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2021 Iowa State

7–⁠6 (5–⁠4 Big 12), coached by Matt Campbell.

Schedule and results

Iowa State in 2021, game by game: won vs. Northern Iowa 16–10; lost vs. No. 10 Iowa 17–27; won at UNLV 48–3; lost at Baylor 29–31; won vs. Kansas 59–7; won at Kansas State 33–20; won vs. No. 8 Oklahoma State 24–21; lost at West Virginia 31–38; won vs. Texas 30–7; lost at Texas Tech 38–41; lost at No. 12 Oklahoma 21–28; won vs. TCU 48–14; lost vs. No. 19 Clemson 13–20+52−10Won 16–10 vs. Northern Iowa+6Northern IowaLost 17–27 vs. No. 10 Iowa-10No. 10 IowaWon 48–3 at UNLV+45UNLVLost 29–31 at Baylor-2BaylorWon 59–7 vs. Kansas+52KansasWon 33–20 at Kansas State+13Kansas StateWon 24–21 vs. No. 8 Oklahoma State+3No. 8 Oklahoma StateLost 31–38 at West Virginia-7West VirginiaWon 30–7 vs. Texas+23TexasLost 38–41 at Texas Tech-3Texas TechLost 21–28 at No. 12 Oklahoma-7No. 12 OklahomaWon 48–14 vs. TCU+34TCULost 13–20 vs. No. 19 Clemson-7No. 19 Clemson
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 4vsNorthern IowaW 16–⁠1086%
Sep 11vs10IowaL 17–⁠2751%
Sep 18atUNLVW 48–⁠376%
Sep 25atBaylorL 29–⁠3155%
Oct 2vsKansasW 59–⁠788%
Oct 16atKansas StateW 33–⁠2054%
Oct 23vs8Oklahoma StateW 24–⁠2155%
Oct 30atWest VirginiaL 31–⁠3860%
Nov 6vsTexasW 30–⁠763%
Nov 13atTexas TechL 38–⁠4166%
Nov 20at12OklahomaL 21–⁠2830%
Nov 26vsTCUW 48–⁠1474%
Dec 29Bowls & playoffvs19ClemsonCheez-It BowlL 13–⁠2037%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Clemson 20–⁠13 in the Cheez-It Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; 4th in the Big 12.

In program history: The 4th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 132 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 7
  2. Wk 2: 9
  3. Wk 3: 14
  4. Wk 4: 14
  5. Wk 9: 22

William V. Campbell TrophyCharlie Kolar, TE

Consensus All-AmericanBreece Hall, RB

Record
7–⁠6
Conference
5–⁠4 4th in Big 12
AP final
Unranked peak No. 7
Points
407–⁠267
Coach
Matt Campbell
Elo
1621 −2 this season
SP+ rating
14.3 No. 19 of 130; offense No. 34, defense No. 19
SRS
11.6 No. 19 of 130 in FBS
Returning
94% of last season’s EPA, No. 15 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 59 roster talent No. 55 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Tom Manning
Defensive coordinator
Jon Heacock
Offense
Pro spread
Defense
3-high safety

How good, play by play

  • Offense18th of 130
  • Defense38th of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted10th of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted29th of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.2445%1.3018th of 130
Defense0.0941%1.1838th of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.25 off
0.09 def		47% off
41% def		—10th off
29th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense4.1own 2914% allowed
Defense3.4own 2918% caused

CORE rating 15.4, 10th of 130 (offense 10.2, defense -5.2).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsBrock Purdy QB3,188 yds
Passing touchdownsBrock Purdy QB19 TD
Rushing yardsBreece Hall RB1,472 yds
Rushing touchdownsBreece Hall RB20 TD
Receiving yardsXavier Hutchinson WR987 yds
Receiving touchdownsCharlie Kolar TE6 TD
TacklesJake Hummel LB80 tkl
SacksWill McDonald DE11.5 sacks
InterceptionsCraig McDonald DB2 INT

Top recruits in the 2021 class

Eli Sanders ATH★★★No. 551
Tyler Moore TE★★★No. 553
Tyler Maro OT★★★No. 613
Malik Verdon ATH★★★No. 744
Howard Brown DL★★★No. 776

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2021 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs13.00.846
Receivers33.00.864
Offensive line33.00.860
Defensive line53.00.841
Linebackers23.00.839
Defensive backs23.00.854
Athletes and specialists23.00.872
Whole class183.00.853

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2022

The 2022 draft
Rd 2Breece Hall RBNew York Jets
Rd 4Eyioma Uwazurike DEDenver Broncos
Rd 4Charlie Kolar TEBaltimore Ravens
Rd 7Brock Purdy QBSan Francisco 49ers

Roster 131

The 2021 roster

131 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2021 line; 69 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 2

The 2021 portal
Jaquan Amos S★★★from Villanova
Andrew Mevis K★★★from Fordham

Transfers out 7

Latrell Bankston DT★★★to Houston
Arnold Azunna S★★★to Hawai’i
Greg Ross CB★★★to James Madison
Johnnie Lang RB★★★to Arkansas State
Joshua Bailey DL★★★to Charlotte
Skylar Loving-Black TE★★★to San José State
Devin Larsen QBto Garden City C.C.

All-Big 12

9 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2021 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2021 Big 12 standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oklahoma State8–⁠112–⁠27
Baylor7–⁠212–⁠25
Oklahoma7–⁠211–⁠210
Iowa State5–⁠47–⁠6
Kansas State4–⁠58–⁠5
West Virginia4–⁠56–⁠7
Texas Tech3–⁠67–⁠6
Texas3–⁠65–⁠7
TCU3–⁠65–⁠7
Kansas1–⁠82–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.