CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2025 Iowa State

8–⁠4 (5–⁠4 Big 12), coached by Matt Campbell.

Schedule and results

Iowa State in 2025, game by game: won vs. No. 17 Kansas State 24–21; won vs. South Dakota 55–7; won vs. Iowa 16–13; won at Arkansas State 24–16; won vs. Arizona 39–14; lost at Cincinnati 30–38; lost at Colorado 17–24; lost vs. No. 11 BYU 27–41; lost vs. Arizona State 19–24; won at TCU 20–17; won vs. Kansas 38–14; won at Oklahoma State 20–13+48−14Won 24–21 vs. No. 17 Kansas State+3No. 17 Kansas StateWon 55–7 vs. South Dakota+48South DakotaWon 16–13 vs. Iowa+3IowaWon 24–16 at Arkansas State+8Arkansas StateWon 39–14 vs. Arizona+25ArizonaLost 30–38 at Cincinnati-8CincinnatiLost 17–24 at Colorado-7ColoradoLost 27–41 vs. No. 11 BYU-14No. 11 BYULost 19–24 vs. Arizona State-5Arizona StateWon 20–17 at TCU+3TCUWon 38–14 vs. Kansas+24KansasWon 20–13 at Oklahoma State+7Oklahoma State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 23vs17Kansas StateAer Lingus College Football ClassicW 24–⁠2149%
Aug 30vsSouth DakotaW 55–⁠777%
Sep 6vsIowaW 16–⁠1360%
Sep 13atArkansas StateW 24–⁠1665%
Sep 27vsArizonaW 39–⁠1473%
Oct 4atCincinnatiL 30–⁠3862%
Oct 11atColoradoL 17–⁠2460%
Oct 25vs11BYUL 27–⁠4146%
Nov 1vsArizona StateL 19–⁠2457%
Nov 8atTCUW 20–⁠1732%
Nov 22vsKansasW 38–⁠1466%
Nov 29atOklahoma StateW 20–⁠1380%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Oklahoma State 20–⁠13; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Big 12.

In program history: The 7th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 132 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 22
  2. Wk 2: 16
  3. Wk 3: 14
  4. Wk 4: 12
  5. Wk 5: 14
  6. Wk 6: 14
  7. Wk 7: 22
Record
8–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠4 tied for 7th in Big 12
AP final
Unranked peak No. 12
Points
329–⁠242
Coach
Matt Campbell
Elo
1611 +21 this season
SP+ rating
9.9 No. 33 of 136; offense No. 63, defense No. 25, special teams No. 25
SRS
9.6 No. 31 of 136 in FBS
Returning
60% of last season’s EPA, No. 24 of 134
Recruiting class
No. 54 roster talent No. 71 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Taylor Mouser
Defensive coordinator
Jon Heacock
Offense
Spread
Defense
3-high safety

How good, play by play

  • Offense46th of 136
  • Defense26th of 136
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted42nd of 136
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted32nd of 136
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1344%1.1946th of 136
Defense0.0140%1.1926th of 136
Opponent-adjusted0.14 off
0.02 def		45% off
40% def		—42nd off
32nd def

Passing and running

Pass successDepth of targetDeep throwsLine yardsStuffed
Offense47%9.3 yds13%3.1016%
Defense41%8.0 yds13%3.0017%
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. Passing and running: depth of target is how far downfield passes traveled in the air; deep throws are the share thrown deep, of the passes whose depth and direction the play-by-play describes (about half); line yards are the running yards per carry credited to the blockers; stuffed is the share of carries stopped at or behind the line. The defense’s line is what its opponents did. From CollegeFootballData.com, 2025 on.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense3.5own 3014% allowed
Defense3.1own 2717% caused

CORE rating 11.4, 32nd of 136 (offense 6.1, 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 yardsRocco Becht QB2,565 yds
Passing touchdownsRocco Becht QB16 TD
Rushing yardsCarson Hansen RB950 yds
Rushing touchdownsRocco Becht QB8 TD
Receiving yardsBrett Eskildsen WR526 yds
Receiving touchdownsBenjamin Brahmer TE6 TD
TacklesKooper Ebel LB77 tkl
SacksCaleb Bacon LB3 sacks
InterceptionsJamison Patton S2 INT

Top recruits in the 2025 class

Alex Manske QB★★★★No. 305
Will Tompkins OT★★★No. 572
Will Hawthorne LB★★★No. 635
Jack Limbaugh DE★★★No. 721
Ka’Mori Moore DL★★★No. 848

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

The 2025 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.905
Running backs23.00.860
Receivers33.00.855
Offensive line43.00.866
Defensive line53.00.865
Linebackers13.00.881
Defensive backs23.00.854
Athletes and specialists23.00.869
Whole class203.00.865

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 2026

The 2026 draft
Rd 3Domonique Orange DTMinnesota Vikings

Roster 121

The 2025 roster

121 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2025 line; 69 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 8

The 2025 portal
Chase Sowell WR★★★★from East Carolina
Tre Bell CB★★★from Lindenwood
Derek Jensen OT★★★from Wisconsin
Xavier Townsend WR★★★from UCF
Austin Barrett OT★★★from Indiana
Cannon Butler DE★★★from Northern Iowa
Vontroy Malone DE★★★from Tulsa
Tamatoa McDonough DE★★★from Yale

Transfers out 17

Tyler Onyedim DL★★★★to Texas A&M
Jack Sadowsky LB★★★to Northwestern
Isaiah Alston WR★★★to James Madison
J.J. Kohl QB★★★to App State
Trent Jones II DE★★★to UConn
Wade Helton OL★★★to Arizona State
Brent Helton OL★★★to Arizona State
Jacob Ellis LB★★★to Colorado State
A.J. Burton OL★★★to Northern Colorado
Kenard Snyder DE★★★to Texas State
Ryan Robinson Jr. CB★★★to McNeese
Trevon Howard S★★★to Arkansas State

And 5 more, lower-rated or unrated.

All-Big 12

3 second team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2025 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2025 Big 12 standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Texas Tech8–⁠112–⁠27
BYU8–⁠112–⁠211
Utah7–⁠211–⁠214
Arizona7–⁠39–⁠4
Houston6–⁠310–⁠322
Arizona State6–⁠38–⁠5
TCU5–⁠49–⁠425
Iowa State5–⁠48–⁠4
Cincinnati5–⁠47–⁠6
Kansas State5–⁠56–⁠6
Baylor3–⁠65–⁠7
Kansas3–⁠65–⁠7
UCF2–⁠75–⁠7
West Virginia2–⁠74–⁠8
Colorado1–⁠83–⁠9
Oklahoma State0–⁠91–⁠11

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