Nov 9, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Iowa State Cyclones helmets on the bench during the first quarter against the Kansas Jayhawks at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. William Purnell-Imagn Images

Iowa State Cyclones’ Gameplan Will Have To Change With Key Player Out in Week 5

Originally posted on Iowa State Cyclones on SI
By Nick Ziegler | Last updated Sep 24, 2025 2:00 PM ET

The Iowa State Cyclones are getting set for a big conference matchup against the Arizona Wildcats in Week 5. Unfortunately, they will be without a key player who has helped them win games already this year.

After their first bye week of the season, the team hoped to get some rest and have some players battling injuries get healthy. Unfortunately, while they have gotten some needed rest, some looming injury concerns remain.

The Week 5 matchup for the Cyclones is an important one against the Wildcats with every game in the Big 12 conference being important at this point. Iowa State is going to be hoping that the week off will have helped the team improve a bit.

Unfortunately, the team is going to be without their star kicker Kyle Konrardy, who was already ruled out for the game. The sophomore has been excellent for the program this season, totaling seven field goals, which included a 63-yard kick. Now, the team will be trying to overcome a key player being out.

How Will Konrardy’s Absence Impact the Team?

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Rarely, a team would really miss their kicker, but Konrardy has proven to be a valuable part of the team already this season. Having a weapon like the talented kicker in college makes decisions a lot easier, knowing the type of range he has.

Konrardy’s absence is likely going to force the team to change their gameplan up quite a bit with Chase Smith coming in. Even though the team is high on the young kicker, he isn’t the same caliber of player as Konrardy.

The sophomore kicker has a massive leg and has shown the ability to finish off games in clutch situations. Due to the style of play that Iowa State plays, they very rarely blow teams out. In conference play especially, games have been played tight for the Cyclones in recent years and that isn’t something that is likely to change.

When playing in close games, having a kicker to rely on is a massive benefit that the team will now be without. Depending on some situations that could arise in the game, Matt Campbell might elect to be aggressive and go for it more on fourth downs rather than take a field goal attempt.

Even though kickers might not get a ton of attention for positive reasons, Konrardy is an impact player for the team, and his absence will be felt. Hopefully, the star kicker won’t be out for too long and Smith will be able to pick up the slack.