No. 18 Iowa State has won its first three games by an average of 21.3 points, but Cyclones coach Matt Campbell is less than impressed.
Iowa State (3-0, 0-0 Big 12) looks to please its coach on Saturday when it visits Houston (1-3, 0-1) in the Cyclones’ conference opener.
The Cyclones came away with a 20-19 win over rival Iowa, but Campbell said his team must do much better to survive in Big 12 play.
“We have a lot to prove. We are a football team with a lot of work to do,” said Campbell. “When you go into conference play, you want to at least build momentum. We were able to do some of that at times. But winning in the Big 12 is tough. Winning week in and week out is really challenging. , really tough.
“The challenge for us is can we continue to get better? Can we continue to improve? Can we continue to show up? We’re on the road (this) week, which is not easy to do. It’s really hard to win conference games. on the road, and it’s going to be a big challenge for us.”
Iowa State cruised to a 52-7 home win over Arkansas State last weekend, building a 31-0 lead at halftime and moving to Campbell’s 56th win at Iowa State. That tied him with Dan McCarney (1995-2006) for most wins in school history.
Jayden Higgins (17 catches, 208 yards, three touchdowns in three games) caught a touchdown pass for the fifth straight game to match the school record. Sidekick Jaylin Noel (15-317, two TDs) has caught at least one pass in 35 consecutive games, the fourth-longest streak in school history.
Cornerback Darien Porter has a team-best two interceptions for a defense that ranks ninth nationally in scoring against opponents at 9.67 points per game.
The Cougars may have a hard time moving the ball against the Cyclones after being shut out 34-0 by host Cincinnati last weekend. Houston had just 233 yards and 12 first downs.
The poor performance led first-year coach Willie Fritz to switch to a two-quarterback system. Donovan Smith will start against Iowa State, but backup Zeon Chriss will also see action.
Smith threw four interceptions while completing 65.3 percent of his passes for 610 yards and two touchdowns. Chriss is 2-for-5 passing for 19 yards.
“They both did great things,” Fritz said. “I’ve seen some good things and some not so good. We’re going to play both of those guys, and we’re going to give them both opportunities to show us what they can do. We have to play better. The other 10 guys for the most part.
“The quarterback gets a lot of credit when things go well, and a lot of blame when things don’t go well. Every offense has to play better. That starts with the head coach, the coordinators and the position coaches. .We’ve got to do a better job.”
The Cougars rank 129th (of 133 FBS schools) in scoring at 13 points per game, and sit 122nd in total offense at 294.2 yards per game.
Houston safety AJ Haulcy had 11 tackles against Cincinnati for his eighth game of 10 or more stops. Linebacker Michael Batton had a season-high 10 tackles.
This is the first meeting between the parties.
–Field Level Media