Iowa State football is built for serious Big 12 title push in 2021

Iowa State football is entering a huge season under Matt Campbell. With the returning pieces, the Cyclones should be a Big 12 title favorite.

For the first time in as long as anyone can remember, Iowa State will be a top Big 12 title favorite heading into a season.

The Cyclones are bringing back Brock Purdy for his senior season and he’s arguably one of the best quarterbacks in the entire country and a top NFL draft prospect. On top of that, Iowa State has Breece Hall in the backfield again, looking to contend for a Heisman Trophy after a 1,500-yard, 21-touchdown sophomore year.

Bringing back Charlie Kolar, Xavier Hutchinson, Sean Shaw, Joseph Scates and Tarique Milton also helps matters on offense.

Defensively, the Cyclones fielded the 25th-best scoring defense in the country last season which is impressive coming from a Big 12 squad. No one expects the Big 12 to play much defense so Iowa State was better than a majority of teams from the conference.

The top three tacklers from last season also return in the linebacking trio of Mike Rose, Jake Hummel and O’Rien Vance. That type of experience in the middle of the defense is only going to help the younger first-year starters around them. It’s also bad news for the rest of the Big 12.

Isheem Young, Greg Eisworth, Anthony Johnson, Will McDonald, Eyioma Uwazurike and Tayvonn Kyle also return to make this defense arguably the best in the Big 12 in the preseason.

Oh, and having Matt Campbell as head coach certainly doesn’t hurt.

Although Iowa State may not have the superstars of a team like Oklahoma, the veteran leadership on both sides of the ball and key returners in important positions have the Cyclones built for a serious Big 12 title push.

Watch out, Oklahoma.