With the weight of expectation removed from his shoulders by a 24-21 win over the Kansas State Wildcats in Dublin, Ireland, Iowa State Cyclones head coach Matt Campbell was all smiles and jokes with the media on Saturday night. Amidst a myriad of words used to describe his team and his emotions on a third-straight “Farmaggedon” win, one resonated above them all.
Matt Campbell’s Confidence Guides Iowa State to Farmaggedon Win
Confidence. For more than seven minutes, and a brief jovial interlude as he burst back in to interrupt quarterback Rocco Becht to conduct his own mock interview, Campbell held court in front of media assembled from Ames and beyond. Enthusiastically, articulately, and thoroughly, the Iowa State head coach answered questions, dissecting the origins of a win.
Within each question, no matter the topic, one word crept its way into Campbell’s response.
Confidence. It’s the foundations of Iowa State football right now. After a 2022 season where the program fell short of the exceptional standard set by its head coach, Campbell has rebuilt Cyclones football, creating a juggernaut on the knowledge and understanding that every single player who sets foot on a field wearing that uniform can and will deliver when it counts.
Whether on personnel calls or situational strategy, Campbell believes unreservedly that he has the players, whether on offense or defense, who can execute to the highest standard.
That’s why he didn’t hesitate late in the fourth quarter when, as the overcast Irish skies finally gave way to the dark of night, Iowa State faced a fourth-and-three deep in Kansas State territory. With 2:26 on the clock and a three-point lead in hand, Campbell faced a judgment call.
Kick a field goal, establish a six-point lead, and hope to keep the Wildcats at bay for the remaining time. In reality, it wasn’t a difficult decision. Still, Campbell’s confidence in his quarterback and his team to execute in a pivotal moment made it simple, a situation that they’d even discussed in the week leading up to the Week 0 showcase on foreign soil.
Love this from Matt Campbell
Going for it on fourth down, and Rocco Becht delivers pic.twitter.com/NOCbO2J3dp
— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) August 23, 2025
“It worked so everybody feels good, but the reality of it is they don’t have any more timeouts. A field goal may tie it. I just felt really confident that we had done a great job on the last third-down conversion. You’re down there, they’d have to go the length of the field, and I thought we played pretty good defense to put us in a great situation to figure out how to win the game.”
It helps you to be confident when you have a quarterback like Becht. The Iowa State passer has established himself as one of the best in the Big 12 (and the country). While NFL Draft analysts may knock his lack of elite arm strength, the Cyclones signal-caller is as reliable and gritty as any quarterback in the country when it comes to delivering in the biggest moments.
They don’t come much bigger than a season-opening game that not only sets the tone for the rest of the campaign, but also happens to be a bitter rivalry game and an international showcase of Cyclones football. After a difficult first half that was disrupted by the dismal Irish weather, Becht was imperious when his number was called to deliver results in tight situations.
“Rocco’s emergence offensively in terms of his confidence, and our ability to build an offense around him,” Campbell explained the quarterback’s influence on his mindset, before acknowledging that the confidence comes from all corners of the roster. “It’s been the execution of our players and the belief in what we’re trying to accomplish.”
Confidence is a fickle beast. When things are going well, it’s easy to believe in something. When times are hard and your trust is tested, that’s when confidence can vanish far more quickly than the effort it took to earn it. Campbell’s belief in his quarterback is helping to extract the very best out of him.
“It definitely gives me the confidence, knowing that they have the trust in me to go out there and make a big play,” Becht explained as he took to the podium following a performance that earned him MVP honors from the Aer Lingus College Football Classic. Like all good leaders, he deflects attention from solely focusing on himself.
“I think it’s the culture we have. The connectedness and togetherness we have as a team. The confidence that we have in one another. I think that has been able to help us win games over the past couple of years.”
Iowa State’s Balanced Effort and Belief Spark Early College Football Playoff Hopes
While Campbell’s situational confidence will take center stage following the fourth-down call that sealed a famous win, his trust in an offensive line that looked like Swiss cheese in the first half ensured that personnel decisions didn’t result in something far worse occurring that could have easily seen the script flipped.
“We have a lot of faith in those guys,” Campbell elaborated on the offensive line performance in Iowa State’s 24-21 win over Kansas State on Saturday night. “I think their ability to battle and not crumble, because I’ve been involved in a lot of those games where it goes south early, and you don’t have the confidence to work yourself through it.”
MORE: PFSN’s Top 100 College Football Players for 2025
A true team effort, Campbell’s faith in his offense to convert the fourth-down game-clincher was backed by a belief that, if for some reason Becht couldn’t conjure up a first down, a defensive unit that flew to the ball at every opportunity could hold Avery Johnson and co. from finding the end zone on the resulting two-minute drive.
“I thought they were exceptional, really,” Campbell explains the impact of the defense, especially the secondary. “A lot of new guys and a lot of new spaces. I just felt, across the board, those guys played really confident football. Moving Coop [Jeremiah Cooper] to corner and having Jontez [Williams] at the other corner, just gives you such a confidence boost.”
“He’s physical. I think you saw it today,” Campbell continues his assessment of safety turned cornerback Cooper.
“I’m not sure how many tackles he ended with, but I thought he had a tremendous day. He’s got confidence, he can play press-man, he can play bail, and he can tackle. He’s a really good football player. You talk about a kid who’s an All-American who came back here, and we changed his position, and he’s doing it for the betterment of the team.”
Confidence. There’s that word again. After their opening weekend win over 17th-ranked Kansas State, a game in which they were the underdogs according to most oddsmakers and analysts, belief in Iowa State football is at its very highest. There’s now an element of expectation outside the program, and a belief and a confidence inside the team that they can match it.
Coupled with talent and culture, that confidence could take the Cyclones to a Big 12 Championship Game appearance (for the second season in a row) and ultimately even further. As the season gets underway, the College Football Playoff is the goal for all 136 teams, and Iowa State took one step closer on Saturday.