Iowa State, 2-0 after season-opening wins over Toledo and UNLV in Ames, travels to Iowa City to take on No. 16 Iowa in a game that will be telecast nationally on ESPN ... Iowa State comes into the contest having won six of the last eight games between the rvial schools and three of the last four contests in Iowa City ... both teams are coming off wins that went to the last play of the game ... the Cyclones are coming off a 16-10 win Saturday night against UNLV ... for the second straight week the Cyclone defense made a stand, forcing a high throw to the end zone by UNLV QB Shane Steichen as time expired ... the Cyclones have been especially stingy against the run, allowing the Rebels just 74 yards on 31 carries after holding Toledo to 45 yards on 27 rushes ... ISU held opponents to a school record low 139.2 yards per game in 2004 and shattered that record by allowing just 102.7 rushing yards per game last season ... Iowa beat Montana, 41-7 in its opening game and then stopped Syracuse repeatedly inside the 4-yard line in overtime to secure a 20-13 win ... Hawkeye opponents have netted just 80 rushing yards on 68 carries in the first two games ... ISU is 14-6 in its last 20 games, with only two defeats occurring in regulation over that span ... last season marked the 13th time in 114 years of Iowa State football that a Cyclone team has won at least seven games in a season ... Iowa State head coach Dan McCarney, the Dean of Big 12 coaches in his 12th season, has coached five of those seven-win teams ... Saturday's game is MAC's 132nd game as the winningest football mentor (54 wins) in school history ... McCarney is the ninth-longest tenured coach in Division I-A ... MAC is 25-9 against non-conference foes ... junior ISU QB Bret Meyer, a member of the Maxwell Award watch list, was 14-of-21 through the air against UNLV for 203 yards ... he passed Todd Bandhauer (5,235.1995-98) for third on the ISU career passing list with 5,239 yards ... in the season-opening win triple-overtime win against Toledo, Meyer ran for three touchdowns and passed for two others to pace Iowa State ... his TD passes came on consecutive overtime pass plays to WR Todd Blythe ... Meyer's two-point conversion dash in the third overtime set up the Iowa State victory ... Blythe ranked second among the nation's receivers last season, averaging 19.61 yards per catch ... of Blythe's school-record 20 career TD grabs, 17 have come from Meyer, also an ISU record for touchdown passing tandems ... I-Back Stevie Hicks rushed for 109 yards on 23 carries with one touchdown against UNLV ... he now ranks ninth in ISU career rushing (2,276 yards) ... it was his 10th career 100-yard game ... Iowa State LB Alvin Bowen has 33 tackles in the first two games ... true freshman DE Rashawn Parker has 12 tackles, three sacks and 4 1/2 tackles for loss in his two first collegiate games.
2005 REVIEW: ISU NETS FIFTH BOWL IN SIX YEARS
Iowa State's defense and the continued improvement of the Cyclone offense led by sophomore quarterback Bret Meyer helped ISU erase an 0-3 Big 12 start for the second straight season and earn the school's fifth bowl berth in the last six seasons under head coach Dan McCarney ... the season included a 23-3 win over No. 8 Iowa, the sixth Iowa State win over its intrastate rival in the last eight seasons ... three of ISU's losses came in overtime ... the Cyclones ruined Homecoming at Texas A&M with a 42-14 win over the Aggies and beat Kansas State in Ames (45-17) for the first time since 1983 ... Iowa State's last victory was a memorable 30-16 win over No. 22 Colorado (ISU's first victory in Ames over the Buffaloes since 1983) ... Iowa State lost to No. 14 TCU, 27-24 in the Houston Bowl ... Meyer fininshed the season with 2,876 passing yards, second in school history ... wide receiver Todd Blythe finished the season as the third 1,000-yard single-season pass catcher in Iowa State history ... Blythe and center Scott Stephenson were tabbed first-team all-conference performers by the Big 12 coaches ... but the story of the 2005 Cyclones was defense ... led by all-Big 12 defensive tackle Brent "Big Play" Curvey and all-conference nose guard Nick Leaders, the Cyclones allowed opponents an all-time defensive low of 102.7 rushing yards per game and just 10 rushing touchdowns ... the yardage total was nearly 40 yards under the the school record of 139.2 set in 2004 ... Iowa State allowed a school-record low 2.98 yards per rush ... linebacker Tim Dobbins, cornerback LaMarcus Hicks and free safety Steve Paris also earned all-Big 12 honors.
