AMES — Cyclone football returns Saturday with a new head coach, a new quarterback and one of the most dramatically rebuilt rosters in the country.
Iowa State will open its 2026 season against Southeast Missouri State at MidAmerican Energy Field at Jack Trice Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for noon, with the game streaming on ESPN+.
The Cyclone Radio Network will also carry the game, with John Walters handling play-by-play, Eric Heft providing analysis and Ryan Harklau reporting from the sideline.
Saturday will launch the 135th season of Iowa State football and the program’s 52nd season at Jack Trice Stadium. More importantly, it will give fans their first real look at the Jimmy Rogers era.
Everything is new at Iowa State
Rogers will make his Iowa State coaching debut with a roster that bears little resemblance to the team that finished 8-4 last season.
Following the coaching change, 78 players from the previous roster departed and 83 newcomers arrived. Only 43 players return.
Iowa State is the only Power Four program entering the season without a returning starter on offense or defense. North Texas is the only other Football Bowl Subdivision team facing that situation.
That makes Saturday more than a routine season opener against a Football Championship Subdivision opponent. It will be the first public test for an entirely reconstructed football team.
NorthIowaToday.com previously reported on the competition, maturity and toughness Rogers demanded when the Cyclones opened fall camp. The coach warned that jobs would not be awarded based upon reputation, experience or seniority.
The best players would play.
Saturday is when fans will begin finding out who won those competitions.
Rogers begins next chapter of coaching career
Rogers became the 34th head coach in Iowa State history after Matt Campbell departed for Penn State.
He arrived in Ames with a 33-9 career record as a college head coach. Rogers guided South Dakota State to a 27-3 record during the 2023 and 2024 seasons, winning the 2023 FCS national championship and reaching the national semifinals one year later.
He spent the 2025 season at Washington State, leading the Cougars to a 6-6 record before signing a six-year contract with Iowa State.
Rogers did not come to Ames alone. Fifteen players followed him from Washington State, while nine members of the Iowa State roster previously played for or signed with South Dakota State.
NorthIowaToday.com reported during the offseason as Rogers assembled a new Iowa State football support staff to oversee recruiting, player development, performance, roster management and program operations.
He also built a new offensive and defensive coaching staff, bringing Tyler Roehl back to Ames as offensive coordinator and installing Jesse Bobbit as defensive coordinator.
Cyclone fans received an early look at the new operation during Iowa State’s first spring showcase under Rogers. Saturday’s opener will reveal how much the team has developed since then.
Raynor takes control of Cyclone offense
Senior transfer Jaylen Raynor will become Iowa State’s new starting quarterback.
Raynor brings considerably more experience than the average transfer. The former Arkansas State quarterback has made 36 career starts, winning 20 of them.
He has completed 758 of 1,206 career passes for 8,694 yards and 52 touchdowns. He has also rushed for 1,183 yards and 15 scores.
Raynor completed 66.5 percent of his passes last season, throwing for 3,361 yards and 19 touchdowns. He added 423 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground.
He also enters the season having engineered eight fourth-quarter game-winning drives, the most among active FBS quarterbacks.
Raynor is already familiar with Iowa State. He faced the Cyclones during each of the previous two seasons while playing for Arkansas State. In the 2025 meeting, he passed for 222 yards and rushed for 83 yards and a touchdown.
He is reunited in Ames with quarterbacks coach Keith Heckendorf, who previously coached him at Arkansas State.
Raynor’s experience could be critical because nearly everything around him is new.
Iowa State is expected to start an entirely new offensive line featuring Jake Taylor at left tackle, Caden Maas at left guard, Braden Smith at center, Trevor Bindel or Austin Barrett at right guard and Maasai King at right tackle.
Michigan State transfer Evan Boyd is projected to start at one receiver position. Tulane transfer Omari Hayes is expected to work from the slot, while Tarleton State transfer Cody Jackson and returning Cyclone Dominic Overby are competing for another starting role.
Tyler Fortenberry and Vince Benetti are battling for work at tight end, with A.J. Petersen also expected to contribute.
The question Saturday will not be whether Iowa State has talent. It will be whether so many new players can communicate, avoid mistakes and operate as one unit when the game begins moving at full speed.
Flora and Pettaway bring big-play potential
Running back and return specialist Aiden Flora is one of the few familiar faces expected to play a major role.
The former walk-on from Adel was awarded a scholarship before the season and earned second-team All-Big 12 recognition as a return specialist in 2025.
Flora led the conference with an average of 26.1 yards per punt return. His biggest moment came at TCU, where he returned a punt 79 yards for the game-winning touchdown.
He also showed potential as a running back, carrying four times for 58 yards. That included a 38-yard touchdown run against Kansas.
Bowling Green transfer Cameron Pettaway gives Iowa State another explosive option on offense and special teams.
Pettaway earned FWAA Freshman All-America honors and was named the Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year. He led the nation by averaging 33 yards per kickoff return and took the opening kick 98 yards for a touchdown against Lafayette.
