Coming into the 2026 college football season, one of the biggest question marks surrounding the Iowa State Cyclones was their running game.
Last year's leading rushers, Carson Hansen and Abu Sama III, both left in the transfer portal. One of the players the team was counting on to help replace them, Salahadin Allah, was injured during offseason workouts.
That set the table for one of the few holdovers from the 2025 roster, Aiden Flora, to assume a large role in the backfield . A former walk-on who earned a scholarship after sticking with the new regime, he has been one of the team's bright spots so far.
In the most recent game against the Bowling Green Falcons in Week 3, Flora proved to be unstoppable en route to earning some national weekly honors . He was named to the Paul Hortung Award Honor Roll and Burlsworth Trophy Walk-On of the Week after dominating their MAC opponent.
Iowa State punt returner Aiden Flora (21) breaks a tackle attempt by Bowling Green Falcons special team player Nick Sawyer (18) during a first-quarter punt return on Sept. 19, 2026, at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
The Paul Hortung Award is given annually to the most versatile player in college football. Teammate Cameron Pettaway was selected for the preseason watch list. The Burlsworth Trophy is awarded to the most outstanding player in FBS who started their career as a walk-on player.
On offense, he handled 12 carries and gained 194 yards, scoring two touchdowns. Both scores were big explosive plays, with the first going for 61 yards and the second going for 42. He added two receptions for 10 yards, giving him 204 yards from scrimmage.
Known mostly for his special teams prowess coming into the season, he made an impact in that facet of the game, too. In the third quarter, he took a punt return 66 yards to the house for his third score of the game, pushing the team's lead to 45-7, en route to a 55-7 victory.
He now has four punt return touchdowns of 50+ yards, which is the most among active college football players.
It was a historic performance for Flora, who became the first player in Big 12 history to score two rushing touchdowns, a punt return touchdown and record 275+ all-purpose yards in a single game. Only three other players in the FBS have accomplished that feat since 1995, per the release.
Flora currently has 38 rushes on the season for a Big 12-leading 328 yards. He has added three scores on the ground to go along with three catches for 13 yards. His 125 punt return yards also lead the conference, making a major impact in multiple facets of the game as a dynamic player with the ball in his hands.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/iowa-state as Aiden Flora Gets Multiple Honors for Dominating Bowling Green .
