Last year, he was a playmaker at nickel for us. He steps up. He's had a great spring, and he's had a good camp. He's going to be a solid player for us.

Anytime you give up three points to the No. 8 team in the country, that's a pretty good day defensively. I think that's one of the better games we played.

It's that underdog mentality. It fits Iowa State perfectly. Want to overlook us? Underestimate us? Pick us at the bottom of the Big 12? Fine. That's what we want.

It's tough when something that's been a part of your life is over. It's hard. (Sam) was the guy I saw right away. He's been my best friend and my best coach. So I wanted to go over and give him a hug.

Our focus was on Illinois State for the first week. Our focus was on Illinois State all the way through camp. For them to say that this is our biggest game of the year and this is what we focus on all the time, they better look at out schedule. We have big games all throughout.

This is the sweetest win over Iowa that I've experienced. We wanted to prove a point, and I think we did.

I haven't seen BT in a while. It'll be fun to compete against him.