the team hasn’t performed well. With two more road games on the schedule, the game against the TCU Horned Frogs will be quite the challenge for them.