Iowa State vs. Kansas State Preview: A Swing Game in Farmageddon

It has been a long, mostly troubled road for Iowa State against Kansas State in recent years. 

I consider the Wildcats to be Iowa State’s biggest football rival in the Big 12 Conference. This game doesn’t elicit quite the same strong emotions as when the Cyclones play Iowa, but it still stands a tick above other games in terms of how much I want Iowa State to win. In fact, the game has even taken on an unofficial rivalry game moniker: Farmageddon, named for the schools’ shared focus on agriculture. 

The importance of the rivalry became more clear to me in 2012. I was working as a reporter for the Des Moines Business Record. That summer, before the start of the football season, we hosted a panel discussion that included then-ISU football coach Paul Rhoads. This was likely the peak of Rhoads’ popularity. The previous season, the Cyclones had pulled one of the largest upsets in college football history against the undefeated number two-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys to make their second bowl game in three years.

In casual conversation, he told an attendee something to this effect: “We need to beat Kansas State.” The point he made, as I remember it, is that Iowa State and Kansas State have similar profiles within the conference, and that for Iowa State to get to the championship level it aspired to be at, it needed to win this game on a regular basis. (When my friend and editor said “Careful coach, there are reporters listening,” Rhoads seemed unphased. When you are the head coach, it seems like there’s always someone listening, he told us.)

The Wildcats were led by legendary head coach Bill Snyder. He’s turned K-State’s program from an afterthought to a championship winner. It was the kind of trajectory Iowa State is still trying to follow, and at the time in 2012 I thought Rhoads could be the coach to get us there. So to me, it always felt a little extra heartbreaking that Rhoads could never get over the Kansas State hurdle.

The trouble started all the way back in 2009, Rhoads’ first season. The Cyclones tied the game in the closing minutes in the Big 12 opener against K-State at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Or so we thought. As most people in the stands were still celebrating and high-fiving, my friend Chris pointed out that ISU still needed to kick the extra point. Relax — those are automatic, I thought to myself, seconds before the extra point was blocked. It took a couple of seconds for my brain to register what my eyes were seeing as I saw the purple-clad K-State fans in the stands across the field jump around in excitement. To this day, it still feels jarring to think about that roar as everyone around me fell completely silent, leaving no noise to block out the opposing fans’ cheers in a neutral site stadium.

Seriously. How many games have ever been decided by a blocked extra point? 

After close, hard-fought losses in 2010, 2011 and 2012, and a less close loss in 2013, Iowa State entered the 2014 contest needing a win after losing to FCS North Dakota State the week prior. It was a warm September day. In our car on the way to the game, Chris’s wife introduced us to a new Taylor Swift song, “Shake It Off.” We were immediately hooked by the catchy tune. Who’s to say Iowa State couldn’t shake it off from the opening week loss and beat K-State?

The Cyclones jumped out to a 28-13 lead following a trick play that featured receiver Jarvis West taking a reverse and throwing a touchdown pass to Allen Lazard. I have rarely heard a crowd in that type of frenzy. 

Right before the first half ended, Kansas State put together a drive that culminated with receiver Tyler Lockett making a catch at the one-yard line. Lockett appeared as though he may have been out of bounds before making the catch, but the Wildcats hurried up to the line, ran a play and scored a touchdown before the refs could review it. The Big 12 later suspended replay officials for not stopping the game for a review, but it didn’t matter. K-State stole the momentum back before the half, and Iowa State fans felt they were robbed. (In reality, the Wildcats were likely to score on that drive anyway. I’ve come to terms with this seven years later, but at the time, I was furious.)

Early in the fourth quarter, Iowa State was still clinging to a 28-20 lead when the Cyclones made a fourth-and-inches stop, and then picked up a first down near midfield. A third-and-three pass appeared like it was going to be complete to West for another first down, but in a turn of events I still don’t truly understand, the K-State defender ripped the ball away from West before he could complete the catch. An argument could be made that West should have been ruled down with the ball before it was wrestled away, and that’s exactly the argument I, and thousands of others made with our voices in the stands. Again, it didn’t matter. The Wildcats eventually went on to win 32-28. 

It was among the angriest moments I have ever had as I walked out of Jack Trice Stadium. When we got back to the car, instead of listening to the post-game show, we listened to “Shake it Off” on loop the entire way home from Ames to Des Moines. The. Entire. Way. 

The next year was worse. 

In the second-to-last game of the 2015 season, Iowa State had a 3-7 record but had played better in recent weeks. Rhoads was at this point in danger of losing his job, but there was a sense he could save it with a strong finish to the season. That was the outcome I was hoping for. I was a big fan of Rhoads as ISU’s coach.