Pettaway also rushed for 365 yards and added 139 receiving yards.
Flora and Pettaway could give the Cyclones a dangerous return combination capable of changing field position or producing a touchdown without the offense taking the field.
New defense brings a new look
The Iowa State defense will undergo one of the program’s most visible changes.
The Cyclones are moving away from the three-man defensive front used under former coordinator Jon Heacock and installing the four-man front favored by Rogers and Bobbit.
Defensive end Isaac Terrell could become the centerpiece of that transformation.
The Washington State transfer recorded 28 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and seven sacks last season. His seven sacks were only six fewer than Iowa State’s entire defense produced in 2025.
Caden Crawford and Malaki Ta’ase are competing for the other starting defensive end position. Bryson Lamb, Max Baloun and Zaimir Hawk are expected to rotate along the interior.
Carson Willich, Sullivan Schlimgen and Willie Breland III headline the linebacker group.
The projected secondary includes David Coffey, Seth Johnson, Drew Surges and either Brody Miller or Duhron Goodman.
Although the players are new to Iowa State’s starting lineup, several have experience in championship programs. Baloun won two national championships at South Dakota State, while Johnson was part of Montana State’s 2025 title team.
Terrell, Baloun and Coffey were also among the six captains selected to lead Iowa State into the 2026 season. Flora, Raynor and Taylor complete the group.
SEMO arrives with a victory already secured
Southeast Missouri will not arrive in Ames cold.
The Redhawks opened their season Aug. 29 with a 23-21 road victory over Indiana State.
Quarterback Braylen Ragland, an Alabama State transfer, completed 26 of 36 passes for 274 yards and a touchdown in his first career start. He connected with nine receivers and did not throw an interception.
The Redhawks struggled to run the football, managing only 53 yards on 30 attempts. Iowa State’s new defensive front will try to force SEMO into another pass-heavy game and give Terrell and the Cyclone pass rush opportunities to attack Ragland.
SEMO’s defense caused plenty of trouble for Indiana State, finishing with 11 tackles for loss, four sacks and a takeaway.
Safety DJ Delmore led the Redhawks with 13 tackles, three tackles for loss, a sack and a pass breakup. He was named the Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week.
Kicker Justin Keller accounted for 11 of SEMO’s 23 points. He made field goals from 42, 43 and 45 yards, with the 45-yarder in the fourth quarter providing the winning points.
Keller was named the conference’s Specialist of the Week.
SEMO is coached by Tom Matukewicz, who is entering his 13th season leading the program. The Redhawks are 1-29 all-time against FBS opponents and have lost 24 consecutive games against teams from college football’s top division.
Cyclones dominated the first meeting
Saturday will be the second football meeting between Iowa State and Southeast Missouri.
The Cyclones won the first matchup 42-10 on Sept. 3, 2022, at Jack Trice Stadium.
Quarterback Hunter Dekkers passed for 293 yards and four touchdowns. Xavier Hutchinson caught eight passes for 128 yards and three scores, all during the first half.
Running back Jirehl Brock added 104 rushing yards as Iowa State pulled away.
The Cyclones are expected to win again, but the final score will not be the only thing Rogers and his staff will evaluate.
Iowa State must establish communication across its new offensive line, develop timing between Raynor and an unfamiliar group of receivers and show that its reconstructed defense can prevent explosive plays.
Penalties, turnovers and blown assignments could provide a better indication of the team’s readiness than the final margin.
Konrardy gives Iowa State a powerful leg
Kicker Kyle Konrardy enters the season as one of Iowa State’s most reliable weapons.
Konrardy has made five career field goals of at least 50 yards. He drilled a 54-yard game-winner against Iowa and later connected from a school-record 63 yards against South Dakota.
He enters the season with 170 career points, ranking 10th in Iowa State history.
With Konrardy handling field goals and Flora and Pettaway returning kicks, special teams could be an immediate strength for a team still developing chemistry on offense and defense.
A bigger test waits one week later
Saturday’s opener is Iowa State’s only game-speed preparation before the schedule becomes substantially more difficult.
The Cyclones travel to Iowa City on Sept. 12 for a 6:30 p.m. Cy-Hawk rivalry game against the Iowa Hawkeyes. That game will be televised nationally on NBC.
Iowa State then returns home to face Bowling Green on Sept. 19 before opening Big 12 Conference play against Utah on Sept. 26.
That makes a clean and convincing performance against SEMO important.
For Rogers, Saturday is the first opportunity to establish what Iowa State football will look like under his leadership.
For Raynor and the dozens of newcomers, it is a chance to prove they can quickly turn a completely rebuilt roster into a competitive football team.
For the fans packing Jack Trice Stadium, it will be the unveiling of one of the most intriguing and unpredictable Cyclone teams in recent memory.
GAME INFORMATION
Iowa State Cyclones vs. Southeast Missouri State Redhawks
Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026
Noon kickoff
MidAmerican Energy Field at Jack Trice Stadium, Ames
Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: Cyclone Radio Network
Official Iowa State game center