Iowa State Football: Cyclones following Mount Union blueprint of Week 2 bye
By Dylan Montz Staff Writer dmontz@amestrib.com
Sep 7, 2019 at 12:01 AM Sep 7, 2019 at 12:48 PM
Matt Campbell long has held the belief that the precious few days in between the first and second game of the college football season are critical for team development. No. 25 Iowa State missed out on the benefits of a full game last season before a road trip to Iowa, and had to figure things out on the fly in a loss.
ISU (1-0) saw plenty of teachable moments in its 29-26 triple overtime win against Northern Iowa last week, only to jump into a Week 2 bye. An uneven performance, followed by an off week, could be a disadvantage for some teams, but Campbell, now in his fourth year in Ames, sees it as one of the advantages in a schedule that features 10 games against Power 5 competition.
"I love it. We did that every year at Mount Union," Campbell said of a Week 2 bye. "My entire career that's how it was, and when I coached there. I love the ability to play a game and then have the ability to see where you are as a football team for real."
Said offensive coordinator Tom Manning: "It's really good to have an opportunity to step back and say, 'Is what we're doing the right thing? Where do we need to get better? What are the things that might help our offense or might help our defense?' I believe it, too. There is a tremendous growth when you get one under your belt and figure out what's next."
So instead of a Week 2 bye being happenstance, or a scheduling quirk, it's intentionally done as a way to use the season opener like an exhibition — even though UNI presents tougher challenges than an actual exhibition.
Mount Union, the Division III program in Ohio that Campbell, Manning and ISU cornerbacks coach Matt Caponi all played for, does it regularly.
Since 1999, the Purple Raiders have had a Week 2 bye in every season except four (1999, 2010, 2011 and 2016). When Campbell was a player, Mount Union went a combined 6-0 in the first two games with a bye in between Week 1 and 3 from 2000-02.
As the offensive coordinator from 2005-06, Campbell helped Mount Union to a combined 4-0 record, scoring at least 60 points in three of those games. The byes allowed the team to do some deep reflection.
"It allows us to really sit, use this as an evaluation tool, almost an extension of camp and really do a great job going into the bye week of saying, 'Who are we? How do we continue to develop a plan around both sides of the football and special teams?' and then see where we're at," Campbell said.
"I think it's huge for this team. We've got enough youth and enough veterans that there's a lot of work to be done and we're going to have to do a great job worrying about Iowa State here for the next seven days."
ISU has had Week 2 byes in recent memory, too. Since 1999, the Cyclones have had two Week 2 byes (2001 and 2013) with varying results. The '01 team beat UNI 41-0 in Week 1 and edged Ohio 31-28 on the road in Week 3. The '13 team lost home games to UNI (28-20) and Iowa (27-21).
In the estimation of current players, the success ISU will have or won't have next week against the 20th-ranked Hawkeyes (3 p.m./FS1) will depend on their attention to detail.
"That's something new for us. That's a challenge in its own right," senior offensive lineman Julian Good-Jones said. "You're coming off the first game, then you have to wait. Usually you dive right into it and want to get to the next game, but that will be a challenge for us for sure. I think it will be good for us, though, to get reps back."