Iowa State jumped out to a twenty-one-point lead over the rival Wildcats. I happened to be watching the game with a group of people in a party room at a friend’s Thanksgiving party. One person, making casual small talk, remarked that it looked like an easy Iowa State win. I immediately scolded him. We had seen plenty of these games go the wrong way. My mind flashed back to some of the ghosts of recent K-State losses.

While I didn’t feel a twenty-one-point lead was a sure thing for Iowa State I did feel confident, even when the Wildcats pulled within seven points and had the ball late in the fourth quarter. Iowa State made a fourth down stop and took the ball back with 1:31 to play. Iowa State was finally going to end the losing streak. 

And then came one of the most maddening sequences I have ever seen.

With 1:31 left, most fans expected Iowa State to line up in the victory formation and take a knee to let the clock run down. The only issue was the Cyclones would have likely had to run a fourth down play, likely a punt. Instead of having the team take a knee, Rhoads elected to try and run a play instead to try to run more clock and maybe pick up a first down to remove all ambiguity. Iowa State handed it off to the running back. Here’s how I remember the play going:

My friend Chris: “Why are they running a play?”

Me: *Shrugs*

Chris: “Oh my… he fumbled it.” *Dejection in his voice. “He fumbled it.”

Me: *Hands on my head*

Chris: “K-State got it.” 

Me: “No… just no…”

After K-State predictably scored to tie the game, ISU had one more chance. As I was watching the ISU quarterback go back for a pass, I already knew what was about to happen. It was too predictable. He got hit, fumbled, and the Wildcats recovered in field goal range to kick a game-winner. Kansas State 38, Iowa State 35. 

There I was, surrounded by a party of people, half of whom did not care a bit about the game. I was having a meltdown. I remember watching Rhoads walk of the field, and feeling numb as I knew he had just sealed his fate at ISU.

Iowa State announced the next day it would part ways with Rhoads. Had his team taken a knee, who knows what would have happened? As it was, Iowa State announced Matt Campbell as its head football coach a week later. 

You might think it would be difficult to top the pain of seeing your team lose because it failed to take a knee with the game in hand, but you’d be wrong. 

Two years later, Campbell had the Cyclones rolling going into the final game of the season at Kansas State. Iowa State had flirted with a Big 12 Championship Game appearance before back-to-back November losses, but there was still a sense that this team could accomplish something special by ending its losing streak to Kansas State, now at nine games. 

I watched the game with my future father-in-law at an ISU Alumni Association game-watch in downtown Denver. We ordered a pitcher to watch a 7-6 first half, and another pitcher for the second half. When my girlfriend (now wife) Paige and her mom joined us shortly before the start of the second half, I said “Iowa State is losing, but they are playing well.” I had a good feeling. 

I was right, for awhile. The Cyclones stopped Kansas State in three plays to start the third quarter, and then marched down the field for an eleven-play, eighty-five-yard touchdown drive to take the lead on a nine-yard pass to Marchie Murdock. When the Cyclones scored again on a three-yard pass from Kyle Kempt to Hakeem Butler early in the fourth quarter, they made it a 19-7 game. Butler casually flipped the ball to the defender he had just beat, who was still lying on the ground. It was a move of swag, and it drew a fifteen-yard penalty, and I loved every second of it.

K-State scored on it’s next drive to make it 19-14. I was nervous again. But Iowa State was getting the ball back with a chance to run out the clock. That’s when the chaos started.

The Cyclones got a first down, and then another on a twenty-yard pass to Butler on third-and-eighteen. With just 2:11 left and ISU needing one first down to ice the game, the Cyclones threw an incomplete pass on second down. The clock stopped. On third down, Kempt threw it up to soon-to-be NFL receiver Allen Lazard. Lazard appeared to be in position for the catch, and the K-State defender knew it. Instead of defending the ball, he put his arms around Lazard to prevent him from having a shot at it. A yellow flag flew. It was going to be pass interference. Game over.

The refs huddled. What are they talking about? Why are they taking so long? Surely they won’t change this OH MY GOSH THEY ARE PICKING UP THE FLAG!

My future father-in-law was stunned. My text message chain of fellow Cyclone fans was in disarray. And I knew. We were going to lose. 

Kansas State got the ball back and had little trouble making yards in big chunks. With eleven seconds left from the one-yard line, Wildcats quarterback Skylar Thompson scrambled and found a receiver in the back of the endzone. Touchdown. 20-19. No time left. 

It was likely the first and one of the few times I’ve ever cursed in front of my in-laws. For his part, Paige’s dad just kept saying “That never should have happened. The game should have been over.” 

