Completed Event: Football versus #17 Kansas State on August 23, 2025 , Win , 24, to, 21
Final
Football
24
#17 Kansas State
21
Iowa State University Athletics
Football
Walling, Rory
Rory Walling
- Title:
- Quality Control/Special Teams
- Email:
- lwalling@iastate.edu
- Phone:
- 515-294-6721
Former All-Big 12 special teams player Rory Walling is in his third season working for the Iowa State football team as a special teams quality control analyst. Walling played for the Cyclones from 2017-21 and served as a special teams student manager during the 2022 season.
The 2024 season was the best season in program history. ISU finished 11-3 overall, reaching double-digit wins for the first time in school history, and advanced to the program's second-ever conference championship game. The Cyclones went on to win the Pop-Tarts Bowl, beating Miami 42-41 in a thrilling contest that was capped by kicker Kyle Konrardy's extra point with under a minute remaining.
The special teams unit played a major role in the historical season. Konrardy earned honorable mention All-Big 12 honors and kicked a 54-yard field goal to lift Iowa State to a win over Iowa. The Cyclone special teamers blocked three kicks, two punts and a field goal, returning one blocked punt for a touchdown against Baylor.
Jaylin Noel was named Big 12 Co-Special Teams Player of the Year and All-Big 12 First Team as a kick returner and punt returner. Cyclone special teams standout Darien Porter blocked five kicks in his career, four of which came after Walling joined the staff in 2022.
The 2023 Cyclones saw an improvement on special teams in Walling's first season on the staff. Punter Tyler Perkins and kicker Chase Contreraz earned All-Big 12 honorable mention accolades, with Contreraz being honorable mention as Special Teams Player of the Year as well. Noel also earned honorable mention honors as a kick returner and punt returner in 2023 after averaging career highs for of 8.5 yards per punt return and 27.2 per kick return. Noel had two kick returns of at least 50 yards and two punt returns of at least 30 yards.
Walling, a Des Moines, Iowa, native, was a special teams standout for the Cyclones during his career. He came to Iowa State as a walk-on and was placed on scholarship after earning honorable mention All-Big 12 honors in 2020.
Walling, the undisputed leader on special teams, made a number of key plays during his career.
In 2020, Walling sniffed out a fake punt against Texas and made the tackle short of first down yardage to help the Cyclones to victory. In the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl against Oregon, walling recovered an on-side pooch kickoff as Iowa State claimed its first-ever win in a New Year’s Six Bowl.
Walling was Iowa State’s Defensive Scout Team Player of the Year during his true freshman season in 2017.
He was a standout at Des Moines East High School, earning first-team Class 4A all-state honors and district MVP honors as a senior.
Walling, a 2020 First Team Academic All-Big 12 honoree, earned his bachelor’s degree in family consumer science in 2020 and his master’s degree in family and consumer sciences – family financial planning from Iowa State in 2022.
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