3:30 p.m. | ABC
Camping World Stadium Orlando, Florida
Iowa State Cyclones Notes
THE LEAD
No. 18 Iowa State looks to win its 11th game of the season and its third bowl game under Matt Campbell when it faces No. 15 Miami in the Pop-Tarts Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. It will be the first-ever meeting between Cyclones and Hurricanes.
KEY STORYLINES
• Iowa State has reached 10 wins for the first time in the program’s 133-year history … the Cyclones are bowl-eligible for the seventh time in nine seasons under Campbell … no Big 12 school has had more bowl appearances since 2017 than ISU. • Campbell, who agreed to a contract extension through 2032 following the school’s second appearance in a conference championship game, became ISU’s winningest football coach earlier this season … he surpassed Dan McCarney’s previous mark … he is in his ninth season leading the program, the third-longest tenured coach in ISU history and tied for the third-longest active tenure in the Big 12 Conference … in school history, only McCarney (1995-2006) and Clay Stapleton (1958-67) enjoyed longer tenures … Campbell owns 50.6 percent of ISU’s all-time Big 12 wins (45-of-89). • Iowa State placed five players on the All-Big 12 First and Second Teams … senior Jaylin Noel was named Co-Special Teams Player of the year and a first-team selection at that position … on the second team, ISU was represented by Stevo Klotz (FB), Jayden Higgins (WR), Jontez Williams (DB) and Malik Verdon (DB). • Rocco Becht has thrown a TD pass in 17-straight games … he’s just the fifth QB in school history to pass for 6,000 career yards … Becht has led the Cyclones to 17 wins the last two seasons, the best two-year stretch in school history. • Becht has one of college football’s best wide receiving duos at his disposal in Higgins and Noel … they are the first duo in school history and the only pair nationally with 1,000 yards each this season … in eight of 13 games they have combined for at least 10 catches, 175 yards and a score, the most nationally by a set of teammates … Higgins was an Associated Press Third-Team All-American … Higgins is ISU’s 14th All-American since 2017 after the school had just three All-Americans from 1997-2016 • ISU’s defense, under Jon Heacock’s direction, has battled significant injuries at the linebacker position this season but is allowing just 21.5 points per contest … the Cyclones are 6-0 this season when giving up fewer than 20 points … the six games is tied for the second-most games in the Big 12 allowing less than 20 points. • Iowa State is one of the nation’s least penalized teams with an average of 3.9 penalties per game … its 27.9 penalty yards per game are the fewest nationally and the least by a Cyclone team since 1962.
LAST TIME OUT
• Iowa State was unable to overcome three turnovers in the third quarter as it fell to No. 12 Arizona State, 45-19, at the Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship in Arlington, Texas … the 45 points allowed equaled its most this season. • ISU took a 7-3 lead midway through the first on a 3-yard TD pass from Rocco Becht to Carson Hansen and early in the second tied the game up 10-10 on Kyle Konrardy’s 36-yard field goal … Arizona State scored the next 35 points, reaching the end zone on five of its next six possessions. • The Cyclones turned it over on its first three possessions of the third quarter giving ASU a short field that resulted in touchdowns for the Sun Devils. • Becht tossed a pair of TD passes, one to Hansen and another 25-yarder to Jaylin Noel, and finished 21-for-35 for 214 yards passing … Jayden Higgins had seven receptions for 115 yards, while Noel finished with five catches for 64 yards … Higgins and Noel each have 30-plus receiving yards in 19-straight games, the longest streak by any FBS duo since West Virginia’s Tavon Austin and Stedman Baily did so in 27 straight from 2010-12 … they each have 50-plus yards in seven games this season, tied for the second-most games nationally. • Tight end Gabe Burkle also had five catches, the second-best total of his career. • Defensively, Beau Freyler led the Cyclones with eight tackles as he inched closer to 300 career tackles (298). • DT Domonique Orange notched his first career sack … DB Myles Purchase had 2.5 tackles for a loss and six total stops in the game. • Konrardy finished 2-for-3 on field goals in the game, connecting from 36 and 24 yards, while missing wide left from 46 yards … Konrardy, a redshirt freshman, became the first player in school history to top 100 season kicking points … he also tied Chase Contreraz’s ISU single-season field goals record of 21 made and broke Jeff Shudak’s 1987 record for field goals made by a freshman. • DB Darien Porter appeared in his 64th game, breaking the previous school record held by his former teammates Gerry Vaughn and Jake Hummel.
