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2023 Iowa State

7–⁠6 (6–⁠3 Big 12), coached by Matt Campbell.

Schedule and results

Iowa State in 2023, game by game: won vs. Northern Iowa 30–9; lost vs. Iowa 13–20; lost at Ohio 7–10; won vs. Oklahoma State 34–27; lost at No. 14 Oklahoma 20–50; won vs. TCU 27–14; won at Cincinnati 30–10; won at Baylor 30–18; lost vs. No. 22 Kansas 21–28; won at BYU 45–13; lost vs. No. 7 Texas 16–26; won at No. 19 Kansas State 42–35; lost vs. Memphis 26–36+32−30Won 30–9 vs. Northern Iowa+21Northern IowaLost 13–20 vs. Iowa-7IowaLost 7–10 at Ohio-3OhioWon 34–27 vs. Oklahoma State+7Oklahoma StateLost 20–50 at No. 14 Oklahoma-30No. 14 OklahomaWon 27–14 vs. TCU+13TCUWon 30–10 at Cincinnati+20CincinnatiWon 30–18 at Baylor+12BaylorLost 21–28 vs. No. 22 Kansas-7No. 22 KansasWon 45–13 at BYU+32BYULost 16–26 vs. No. 7 Texas-10No. 7 TexasWon 42–35 at No. 19 Kansas State+7No. 19 Kansas StateLost 26–36 vs. Memphis-10Memphis
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 2vsNorthern IowaW 30–⁠975%
Sep 9vsIowaL 13–⁠2045%
Sep 16atOhioL 7–⁠1035%
Sep 23vsOklahoma StateW 34–⁠2753%
Sep 30at14OklahomaL 20–⁠5024%
Oct 7vsTCUW 27–⁠1437%
Oct 14atCincinnatiW 30–⁠1038%
Oct 28atBaylorW 30–⁠1855%
Nov 4vs22KansasL 21–⁠2862%
Nov 11atBYUW 45–⁠1346%
Nov 18vs7TexasL 16–⁠2639%
Nov 25at19Kansas StateW 42–⁠3526%
Dec 29Bowls & playoffvsMemphisLiberty BowlL 26–⁠3661%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Memphis 36–⁠26 in the Liberty Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Big 12.

In program history: The 15th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 132 on file).

Record
7–⁠6
Conference
6–⁠3 tied for 4th in Big 12
AP final
Unranked
Points
341–⁠296
Coach
Matt Campbell
Elo
1587 +84 this season
SP+ rating
7.5 No. 37 of 133; offense No. 67, defense No. 27, special teams No. 36
SRS
7.4 No. 32 of 133 in FBS
Returning
64% of last season’s EPA, No. 42 of 131
Recruiting class
No. 42 roster talent No. 60 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Nathan Scheelhaase
Defensive coordinator
Jon Heacock
Captains
Easton Dean, Ben Nikkel, Gerry Vaughn, Jaylin Noel and Beau Freyler
Offense
Multiple
Defense
3-high safety

How good, play by play

  • Offense60th of 133
  • Defense60th of 133
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted47th of 133
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted38th of 133
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1236%1.6360th of 133
Defense0.0940%1.3060th of 133
Opponent-adjusted0.14 off
0.06 def		38% off
38% def		—47th off
38th 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
Offense3.5own 3316% allowed
Defense3.4own 2917% caused

CORE rating 5.5, 41st of 133 (offense 2.4, defense -3.1).

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 yardsRocco Becht QB3,120 yds
Passing touchdownsRocco Becht QB23 TD
Rushing yardsAbu Sama III RB614 yds
Rushing touchdownsAbu Sama III RB6 TD
Receiving yardsJayden Higgins WR983 yds
Receiving touchdownsJaylin Noel WR7 TD
TacklesBeau Freyler DB106 tkl
SacksJ.R. Singleton DL3.5 sacks
InterceptionsJeremiah Cooper S5 INT

Top recruits in the 2023 class

J.J. Kohl QB★★★★No. 133
Samuel Same DE★★★No. 586
Abu Sama III RB★★★No. 712
Kai Black WR★★★No. 734
Jamison Patton ATH★★★No. 734

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

The 2023 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.944
Running backs13.00.876
Receivers62.80.855
Offensive line22.50.814
Defensive line53.00.860
Linebackers23.00.850
Defensive backs33.00.852
Athletes and specialists43.00.865
Whole class243.00.858

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 2024

The 2024 draft
Rd 4T.J. Tampa CBBaltimore Ravens

Roster 132

The 2023 roster

132 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2023 line; 64 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 2

The 2023 portal
Arlen Harris RB★★★from Stanford
Zach Lovett LB★★★from Missouri

Transfers out 12

Howard Brown DL★★★to Boise State
Tayvonn Kyle CB★★★to Virginia
Hunter Deyo DL★★★★to Bowling Green
Blake Peterson DL★★★to South Dakota State
Deon Silas RB★★★to Rhode Island
Hunter Zenzen LB★★★to North Dakota State
Jayden Gray DE★★★to Louisiana Tech
Johnny Wilson DL★★★no new school on file
Mason Chambers S★★★to Incarnate Word
Sean Shaw Jr. WR★★★to Texas State
Tristan Michaud WR★★★no new school on file
Nate Glantz QB★★to McNeese

All-Big 12

2 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2023 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2023 Big 12 standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Texas8–⁠112–⁠23
Oklahoma7–⁠210–⁠315
Oklahoma State7–⁠210–⁠416
West Virginia6–⁠39–⁠4
Kansas State6–⁠39–⁠418
Iowa State6–⁠37–⁠6
Kansas5–⁠49–⁠423
Texas Tech5–⁠47–⁠6
UCF3–⁠66–⁠7
TCU3–⁠65–⁠7
BYU2–⁠75–⁠7
Houston2–⁠74–⁠8
Baylor2–⁠73–⁠9
Cincinnati1–⁠83–⁠9

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