Iowa State will look for its first 3-0 start in a dozen years when it hosts Ohio on Saturday at Ames, Iowa.
The Cyclones are coming off an intense 10-7 victory over host Iowa. The prized Cy-Hawk trophy now will reside on Iowa State’s campus for the first time since 2014, ending a string of six straight losses to the Hawkeyes.
After Hunter Dekkers capped a 21-play, 99-yard drive that took nearly 12 minutes with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Xavier Hutchinson to give the Cyclones a 10-7 lead, the Hawkeyes still had a chance to pull out the win.
However, Aaron Blom’s 48-yard field-goal attempt sailed wide left as time expired.
“We want to be our best every Saturday,” Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell said. “If (the Iowa victory) can shape us, we can put ourselves in a position to reach our full potential. And I still feel like that’s unclear to me what that is and what it’s going to look like.”
Ohio (1-1) is coming off a 46-10 loss at Penn State on Saturday and is the Cyclones final tune up before entering Big 12 play with three ranked teams among their first five conference games: No. 17 Baylor, No. 21 Texas, No. 6 Oklahoma.
Dekers has completed 72.5 percent of his passes for 477 yards with three interceptions through two games, with Hutchinson (19 catches, 226 yards, four touchdowns) emerging as his favorite target. Jirehl Brock has rushed for 204 yards and a touchdown on 43 carries.
Ohio fell behind Penn State 19-0 in the first 20 minutes and never recovered.
The Bobcats were held to 263 yards of offense, including just 164 through the air, after amassing 476 yards of offense in a 41-38 win over Florida Atlantic to open the season.
Kurtis Rourke has completed 64.1 percent of his passes for 464 yards with four TDs and no interceptions, in addition to rushing for 40 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries.
Sieh Bangura has rushed for a team-high 139 yards and a score on 30 carries, while James Bostic, Ty Walton and Sam Wiglusz are tied for the team lead with nine receptions.
Bostic has a team-high 167 receiving yards, with Wiglusz grabbing two TD receptions and Walton averaging 9.6 yards per catch.
Ohio coach Tim Albin said playing Penn State prepared his team for the Cyclones.
“You watch them on defense and they’re flying around,” he said. “They are better than Penn State on defense. That’s a fact. Offensive line? They are better than Penn State. Am I going to get hate mail? I’m not dissing Penn State; I’m just telling you the facts.”