IOWA STATE BOWL NOTES
• The 2024 Iowa State team has earned the 19th bowl bid in school history and its seventh in the last eight years. J This will be Iowa State’s third time playing at Camping World Stadium: 2019 (Lost to Notre Dame, 33-9, in the Camping World Bowl); 2021 (Lost to Clemson, 20-13, in the Cheez-It Bowl. • The Big 12 is 1-0 playing in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. • Darien Porter has played in four bowl games for the Cyclones, while Jarrod Hufford is making his fourth appearance. • Iowa State is 5-13 all-time in bowl games, winning the 2000 Insight. com Bowl (37-29 vs. Pitt), the 2004 Independence Bowl (17-13 vs. Miami (Ohio)), the 2009 Insight Bowl (14-13 vs. Minnesota), the 2017 Liberty Bowl (21-20 vs. Memphis) and the 2021 Fiesta Bowl (34-17 vs. Oregon). • Six of Iowa State’s seven bowl games under Campbell have been played against ranked opponents (#19 Memphis, #12 Washington State, #14 Notre Dame, #25 Oregon, #19 Clemson and #15 Miami). • Cyclone senior Beau Freyler had a career-high 15 tackles against Clemson in the 2021 Cheez-It Bowl at Camping World Stadium as a true freshman … Jaylin Noel was also a true freshman and led ISU’s receiving corps with four receptions for 54 yards. • Iowa State started three true freshmen in the 2021 Cheez-It Bowl (Freyler, Noel and Myles Purchase) … all three will be playing in their final career games for the Cyclones.
FROM THE NOTEBOOK
• Campbell could become the first Cyclone head coach to win three bowl games:
BOWL WINS BY COACH
1. 2 – Matt Campbell 2 – Dan McCarney 3. 1 – Paul Rhoads J Campbell is 4-5 as a head coach in bowl games … he did not coach Toledo in the 2015 Boca Raton Bowl after accepting the Iowa State job. J This will be the 14th bowl game of Campbell’s coaching career. • Rocco Becht is the 13th different Cyclone to start at QB in a bowl game … he’ll become just the fourth QB in school history to start two bowl games: Seneca Wallace, Bret Meyer, Brock Purdy (4x).
IOWA STATE AND THE ACC
• Iowa State is 2-7-1 all-time against teams currently in the ACC with four of those games coming in bowl games. • The Cyclones last win against a team currently in the ACC came in the 2000 Insight.com Bowl against Pitt, who was in the Big East at the time.
IOWA STATE IN THE SUNSHINE STATE
• The Cyclones are 1-2 all-time playing in the Sunshine State, including 0-2 in bowl games. • ISU’s lone win in Florida came in 1975, a 10-6 victory against Florida State in Tallahassee … Earle Bruce led Cyclones used a 57-yard TD run from Mike Williams in the third quarter to put them in front for good.
TEAM QUICK HITS
• In its 133rd season, ISU averaged just 4.1 wins per season prior to Matt Campbell’s arrival in 2016 with 12 bowl game appearances … under his leadership, ISU has averaged 7.0 wins per season and reached bowl games in seven of his nine seasons. • The Cyclones have reached 10 wins in a season for the first time in school history and for just the second time ever in the regular season (1906) ISU has topped nine wins in the regular season … overall it is the fourth time ISU has ever won nine games in a season. J ISU has 12 seasons in its history with at least eight wins, including just nine in the modern era (1928-pres.) … Campbell has coached the Cyclones to four of those seasons and recently passed CFB Hall of Famer Earle Bruce for the most eight-plus win seasons at ISU. • Iowa State matched its best start to a season in 2024, winning its first seven games before its first loss.
