The 2015 Iowa State Cyclones football team represented

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

in the

2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on September 3, 2015 and ended on D ...

. Playing as a member of the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

(Big 12), the team played its home games at

Jack Trice Stadium Jack Trice Stadium (originally Cyclone Stadium and formerly Jack Trice Field, sometimes referred to as "the Jack") is a stadium located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Primarily used for college football, it is the home field of the Iowa State Cyc ...

Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines in central Iowa. It is best known as the home of Iowa State University (ISU), with leading agriculture, design, engineering, and veterinary medici ...

. They were led by seventh-year head coach

Paul Rhoads Paul Robert Rhoads (born February 2, 1967) is an American college football coach. He is currently an analyst at Ohio State Buckeyes football, Ohio State. A long-time Power Five conferences, major conference assistant coach and head coach, he is ...

. They finished the season 3–9, 2–7 in Big 12 play to finish in ninth place. On October 26, 2015,

Mark Mangino Mark Thomas Mangino (born August 26, 1956) is a former American football coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Kansas from 2002 to 2009. In 2007, Mangino received several national coach of the year honors after leading ...

was replaced as

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

with Todd Sturdy, formerly the passing game coordinator, on an interim basis. On November 23, Rhoads was fired. He stayed on to coach the final game of the season on November 28. He finished at Iowa State with a seven-year record of 32–55.

Previous season

The 2014 Iowa State Cyclones football team finished the regular season 2–10, with wins over only non conference play,

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

and Toledo. The Cyclones became ineligible for a bowl game after losing its seventh game against

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

on November 8.

Schedule

:Schedule Source:

Personnel

Game summaries

Game 1: vs. Northern Iowa Panthers

Game 2: vs. Iowa Hawkeyes

Game 3: at Toledo Rockets

Game 4: vs. Kansas Jayhawks

Game 5: at Texas Tech Red Raiders

Game 6: vs. TCU Horned Frogs

Game 7: at Baylor Bears

Game 8: vs. Texas Longhorns

Game 9: at Oklahoma Sooners

Game 10: vs. Oklahoma State Cowboys

Game 11: at Kansas State Wildcats

Game 12: at West Virginia Mountaineers

Awards

National Team of the Week

Following the 24–0 shutout of Texas on the weekend of October 31, the 2015 Iowa State football team received the AutoNation National Team of the Week by the

FWAA The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media ou ...

. This was its third shutout over a Big 12 opponent in school history, the previous against Kansas 34–0 on November 23, 2013. The Cyclones gained 426 yards in total offensive while the defense allowed only 204 yards, which is the third-lowest total an ISU defense has allowed vs. a Big 12 opponent in school history. Also, this was the fewest yards allowed vs. a FBS team in the Paul Rhoads era. The dominating ISU defense held Texas to nine plays in ISU territory with seven of these on Texas's final drive. This was Texas’s first shutout loss against an unranked team since November 18, 1961, when TCU shutout #1 ranked Texas 6–0. For Iowa State, Mike Warren, the nation’s best freshman rusher, picked up 157 yards on the ground on 32 carries and added the first ISU touchdown, the fourth-best rookie rushing effort in school history.

Joel Lanning Joel Lanning (born November 18, 1994) is a former American football linebacker who is currently a graduate assistant for the Iowa State Cyclones football team. He played college football at Iowa State University. He was selected as a first-team ...

got his first career start at quarterback, rushing for 64 yards and completing 19 of 37 passes for 188 yards with a touchdown pass to Dondre Daley and no interceptions. Freshman Joshua Thomas punched in the third ISU touchdown, his sixth of the season, tying a Cyclone freshman record set by Alexander Robinson in 2007. This was the Cyclones first home win over the Longhorns in six tries

Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week

Jordan Harris was honored as the

Walter Camp Walter Chauncey Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". Among a long list of inventions, he created the sport's line of scrimmage and the system ...

National Defensive Player of the Week for games ending October 31, 2015. Harris's seven tackles and one interception led the Cyclones crushing shutout of Texas 24–0. Jordan is the third Cyclone to receive National Player of the Week honors: WR Todd Blythe on October 30, 2005, and LB Jesse Smith on October 25, 2009.

References

{{Iowa State Cyclones football navbox Iowa State Iowa State Cyclones football seasons

Iowa State Cyclones football The Iowa State Cyclones football program is the intercollegiate football team at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. The team is coached by Matt Campbell. The Cyclones compete in the Big 12 Conference, and are a Division I Football Bowl Subdi ...