Chapter 34

Monday morning arrived, and the young men started their normal routine, work out, class, practice, dinner, homework, and bed. But this week was different. Both were now practicing with the first team, and they were being noticed in class or in the cafeteria. Seemed like more and more people wanted their time and attention. Each evening, they would pray for guidance and humility. Ren continued with his nightly calls with Pastor Dan, which helped keep him grounded. Friday was a travel day as the team headed off to Manhattan, Kansas, to prepare for the Wildcats of Kansas State at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Iowa State had jumped in the rankings by coming in at number twenty-five this week.

Saturday morning came, and the team went over their game plan with Ren at quarterback and Isaac in the rotation of wide receivers. Todd drove to Isaac’s home to watch the game with his family. They watched an exciting game with Ren throwing for three touchdowns and running for a fourth. Isaac caught three passes but did not score in this game. Iowa State did win easily, 31–6. They were now 3–0 on the young season and gaining confidence.

The following week, the team traveled to Stillwater, Oklahoma, to play Oklahoma State. The Cowboys were ranked number twenty-one, while Iowa State climbed up to twenty-two. Ren felt nervous as the team prepared for this game. He knew that the Cowboy defense was really big. They tended to manhandle the offenses they played against. Both teams were ranked, both were 3–0, and both were trying to make a statement. Through the first half, it was a struggle for the Iowa State offense. Running plays went nowhere with the huge defensive line of the Cowboys. That left the air game, but Ren could not get any time for receivers to get open with the defense pouring through the line. The halftime score was 6–3 in favor of Oklahoma State. In the locker room, the team looked exhausted. Ren stood up and tried to encourage them to all dig deep in the second half. As the coaches were huddled discussing changes for the second half, Ren knocked on the office door. “What is it, Carter?” Coach Williams asked. “Sir, I was thinking that we could try something in the second half,” Ren answered. “Like what?” Coach inquired. “The straight running game is not working because of their size. How about if we outrun them? We could use sweeps and bootlegs to get outside of their containment. Once we wear them down, we can pound the middle,” Ren suggested. “Thank you. Mr. Carter, now back to your team,” Coach said sternly. After Ren closed the door, Coach Williams looked at the other coaches and smiled. “See, I told you that boy was special,” he said with pride. The second half proved to be much different. The Iowa State alternated from left sweep to right sweep, to Ren going out on a bootleg and hitting wide-open receivers down the field. By the time the fourth quarter arrived, the defense was sucking air from exhaustion. This allowed them to pound the middle and run the clock. At the end of the day, the final score was 24–9, and Iowa State was 4–0 for the first time in a long time. The trip home was very joyous. The team was coming together and believing in themselves more and more. Isaac was totally shocked when Ren stood up in front of the team on the plane heading home. He shared how he spent his life running from God but now was proud that God did not give up on him. In front of the entire team, Ren asked for the team to give all of the praise to God and to thank Him for blessing them. The coaches looked at each other nervously but did not intervene. There was something about how Ren spoke that captured the attention of everyone. It was not like he was pressuring anyone to believe how he believed; he was just open and honest about his story and his beliefs. Coach Williams smiled to himself. Isaac stared at Ren with a lot of pride on his face.

The next morning, Isaac was up first. As Ren opened his eyes, Isaac was holding his phone in front of his face. Ren shook his head. “What am I looking at?” he asked, trying to fully wake up so he could see clearly. “We are now ranked number fifteen. Can you believe it?” Isaac said excitedly. “That is a good jump,” Ren replied. “This week will be tough. We have Baylor. They are ranked number seven. The experts think they will run away with the Big 12 title and make the playoffs,” Ren continued. “I know; it will be a tough game,” Isaac said in agreement.

It was a very tough game. It went back and forth with both offenses showing what they could do. Every time that the Cyclones would work done the field to score, the Bears would put together a quick score to tie it back up. In the second half, the Bears took the lead 38–35 with seven minutes to go. Iowa State was driving down to take the lead when Bryce Cooper, their running back, tripped and fumbled on the six-yard line. Baylor ball. The exhausted Iowa State defense took the field again. The Baylor offense started pounding the ball right at the defense and kept moving further and further downfield. The defense looked like they were about done. With just under a minute left, Baylor was facing a third and seven. They were trying to get one more first down to run out the clock for their fifth victory of the season. Their QB pivoted to the right to float a pass to the running back out of the backfield. As the pass left his hand, the defensive tackle threw his hand up and just tipped the ball. This caused it to flutter over the head of the running back and into the waiting arms of the Iowa State safety. There was nothing but green grass between him and the endzone to secure the win for the Cyclones 42–38. That allowed Iowa State to reach 5–0 instead and take control of the Big 12 North.

With that victory, the Cyclones moved up to number twelve. The wins started to pile up at that point. Home wins over an outmatched Kansas team, 45–12, and road wins at BYU and Cincinnati moved the Cyclones to a record of eight wins and no losses, along with a ranking of seven. The six wins in the conference also secured them a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game against Houston. The Houston Cougars also came into that game undefeated and ranked number two in the country. Their team had finished in the top ten the last three years and seemed a shoo-in to make the NCAA playoffs. That was until Iowa State started this improbable run.