BEST STARTS IN SCHOOL HISTORY
• 7-0 1938, 2024 2. 6-0 1938, 2024 2. 5-0 1938, 2024, 1980, 1906, 1899 • This was also Iowa State’s first 4-0 conference start in school history. • Prior to its loss at Kansas, ISU had won a school-record six-straight Big 12 road games, also the longest conference road winning streak in school history. • ISU has four road wins in a season for just the fourth time since 1990, three of which have been under Campbell. • Iowa State is the Big 12’s best team on fourth down, converting at an 81 percent clip (17-for-21) … it also ranks second in the FBS behind only Minnesota (88.9) … ISU has six games this season with multiple fourth-down conversions which is tied for its most in a season since joining the Big 12 in 1996 … the Cyclones are 6-0 when converting two or more fourth down attempts this year. • ISU has allowed just 15 passes longer than 25 yards this season. • ISU has allowed just 79 opponent completions this season, among the top-10 nationally (7th) for fewest completions allowed … the 2,102 passing yards allowed are the ninth-fewest by an FBS team this season … opponents are completing just 52.8 percent of their passes. • ISU is 15-6 in its last 20 games with an 8-2 record in road games. • ISU has the third-most takeaways in the Big 12 Conference (21) … it is the most for Iowa State since having 21 in 2013. J ISU is among the nation’s least penalized teams committing just 51 penalties (3.9 per game), which ranks sixth nationally … ISU’s 362 penalty yards (27.9 per game) are the fewest nationally … in five games this season ISU has recorded two or fewer penalties. • Iowa State has faced nine 1,000- yard rusher of the season, the most nationally … it has faced four of the nation’s top 10 rushers and six of the nation’s top 20 rushers in Cam Skattebo (Arizona State), Kaleb Johnson (Iowa), RJ Harvey (UCF), Tahj Brooks (Texas Tech), DJ Giddens (KSU), Devin Neal (Kansas). • ISU’s starting linebacker group from the spring – Caleb Bacon, Will McLaughlin, Carson Willich – had played a total of five snaps (all by Bacon) this season prior to McLaughlin’s return to the lineup against Cincinnati … freshman Cael Brezina stepped into a starting role but has missed six games, while backup John Klosterman has missed nine games … another LB, Zachary Lovett, has missed four games due to injury … in total, ISU LBs have missed more than 45 games this season. • The Cyclone offensive line has allowed just 15 sacks this season, ranking among the nation’s top-20 … in the last two seasons, ISU has allowed 29 sacks in 26 games, inside the nation’s top-15 over the course of two seasons. • Iowa State is playing 14 games in a season for just the second time, the other being 2002 when it was allowed to play a 13th regular season game due to its participation in the Eddie Robinson Classic when it played Florida State at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.
Miami-FL Hurricanes Notes
QUICK HITS
• The Miami Hurricanes wrap up their third season under the direction of head coach Mario Cristobal on Sat., Dec. 28 in the Pop-Tarts Bowl vs. Iowa State. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. on ABC from Orlando. • Miami has posted its first 10-win season since 2017 and only its second 10-win season since joining the ACC in 2004. UM is looking for its first 11-win season since 2003, when the Hurricanes finished 11-2. • QB Cam Ward, the 2024 Davey O’Brien Award winner and a Heisman Trophy finalist, was named ACC Player of the Year in early December. Ward posted the best single season by a quarterback in Miami history, setting the program’s single-season records for both yards (4,123) and TDs (36). • Miami has a record of 20-25 in bowl games and is looking for its first win in a bowl game since topping West Virginia, 31-14, in the 2016 Russell Athletic Bowl – a game also played in Orlando.
