ISU hopes to send seniors out in style

By DANA BECKER

dbecker@messengernews.net

AMES — Senior Day presents the Iowa State football team with the chance to improve in the Big 12 standings and look toward a more promising bowl appearance.

The Cyclones host Kansas here Saturday inside Jack Trice Stadium. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. with the game airing live on FS1.

Iowa State (6-4 overall, 3-4 in league) snapped a four-game losing skid earlier this month with a 20-17 win at TCU. They spent the past week getting healthy for the final two games of the regular season.

Rocco Becht has thrown for 2,230 yards with 12 touchdowns, adding eight rushing scores, as Carson Hansen has a team-high 721 yards rushing with five touchdowns. Abu Sama III has 588 yards and four scores on the ground.

Becht, who had an incredible season last year and has struggled at times in 2025, is also battling several injuries, according to Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell.

“I would say he’s getting back,” Campbell shared. “Hopefully, this week and a half helped him a little bit, kind of get himself a little bit closer to where we’d like him to be physically.”

Brett Eskildsen leads the receivers with 434 yards while tight end Ben Brahmer has a team-high 33 receptions and five touchdowns.

Kansas (5-5, 3-4) needs one more win to reach bowl eligibility, as they have lost three of four, including a 24-20 setback at Arizona two weeks ago.

Jalon Daniels has thrown for 2,190 yards and 21 touchdowns with just three interceptions. Daniel Hishaw Jr. has 430 yards rushing and Emmanuel Henderson Jr. has caught 41 passes for 638 yards with five touchdowns.

“(Kansas is) probably, by position group, maybe the most talented team in this conference,” Campbell said. “When you look at them, there’s a lot of guys that have played a ton of football, and a lot of guys that have great talent and great ability. So it’s going to be a great challenge for us.”