Iowa State Cyclones quarterback Rocco Becht (3) celebrates with fans after fans rush onto the field as the Cyclones take on NCAA football at the Jack on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, in Ames, Iowa Trice Stadium win 29:21 against the Kansas State Wildcats. © Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

AMES — “I’m the type of guy who comes early and leaves late.”

Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell spoke these words to me in a one-on-one interview in 2019.

And he wasn’t just talking about himself. That dedication to “the process” has permeated his teams past and present, and now the 18th-seeded Cyclones in the College Football Playoff find themselves back in the Big 12 Championship for the second time ever – and for the first time since Campbell helped lead the way, she was there as COVID ravaged the world a year later.

ISU (10-2) will face Arizona State (10-2) at 11 a.m. Saturday at At&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, with a guaranteed spot in the expanded 12-team playoffs on the line.

“I think it’s fitting that even that isn’t easy,” said Campbell, whose team had to wait until 12:44 a.m. Iowa time to make sure it would play for the league title after beating No. 24 Kansas State . 29-21, Saturday on senior night at Jack Trice Stadium. “We’ll wait until midnight (and then some) to find out exactly what this will look like.”

So it’s the Cyclones and the Sun Devils who are in charge – just as the pollsters predicted last season.

Not!

ISU was ranked sixth in the preseason media poll. Arizona State finished last in the recently expanded 16-team league. Yet here they are, vying for conference supremacy and a CFP spot. The match itself highlights the increasing unpredictability of college football, where zero funds, huge coaching contracts and ever-changing rosters thanks to the transfer portal mean anything is possible from season to season and week to week.

“It’s been a crazy journey leading up to this moment,” said the senior Cyclone safety expert Beau Freylerwho has been injured for much of his career. “I couldn’t thank and praise my teammates and coaching staff more, and everyone who has touched this program, for everything they have done to push us forward. It’s all of them. That’s all I can say.”

ISU’s seniors put up mammoth plays in Saturday’s win – and that trend started on the first play of the game.

**Kansas State quarterback Avery Johnson fumbled attempting a reverse pass and a senior cornerback Myles purchase pounced on it at the Wildcats’ 27-yard line.

Six games later, ISU quarterback Rocco Becht connected with senior receiver Jayden Higgins with a 15-yard touchdown pass that gave his team a 7-0 lead.

“That’s my brother,” said his colleague Jaylin Noelwho joined Higgins in the 1,000-yard receiver club this season after a late nine-yard touchdown pass from Becht. “Seeing us both achieve what we set out to do this season has been very special and there is more to come.”

**Senior defensive end Joey Petersen — whose father and brother also played at ISU — recovered Kansas State’s second fumble, forced by the freshman safety Ta’Shawn James. The Cyclones won the turnover battler 3-0 and are now plus-10 in that category this season.

“Honestly, I felt like we could have done better,” said Becht, who had three touchdowns, two passing and one rushing. “The defense did a great job stopping them tonight and we just couldn’t finish and execute (all) of the attacks. “So I’ll be better next week and hopefully be a better leader for this team next week.”

**Senior cornerback Darien Porter Midway through the third quarter, he broke off the edge and blocked a 21-yard field goal attempt, giving him an impressive total of five blocked kicks and punts in his ISU career. The kick bounced off Porter’s helmet, prompting a violent reaction from Campbell, who demonstratively waved his arms and clenched his fists.

“It was something we noticed on film — a short edge,” Porter said. “So we were able to uncover that. But even then, you think you’re going to do it, but then you get there and you’re like, ‘Wow, there it is.’ So we were just able to take advantage of that.”

Just as ISU plans to take advantage of another trip to “Jerry World,” where they fell just short in a 27-21 loss to Oklahoma in the 2020 championship game.

“The reality is there is a championship game,” Campbell said. “And if you earn the right to be there, then we’ll get there too, and then we have to win it.”