Iowa State had one of the best seasons in school history in 2020, rattling off an 8-3 season with a Big 12 championship appearance and a Fiesta Bowl win.
“It meant a lot to me honestly, just to see the groundwork that’s been put through since coach Campbell was there to kind of see it get to that level there’s nothing but excitement,” star wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson said.
The season was especially exciting as Iowa State has not seen a ton of success, being one of only three power five programs to never see a 10-win season.
“To Iowa State I know that meant a lot of blood, sweat and tears that were put into that program to get it where it was at, I know this is only the beginning for that program and I’m excited to see where it takes them.”
Going into 2021, many people were very high on Iowa State. They were ranked inside the top 10 in the preseason and many people had them as a dark horse for the college football playoffs. This did not happen though. The Cyclones only went 7-6 and instead of making the playoffs, went to the Cheez-It bowl and lost to Clemson.
As the season wrapped up many star players would leave and head to the NFL: star quarterback Brock Purdy being drafted last overall to the 49ers, Breece Hall heading to the Jets, and so on. But two notable players stayed with the team.
First of which was Xavier Hutchinson. Coming in just shy of 1,000 yards, he could have transferred to a place with more success, but the bonds he had made were too strong.
“The connection that I had with everybody there, it’s really hard to leave those connections and that family atmosphere. They put a lot into me so you know the last thing I could ever do was leave that program.” Hutchinson said.
Sticking around definitely paid off for him as he was a finalist for the Biletnikoff award, awarded to the most outstanding receiver in the nation.
“It gave me great confidence honestly, it was a tough season but to still be recognized as one of the best receivers in college this past year it meant a lot to me it gave me a lot of confidence.”
His great season at Iowa State earned him an invitation to the Senior Bowl, but he was not the only Cyclone to make the trip to Mobile.
Defensive end Will McDonald IV also received an invitation.
Despite being at Iowa State for having back-to-back seasons with at least ten sacks, he came back for a fifth season, but it was much deeper than just wanting to improve his draft stock. The star defensive player said that the sport saved his life.
“Before football I was planning on going to the army to try to support my family and do what I needed to do and when coach [Matt] Campbell gave me that scholarship I was able to start a new life and start a new path for myself and be something big,” McDonald said.
After making it to Iowa State though, despite being on different sides of the field, these two would create a special bond.
“Xavier is definitely one of my best friends that I always like to hang around with,” McDonald said. “I’m inspired by him, his work ethic and how far he’s come and I’m glad I was able to be by his side the whole way.”
Hutchinson was later read the quote above and his face lit up with joy before saying the following:
“Will was probably one of the first people in that locker room that I kind of connected with, he’s a different guy, sometimes you have got to be around different guys. As much as he has probably learned from me, I’ve learned so much more from him. I’m grateful to call him my friend, and I’m happy to see him out here doing great things.”
Hutchinson also believes that the brotherhood will go with them as they leave Iowa State and go to the next level.
“I just talked to [Breece Hall] actually, I talk to the them a lot, I tried not to bother Brock [Purdy] too much because he was in the playoffs, but every maybe four weeks I send him a little text message and tell him I’m proud of him.” Hutchinson said.
Both Hutchinson and McDonald will be able to display to the world who they are this Saturday as they play on the American team in the Senior Bowl which can be watched on the NFL Network at 1:30 Central Time.