When Oct. 7, 2017, arrived, the Iowa State football team was 2-2, with victories over Northern Iowa and Akron, and the Cyclones were in Norman to play third-ranked Oklahoma. ISU quarterback Jacob Park didn’t make the trip, and the Cyclones instead started Kyle Kempt, who had barely taken a snap across four college seasons.
You know what happened next. Iowa State stunned the Sooners 38-31, went on to finish 8-5 and gave Cyclone a wave of optimism. The benefits if that upset of OU are many for the program of Matt Campbell, now in his third year at ISU.