LAST WEEK: ISU DEFENSE HOLDS OF UNLV
Stevie Hicks rushed 23 times for 109 yards and a touchdown and the Cyclone defense met a last gasp challenge by UNLV to prevail on the game's final play for the second straight week ... seven days after a triple overtime win over Toledo, UNLV QB Shane Steichen threw a pass as time expired that was caught out of bounds beyond the back of the endzone and the Cyclones were 2-0 with a 16-10 win ... Iowa State led 16-10 after Hicks and FB Ryan Kock scored second quarter touchdowns for a 13-3 lead at the break ... Bret Culbertson hit on a 24-yard field goal to give ISU a 16-3 lead with 6:51 left in the third quarter ... UNLV fought back when Streichen hit Ryan Wolfe with a 3-yard TD pass with 10:55 to go ... it came down to the last drive as the Rebels marched from their own 20-yard line ... in the last minute, with UNLV out of timeouts on the Iowa State 14-yard line, Steichen completed a pass to Casey Blair who fumbled when hit by Cyclone CB DeAndre Jackson ... while the play was being reviewed, UNLV lined up and Steichen spiked the ball ... after the replay officials determined that the Rebels had recovered their own fumble, the clock was reset at seven seconds since the spiked ball play didn't count as a replay was in progress ... the final UNLV play was snapped with two seconds remaining at the ISU 11 ... after the clock expired Rebel coach Mike Sandford chased officials off the field because he thought the last play had not been reviewed (it had) ... UNLV remained on the field for 15 minutes after time expired ... the post game madness couldn't obscure a great performance by the Cyclone defense, which held the Rebels to 292 total yards and just 74 rushing yards on 31 carries ... the entire starting Iowa State defense plus an additional nose guard was named defensive MVP ... LB Alvin Bowen had 13 tackles and DB Jon Banks 12 stops for ISU ... true freshman DE Rashawn Parker had seven tackles, including 2 1/2 for loss and one sack ... Iowa State quarterback Bret Meyer hit on 14-of-21 passes for 203 yards and one interception ... the Cyclones outgained UNLV 340-292.
IOWA AND HEAD COACH KIRK FERENTZ
Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz coached with Dan McCarney at Iowa under Hayden Fry ... Ferentz is in his eighth season as Iowa head coach with a 51-36 record ... his overall head coaching mark is 63-57 in 11 years ... Ferentz is 2-5 against Iowa State, 1-2 against the Cyclones in Iowa City ... Iowa leads the series between the two teams, 35-18 ... Iowa State has won six of the last eight games after the Hawkeyes had turned a streak of 15 straight series wins (1983-97) ... when the Cyclones came back from a 24-7 halftime deficit at Iowa in 2002 to win 36-31, it marked the first time Iowa State had won three straight games in Iowa City (1998, 27-9), (2000, 24-14), (2002, 36-31) since the 1894, 1895 and 1897 seasons ... Iowa leads the series, 20-12 in Iowa City, 11-7 in Kinnick Stadium ... the Cyclones won five straight games against Iowa (1998-2002), the longest ISU win streak in the series.
2005: IOWA STATE DEFENSE KEYS WIN OVER NO. 8 IOWA
LaMarcus Hicks returned an interception 28 yards for a touchdown and Iowa State capitalized on turnovers for all its points to dominate No. 8 Iowa 23-3 ... the win marked the Cyclones' sixth victory over the Hawkeyes in the last eight games and was Iowa State's first win over an AP top 10 team since the Cyclones beat No. 7 Nebraska, 19-10 in Ames in 1992 ... Iowa State forced five turnovers, recovering three fumbles, intercepting two passes and getting three sacks ... ISU's defense never let the Hawkeyes get the ball past the Cyclone 26 ... Troy Blankenship had a key career-long 68 yard punt against a wind of more than 20 miles per hour and pinned Iowa within their own 20 three times ... Stevie Hicks garnered 118 yards on the ground and Austin Flynn put the first points on the board with his first career receiving touchdown ... Matt Robertson led the defense in tackles for the second straight week, racking up 11 ... Ryan Kock rumbled for a one yard score to mark his third touchdown in two games this year ... Nick Leaders and Shawn Moorehead each registered their second sack of the season ... Iowa State led 16-0 at halftime ... Hicks, who also recovered Iowa's first fumble and Blankenship were named the SBC Big 12 defensive and special teams players of the week, respectively.
