Iowa State — Big 12
HC
Jimmy Rogers · Jack Trice Stadium · Ames, IA · 61,500 cap
PPA off / def
0.19 / 0.09
2025
Class rank
#54
class of 2026
Returning PPA
2%
returning production
2026 schedule
2025 results (8–4)
Statistical comps — 2025 Iowa State's closest analogs
Nearest neighbors by z-scored success rate, explosiveness, run rate & havoc (offense + defense), 2015–25.
2025 leaders
Transfer portal — 2026 (48 in / 55 out)
Origins
Trice, the school's first Black athlete, was injured in his second game in 1923 and died two days later; the letter he wrote the night before is in the stadium that now bears his name — the only FBS stadium named for a Black man.
Founded 1858 · The first institution to accept the terms of the Morrill Act · first football 1892 · defined by Jack Trice
All-time record
All-time
566–679–45
1895–2025
Win %
45.6%
131 seasons played
Winning seasons
52
40% of seasons
| Best seasons | W | L | Conference |
|---|
| 2024 | 11 | 3 | Big 12 |
| 1906 | 9 | 1 | FBS Independents |
| 2020 | 9 | 3 | Big 12 |
| 2000 | 9 | 3 | Big 12 |
| 1903 | 8 | 1 | FBS Independents |
Season records from CollegeFootballData, which is why the span starts at 1895 — that is where its coverage of this program begins, not necessarily the first year it fielded a team.
Play-calling tendencies (2025 · garbage time excluded)
| Situation | Plays | Run % | Success % | Nat'l | Avg yds | Expl % |
|---|
| 1st down | 335 | 65% |
46% | 46 of 136 | 5.8 | 10% |
| 2nd down | 265 | 51% |
45% | 30 of 136 | 6.0 | 15% |
| 3rd & short (≤3) | 48 | 71% |
56% | — | 3.4 | 6% |
| 3rd & medium (4–7) | 59 | 19% |
42% | — | 5.4 | 19% |
| 3rd & long (8+) | 49 | 29% |
20% | — | 5.8 | 14% |
| 4th down | 27 | 41% |
63% | — | 6.0 | 15% |
138 drives · 37% ended in points · 7.6 plays and 41.3 yards per drive · 1.10 PPA per drive
Success: 50% of yardage needed on 1st, 70% on 2nd, 100% on 3rd/4th. Explosive: 12+ yd rush / 16+ yd pass. National rank is shown only for 1st and 2nd down, where every team has 100+ plays; the later buckets average 18-43 and a rank there would be noise.
League leaderboard →Most valuable plays (by PPA, 2025)
| Wk | Opp | Play | Yds | PPA |
|---|
| 9 | BYU |
Brett Eskildsen 75 Yd pass from Rocco Becht (Kyle Konrardy Kick) |
75 | 6.08 |
| 13 | Kansas |
(01:13) Shotgun #21 A.Flora rush left for 38 yards gain to the KAN00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 01:0… |
38 | 5.42 |
| 13 | Kansas |
(11:10) No Huddle-Shotgun #3 R.Becht pass complete deep right to #0 C.Sowell caught at KAN… |
36 | 4.17 |
| 6 | Cincinnati |
Rocco Becht pass complete to Chase Sowell for 31 yds to the CIN 27 for a 1ST down |
31 | 4.01 |
| 5 | Arizona |
Benjamin Brahmer pass complete to Brett Eskildsen for 45 yds to the ARIZ 1 for a 1ST down |
45 | 3.90 |
| 1 | South Dakota |
Rocco Becht pass complete to Brett Eskildsen for 66 yds to the SDAK 9 for a 1ST down |
66 | 3.65 |
| 13 | Kansas |
(01:16) Shotgun #26 C.Hansen rush left for 25 yards gain to the KAN42 (#1 B.Kamara), 1ST D… |
25 | 3.58 |
| 9 | BYU |
(04:32) No Huddle-Shotgun #26 C.Hansen rush middle for 65 yards gain to the BYU10 (#1 T.Al… |
65 | 3.56 |