Southeast Missouri State Redhawks at Iowa State Cyclones
Sat Sep 5 · 12:00 PM CT
By Pablo SanchezUpdated 9d ago·2 min read
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Jimmy Rogers gets his first game as Iowa State's head coach, and the Cyclones picked about as soft a landing spot as you can find: an FCS team that just dropped five wins off its record.
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Best BetIowa State
Iowa State is in total transition, but the gap between a Power Four roster — even a rebuilt one — and an FCS team that just lost five more games than it did the year before is still wide. Back the Cyclones here; the story is whether the new-look offense clicks, not whether they find a way to win.
Southeast Missouri State
+Returning leaders at LB and RB
+Already has a road game under its belt
+Committed to a more balanced run/pass attack
−Dropped from 9-4 to 4-8 in one year
−One-dimensional passing game last two seasons
−Facing a Power Four roster on the road
Iowa State
+Won the only prior meeting 42-10
+Experienced transfer QB named camp frontrunner
+Talent floor still above FCS level
This one's less about Southeast Missouri State and more about finding out who Iowa State even is now. Matt Campbell bolted for Penn State over the offseason and took most of his staff and roughly half the roster with him, so Rogers isn't just breaking in a new quarterback in Jaylen Raynor — he's breaking in almost an entirely new team. The Arkansas State transfer was named the frontrunner over Oklahoma State's Zane Flores heading into camp, and a Week 1 matinee against an FCS opponent at MidAmerican Energy Field at Jack Trice Stadium is about the gentlest way to get him game reps before Big 12 play gets real.
SEMO already has one road trip under its belt before this, opening the season at Indiana State on August 29, so the Redhawks won't be walking into Ames completely cold. Coach Tom Matukewicz is leaning on returning pieces like linebacker McCoy Casey and running backs Cole Ruble and Payton Brown, and he's made it clear the priority is fixing an offense that was one-dimensional the last two years — the plan is to actually run the ball this time instead of leaning entirely on the pass.
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SEMO Southeast Missouri State
ISU Iowa State
The gap here is talent level more than scheme, and it's not close. SEMO is coming off a 4-8 season that saw it fall off a cliff from a 9-4, share-of-first-place year in 2024. Iowa State, even in the middle of a total roster teardown, still plays a level up from the OVC. The two programs met once before, in 2022, and the Cyclones handled it 42-10.
Southeast Missouri State Redhawks
Iowa State Cyclones
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None of that means Iowa State is walking in with any real continuity. Preseason grades have this Cyclones team tied for the lowest offensive and defensive rating in the Big 12, and outside projections have them around a 5.5-win season — a rebuilding year, full stop. That's exactly why this game matters more than the name on the other sideline suggests: it's the first live look at Rogers' scheme, Raynor under center, and how fast a roster with essentially zero returning starters can gel.
Southeast Missouri State Redhawks
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Iowa State Cyclones
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
Strip away the record and the coaching change, and this still reads like a straightforward September get-right game. SEMO's committed to establishing the run and has real leadership back on both sides of the ball, but asking a rebuilt FCS offense to go into a Power Four building and hang around is a tall order in Week 2 of their own season. Iowa State's questions are real, but they're the kind that show up against Big 12 competition in October, not against a team replacing its identity from a 4-8 year.
