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Iowa State coach Matt Campbell gave an important injury update on two Cyclones starters on Tuesday afternoon.
Both linebacker O’Rien Vance and tight end Charlie Kolar practiced on Monday ahead of the Cy-Hawk rivalry game this weekend, per Campbell.
O'Rien Vance (hamstring) and Charlie Kolar (lower leg) practiced on Monday, per Matt Campbell.
— Michael Swain (@MSwain247) September 7, 2021
This would seemingly indicate that both players are on track to play in Ames this weekend.
Vance is a senior linebacker who was the MVP of the 2020 Fiesta Bowl as Iowa State took down Oregon. He made 5 tackles in the Cyclones’ Week 1 win over Northern Iowa last weekend.
Kolar, who didn’t play in Week 1 due to this injury, is arguably Iowa State’s best player outside of star running back Breece Hall. He’s a matchup nightmare in the red zone and has caught 7 touchdowns in each of the past two seasons.
Kolar caught 5 passes for 53 yards in his only previous matchup vs. the Hawkeyes in 2019. The Cy-Hawk rivalry didn’t happen in 2020 due to the pandemic.
However, Kolar has had a knack for scoring in big games recently. He scored a touchdown in all but one of Iowa State’s last seven contests last season. The only time he didn’t score, he caught 6 passes for a career-high 131 yards in a road victory over Texas. He also scored touchdowns vs. Oklahoma and Oregon last season.
Kick off is at 3:30 p.m. CT on Saturday.
Spenser is the news manager at Saturday Road and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.