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Jake Trotter, ESPN Staff Writer 6y

Iowa State's Jacob Park, on indefinite leave since October, asks for release

College Football, Iowa State Cyclones

Jacob Park, Iowa State's former starting quarterback, has asked the school for his release, the Des Moines Register reported Monday.

Iowa State coach Matt Campbell released a statement Monday night saying he will support ParkĀ if he intends to transfer to another school.

Park began this season as Iowa State's starting quarterback after winning the job late last year over Joel Lanning. He passed for 1,181 yards and nine touchdowns through four games this season.

Park, however, took an indefinite leave from the team on Oct. 6. That cleared the way for walk-on senior Kyle Kempt to take over at quarterback. Behind Kempt, the Cyclones defeated Oklahoma and TCU, which were both ranked in the top five, to finish 7-5 and become bowl eligible. Iowa State will play Memphis in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl on Dec. 30.

Park told the Register that the leave stemmed from the challenge of having to balance football, school and fatherhood. Park became a father recently. Park also said, according to the Register, that he failed a drug test because of marijuana and was facing a one-game suspension.

"It was not something that was very easy to deal with when you have so much high-pressure situations that you're being put into, as I do," he said. "And it's a coping mechanism that I understand now is not acceptable and that I'm still working on this to this day."

Park said that he plans to graduate from Iowa State in the spring, then transfer to another school to play football again, which would likely leave Zeb Noland as the favorite to take over in 2018.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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