Iowa State could become the first FBS team to go a whole season without losing a fumble

If Iowa State pulls this off, it’ll be amazing.

The NCAA’s official record book confirms Iowa State’s claim.

The Cyclones have been one of the surprise teams of 2017 for a lot of reasons. The simplest is that their defense is pretty good, having gone from 97th and 86th the last two years to near the top 30 in points allowed per game.

Another big thing’s been turnover margin. The Cyclones are plus-9 in that department through their first 10 games, winning six of them. 2017 will be the first season since 2010 that sees ISU finish with a positive turnover margin.

And one of the biggest reasons for that is the Cyclones’ ability to not fumble in the first place. They’ve only fumbled five times, and while teams are expected to recoup about half their fumbles, a sample size that small has given the Clones a chance to get a bit lucky. (ISU is gaining about 4.5 points per game in Turnover Luck, per numbers from SB Nation’s Bill Connelly.)

Iowa State’s tied with SMU and Mississippi State for the third-fewest fumbles allowed nationally. Army and Mississippi State have fumbled four times each, tied for first. But everyone else has lost at least one of those.

(Something wild: Army, running its triple-option offense, had 31 fumbles last year, third-most in the country. The year before that, Army had the most fumbles. The Black Knights have had an incredible turnaround in this regard.)

Not losing a fumble all season would require Iowa State to be both lucky and good at ball security. It’s been both so far.

(hat tip r/cfb)