GAME DAY: Iowa State vs. Kansas State

ISU CONFIDENTIAL GAME THREAD

The Farmageddon series between the #22 Cyclones and #17 Wildcats takes on new meaning today, as the two programs open their respective 2025 seasons on foreign soil at the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, Ireland. It’s the first time Iowa State will be playing a game overseas in its 134 seasons of football, while K-State is competing in a foreign country for the second time after facing Nebraska in Tokyo, Japan, during the 1992 campaign. The latest incarnation of this series has all the makings of another classic. Kansas State has been favored by around three points for much of the week, despite ISU having won four of the last five meetings. The only blemish was a one-point loss during the 2022 season.

This marks the 10th season opener for head coach Matt Campbell, the program’s winningest coach of all-time, who will be looking for his 100^th victory on Saturday. Although the Cyclones have sustained some personnel losses on both sides of the ball, notably at wide receiver, this is still a very veteran team in a transfer portal era when that’s hard to find. Iowa State returns 53 letterwinners and 11 starters (although one of those, Trevor Buhr, will be unavailable) from last year’s team. The Cyclones are fresh off an all-time best 11-win season and triumph over Miami (Fla.) in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. The team is getting 15 starters back from that game. However, many of those outside the walls of the Bergstrom Football Facility are discounting this team due to the losses at wide receiver, defensive line and safety. ISU has also not been a team which opens at its best in August and early September, although circumstances will certainly call for it this time around.

Campbell’s squad will be tested throughout a week zero tilt against K-State, which returns 13 starters from another nine-win season, its third in a row under head coach Chris Klieman. The Wildcats rank 13^th among Power-4 teams and are tops among current Big 12 programs with 28 wins over those three years. This is nearly as veteran a squad as the one ISU brings back, with 45 returning letterwinners. Like Campbell, Klieman is also getting 15 starters back from last December’s Rate Bowl. Although much of the personnel remains the same, there are always changes from one season to the next. Klieman has elevated co-offensive coordinator and associate head coach Matt Wells to full-time play caller. The former Texas Tech head coach brings a wealth of experience to the position and has his number one quarterback back behind center. Kansas State also returns its entire defensive coaching staff, which has been together since the start of the 2020 campaign and returns a veteran front.

This is critical matchup for the Cyclones and Wildcats, who both aspire to make it back to the Big 12 Championship Game in December. A win will get one a lot closer, while a loss will leave the other stewing until conference season gets back underway later in September. 

READ FULL IOWA STATE VS. KANSAS STATE ULTIMATE PREVIEW