STORYLINES + NOTABLES
• Miami is looking to wrap up its impressive 2024 season in winning fashion when it travels to Orlando for the 2024 Pop-Tarts Bowl on Dec. 28. With a win over Iowa State, the Hurricanes will secure their first 11-win season since 2003 and their first bowl victory since 2016. • The Hurricanes ended the season just outside of the College Football Playoff, finishing as the No. 13 team in the final rankings before the start of the playoff released on Sun., Dec. 8. Miami finished the season with a 10-2 record and a 6-2 mark in conference play. • Among Miami’s top newcomers was Ward, who was named the winner of the Davey O’Brien Award honoring the nation’s top quarterback on Monday, Dec. 9. Selected to nearly every major award watch list, Ward became the first player in Miami Hurricanes history to be named ACC Player of the Year. He was also named a consensus first-team All-American quarterback.
MIAMI WRAPPING UP IMPRESSIVE 2024 SEASON
• Despite falling to Syracuse in its regular season finale on Nov. 30, the Miami Hurricanes posted their first 10-win season since 2017, finishing 10-2 overall and 6-2 in ACC play. Miami ended the year No. 13 in the CFP rankings. • Under the direction of head coach Mario Cristobal, Miami moved from five wins in Year 1 (2022, 5-7) to seven wins in Year 2 (2023, 7-6) to 10 wins in Year 3 (2024), 10-2) to continue an impressive trajectory. • The Hurricanes posted their first undefeated season at home since 2002 and first regular season undefeated home slate since 2017. Miami had the No. 1 offense in America by nearly every metric during the regular season. • QB Cam Ward became Miami’s first Heisman Trophy finalist since 2002, and also won the Davey O’Brien Award as the nation’s top quarterback. Both Ward and WR Xavier Restrepo were consensus NCAA All-Americans. • Ward also became the first Hurricane to win ACC Player of the Year; he was also named ACC Offensive POY. • Miami was ranked as high as No. 4 during the regular season, and ended the year ranked No. 13 in the year-end College Football Playoff rankings. In the new 12-team format, Miami ended the season as the “second team out.”
HURRICANES END YEAR AT #13 IN CFP RANKINGS
• Following a loss to Syracuse in their regular season finale in November, the Hurricanes checked in at No. 13 in the final College Football Playoff rankings on Dec. 8, listed as the “second team out” of the final 12-team field. • Mario Cristobal’s highest-ranked team as head coach came on Nov. 3, when UM was ranked No. 4 in both major polls (Associated Press, LBM Coaches Poll). • Following a 56-9 win over Florida A&M on Sept. 7, Miami cracked the AP top 10 for the first time since Dec. 6, 2020 (No. 9). Following Miami’s win over FSU on Oct. 26, UM cracked the AP top 5 for the first time since 2017. • Bolstered by the addition of several impressive newcomers and anchored by a talented group of returning veterans, the Hurricanes were ranked in the top 25 of both preseason polls – checking in at No. 19 in both polls. • Miami spent four weeks in the top 25 of 2022 (preseason, Sept. 6, Sept. 11, Sept. 18 polls) and cracked the top 25 rankings of both polls for four weeks in 2023 (Sept. 10, Sept. 17, Sept. 24, Oct. 1). It was in the rankings of both polls for the entirety of the 2024 season heading into its bowl matchup with Iowa State on Dec. 28.
MIAMI HEADS BACK TO CAMPING WORLD STADIUM
• The Hurricanes have played in “The City Beautiful” Orlando multiple times for bowl games, including most recently, the 2020 Cheez-It Bowl. The Hurricanes also played in the 2009 Champs Sports Bowl, the 2013 Russell Athletic Bowl and the 2016 Russell Athletic Bowl in the same stadium; Miami is 1-3 in bowl games in Orlando.
MIAMI AMONG MOST EFFICIENT SCORING TEAMS
• Even as the nation’s most prolific offense, the Hurricanes have managed an impressive level of efficiency.
Against FBS Competition:
• The Hurricanes score points on 58.27% of their offensive possessions – the best-mark in the nation. Miami scores touchdowns on 46.46% of possessions, which also represents the best mark in all FBS. • Miami’s 5.51% three-and-out percentage on offense is by far the best such mark in the nation. • The Hurricanes’ 18.90% punt percentage on all offensive drives is the lowest such mark in the nation. • The Hurricanes’ 3.14 points-per-possession average is the best mark in the country.