It could be argued that losing ten games in a row to Kansas State, some in excruciating fashion, made it even sweeter to finally break through in 2018. And I’d buy that argument. The Cyclones were down by seventeen points in the fourth quarter. It was the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and it was cold. A number of fans had already left, I’m sure thinking “same old Iowa State.” At one point, Iowa State tried a long pass that from my vantage point looked like a completion. I started to cheer, then realized the K-State defender had come up with an interception. The Wildcat fan in front of me, who had stood out all game due to his boisterous cheers in a road venue, turned around and yelled “YEAHHH!!!” into my face. Talk about adding insult to injury.

Still, Iowa State began to go on a drive early in the fourth quarter. A fan from a few rows behind us, who I did not know, came and sat next to us as a few people had began to clear out. He sat next to me and we commiserated about the seventeen-point deficit and how this always seems to happen against K-State. He then began talking to my new K-State acquaintance. It was a generally happy, lighthearted conversation with questions like “How do you like Jack Trice Stadium?” The K-State fan’s demeanor would slowly begin to change over the coming quarter.

Iowa State scored a touchdown to cut the lead to ten with just over ten minutes left, and Kansas State then faced a third-and-six at its own twenty-nine-yard-line. There was a little life in the crowd. Paige later admitted that she thought about asking if we could go home when the team was down seventeen (she was cold), but knew after that play we were in for the long haul. Thompson, still the K-State quarterback, faced a blitz. Before he could react, the ball was loose, and the next thing I saw was stud freshman Mike Rose running unabated toward the endzone with that football. It didn’t truly dawn on me what was happening until I noticed everyone in the south end zone seats with their hands straight up in the air. Touchdown, Iowa State. A seventeen-point deficit was now three. 

The cell phone flashlights were out. The crowd was hopping as the “Juicy Wiggle” played in the stadium. And I knew. We were going to win. 

It seemed like a foregone conclusion when the Cyclones stopped K-State three-and-out, got the ball back, and David Montgomery ran for the game-winning touchdown. It felt like destiny when Iowa State made the final fourth down stop with less than two minutes left, and was able to run out the clock. Sweet redemption. I looked down toward the Wildcat fan. He was nowhere to be found. 

Proving that things are not always linear, the next year was largely a dud as Kansas State (now led by Chris Klieman, who led Football Championship Subdivision team North Dakota State to four national championships in five years) out-physicaled the Cyclones in a 27-17 win to end the regular season. It was, in many ways, a reminder to me of what Rhoads had said seven years prior. As the Cyclones were trying compete with K-State within the Big 12 hierarchy, it felt like a major toe-stub to lose to the Wildcats in a similar style as what Iowa State was trying to perfect. In the time since, I have heard it mentioned that the loss ended up having a positive effect on the program, as it led to a further evaluation of what Iowa State needed to do to truly take the next step from a good team to a championship contender. In 2020, Iowa State beat a depleted Wildcat team 45-0 in another late November game, this time on its way to a Big 12 Championship Game appearance. 

Coming into the 2021 game, the Cyclones have finally begun to turn the tide in the series. They have not, however, won at K-State since 2004. That’s seven straight losses by the Cyclones at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Being called “Family Stadium” makes it seem so friendly, but it has been downright cruel to Iowa State. The Cyclones have lost in surprising, gut-wrenching and disheartening ways in Manhattan over that time. A win in 2021 would be sweet. 

LIke any rivalry game, a win for the Cyclones in Farmageddon stands out beyond the immediate storylines of the season. I want Iowa State to win in part just because it’s a rivalry game. This year’s game takes on added importance. It is a swing game in the season for Iowa State. The Cyclones have gotten off to a 3-2 start, not as good as anyone hoped for. There is still a lot to play for, and a spot in the Big 12 Championship is still very much alive. A win against K-State, and it will feel like the Cyclones have captured that so far-elusive momentum. A loss would unofficially end their conference title hopes.

It’s a swing game for Iowa State. The Wildcats probably feel much the same way. K-State began the season 3-0, which included a big win over Stanford, but then lost back-to-back games to open the conference season. The Wildcats lost to two conference title game contenders in Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. Thompson, who is still K-State’s quarterback at twenty-four-years old, was out with an injury against Oklahoma State but threw for three-hundred-and-twenty-yards and three touchdowns in the upset bid against the Sooners. 

Iowa State has so far had two opportunities to really grab control of its own destiny to make this the successful season everyone has hoped for. The Cyclones fell short against Iowa and Baylor. This is the third opportunity, and it is critically important.