For the first time in school history, Iowa State football will host College GameDay from Ames, Iowa, in Week 2 with a game against Iowa.
While many outside the borders of Iowa might not view this as a marquee accomplishment, or even the right decision by the executives at ESPN, for this corn-growing, Casey’s-loving state, it is a big, big, big deal.
The Cyclones have hit a new high under the guidance of Matt Campbell, winning games and becoming a darkhorse contender in the Big 12. The Hawkeyes, meanwhile, continually contend for the Big Ten division title and just recently became what many consider “Tight End U” with the first round draft selections of T.J. Hockenson and Noah Fant.
Sure, Clemson has its star-studded cast of superstars. And Alabama boasts Tua and Saban, but Iowa State also produced a couple of possible future NFL stars in David Montgomery and Hakeem Butler. They are also led by promising sophomore gunslinger Brock Purdy, who hit the nation like a cyclone last year when he led his team to several quality victories.
While College GameDay in Ames will be a new thing, Iowa City and the Hawkeyes have hosted twice. Iowa has also been featured a total of seven previous times, but they have just one win. That victory came in 2009 when they stunned No. 4 Penn State on the road.
The game will be broadcast on FOX, so the duo of Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit will be sent elsewhere or given the night off. They did call the Iowa upset of Michigan in 2016 on a last-second field goal.
But this is all about Iowa State and the Cyclones showing the rest of the nation that they have arrived. The true beauty of the College GameDay experience is the storytelling, and the ESPN crew will find plenty of great stories to tell.
Campbell’s rise through the coaching ranks sits at the top, but hopefully they will also work to get him to open up on staying in Ames and turning down other offers presented to him. There is also the Purdy story, as the Gilbert, Arizona – and not Gilbert, Iowa – native came all the way to the midwest to continue this career.
And you have to wonder if they will try to do a piece on Re-al Mitchell, the backup quarterback who was featured on the Netflix series “QB1” and is the son of “American Gladitors” star “Blaze.”
Hopefully they elect to do a feature on John G. “Jack” Trice, the namesake of where Saturday’s game will be played. Trice became the first African-American athlete to compete for the school, passing away from injuries suffered in a game against Minnesota in 1923 at just 21 years old.
Needless to say, with this being the first time ESPN has really hit Ames, Iowa hard, there is no shortage of stories they can tackle. The excitement should be at an all-time high for the crew to arrive.