IOWA CITY, Iowa – The last time Iowa State played in Kinnick Stadium, Joe Evans was a true freshman linebacker with wide eyes and the reality of red shirting for the season. The Ames native didn’t know what the future held back then in 2018.

Fast forward to this week, Evans is starting at defensive end, on scholarship and excited to have a home game against his home-town team. In fact, it will be just his second game playing against Iowa State with last season being his first.

Evans joined the defensive line rotation after the CyHawk matchup in ’19. The game was canceled due to COVID-19 in ’20.

“I have some buddies who text me. They’re all Iowa State fans, so I try to stay off my phone as much as possible,” Evans said this week. “I try to approach it as just another (game) week, but it’s kind of hard to do that, especially for me. Growing up, I knew how big this rivalry was being an Iowa fan in Ames.

“But I just have to stay focused on the little things and try and improve.”

Evans learned at an early age what the rivalry was about. He moved to Ames from Johnston, Iowa in the fifth grade. He thought nothing of wearing Hawkeye gear to school.

“I would wear it every day, and I would have other kids and parents telling me that’s not the right thing to wear around there. I didn’t care. I loved the Hawkeyes. This is my team,” he said.

Evans (6-2, 246) has followed a familiar path at Iowa, developing from a walk-on to a key contributor. He began as a situational pass-rusher in ’19 and has progressed to being a starter. His 7.0 sacks in ’21 tied Lukas Van Ness for the team lead, and he recorded 2.0 sacks in last week’s season-opening, 7-3 win against South Dakota State.

Spence Evans, Joe’s father, was a walk-on quarterback with the Hawkeyes during the 1989 season. He served as the Ames High principal during Joe’s time in high school before taking the same position at Tipton (IA) High. Spence and Joe’s mother, Abby Evans, have moved to Iowa City, the perfect location for life-long Hawkeye fans.

“I grew up dreaming and wanting to be here,” Joe said. “I wanted to put on the black and gold and swarm out with my brothers.”

He’ll do so with the crowd on his side Saturday.

LEARNING SOMETHING NEW

Iowa punter-extraordinaire Tory Taylor hadn’t seen an American football game in person until he played against Purdue in 2020. Since then, he’s learned rules along the way, including that he can’t kick the ball off of the ground as he did against Wisconsin late in his first season.

The Australian picked up more knowledge last week. South Carolina State punter Dyson Roberts punted the ball 12 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.

“I didn’t actually realize that you weren’t allowed to do that,” Taylor said. “We talked about it in the special teams meeting. They said you couldn’t do that. I was like, “oh shit, I would have done that.””

Taylor was asked how he couldn’t know that rule after two seasons in the states.

“It’s a complicated game in itself, and I really just try to simplify it as much as I can. And to be brutally honest, I just catch the ball and kick it,” he said.

He’s certainly done that well. He knocked seven of 10 punts inside the South Dakota State 20-yard line last week and averaged 47.9 yards per attempt.

BLOCKING OUT THE NOISE

South Dakota State held the Hawkeye offense to a field goal and 166 total yards. That’s created plenty of blowback, not only locally, but nationally following last season’s struggles on that side of the ball.

Sophomore receiver Arland Bruce IV was a bright spot in the opener, catching five passes for 68 yards and also picking up 11 yards on his lone carry.

Bruce IV can imagine that the critics of the offense are voicing displeasure this week. He’s choosing to ignore it.

“In the offseason, I’m on social media but right now I’m on it but I’m not reading a whole lot of stuff,” he said. “If I’m on it, I’m tweeting about college football or bible verses, motivational stuff. But I try to stay away from the negative stuff. It’s not good for the mind.”

CAMPBELL CARDINALS FAN

Iowa’s all-American linebacker Jack Campbell has been focusing on football during the last month or so. The Cedar Falls, Iowa native has managed to keep an eye on the Major League Baseball standings, however.

Campbell showed up to this week’s media availability proudly donning a St. Louis Cardinals hoodie. They enjoyed a 9.5-game lead in the National League Central Division heading into Thursday’s action.

“We’re going to hopefully make a deep playoff run this year,” he said of his Cards. “They’ve been doing a hell of a job.”

Campbell also has an eye on Albert Pujols’ charge to 700 career home runs. He sits at 695 through Wednesday’s games, and has said he will retire after 2022 wraps up.

“I was glad he ended his last at-bat against the Cubs with a home run. I’ll take that,” Campbell said.