THIS DATE IN HISTORY (Sept. 16); ISU BEAT IOWA IN 2000
Sage Rosenfels passed for 228 yards and rushed for two TDs, the second score climaxing a game-clinching drive that iced a 24-14 ISU win over Iowa in Kinnick Stadium ... Rosenfels, who earned Big 12 Player of the Week honors also rushed for 59 yards on 12 carries ... Cyclone J.J. Moses scored on Iowa State's first play from scrimmage on a 58-yard reverse ... Iowa State rolled up a series high 485 yards of total offense.
MEYER AMONG MOST EFFICIENT ISU QB's...
Iowa State quarterback Bret Meyer has developed into one of the most efficient quarterbacks in Iowa State history with 31 career TD passes to 17 interceptions ... he has completed at least 50 percent of his passes in 14 straight games and 21 times in 26 career games.
RUMBLE, YOUNG MAN, RUMBLE
Iowa State senior FB Ryan Kock scored his 15th career touchdown against UNLV ... last season he tallied 13 TDs on just 54 carries last ... Kock set an ISU single-season record for rushing touchdowns by a fullback with his touchdown in the fourth quarter against Oklahoma State last season ... the previous record was nine, set by Tom Watkins in 1960 ... Watkins scored a total of 10 touchdowns that year, with the 10th being on an interception return ... Kock was ninth on ISU's single-season rushing touchdown list (all positions).
GO LONG!
Iowa State junior WR Todd Blythe has proven to be a deep threat for the Cyclone offense, utilizing his 6-5 frame and leaping ability to pluck balls away from opposing defensive backs ... it was Blythe's catches on consecutive passes from Bret Meyer in the second and third overtimes that led to the Cyclones' 45-43 win over Toledo in triple overtime, the school's first-ever overtime win (1-5) ... not only does Blythe own ISU's career mark for TD receptions (20), but in 2005 he was second in the nation in yards per catch among receivers with four or more catches per game.
TURNOVER MARGIN A KEY TO VICTORY
Coach McCarney has put a premium on increasing the number of turnovers forced by his defense ... last season, the Cyclones turned five Iowa turnovers into 23 points ... Iowa State converted five Oklahoma State turnovers into 14 points ... when Iowa State has finished the season ahead in turnover margin and points off turnovers margin, the Cyclones have posted a winning record (2000, 2001, 2004, 2005).
TRADITION OF BALL SECURITY
Counting lost fumbles by the whole team, ISU is tied for seventh in Division I-A in fewest fumbles lost since the start of the 1999 season and leads the Big 12 Conference by a wide margin.
NO PARTICULAR PLACE TO GO
Iowa State's rush defense allowed 102.7 ypg last season, the best among post-WWII Cyclone squads ... the ISU defense allowed Toledo just 45 yards rushing on 27 carries last weekend.
PICK A LITTLE
Bret Meyer's 2005 interception-free streak reached a school-record 155 attempts before a third-quarter pick at Kansas ... Meyer's stretch spanned over 22 full quarters and parts of six games ... the previous school record was 141 attempts, set by Todd Bandhauer in 1997 ... this was the first time since the inception of the Big Six Conference in 1928 that ISU has gone four consecutive games (OSU, A&M, KSU, CU) without throwing an interception.
TAKING MY BALL AND GOING HOME
The Iowa State defense made 22 interceptions in 2005, leading the conference and ranking tied for third nationally ... the 22 picks were ISU's most since 1976 ... the defense's 35 takeaways were the most in nearly a quarter-century.
IOWA STATE'S 2006 TEAM CAPTAINS
The Cyclones have four captains for the 2005 season: Junior quarterback Bret Meyer, senior wide receiver Austin Flynn, senior defensive tackle Brent Curvey and senior defensive back DeAndre Jackson.
McCARNEY'S CYCLONES IN THE NFL
An indicator of Iowa State's continued improvement under Dan McCarney is the number of ISU student-athletes who have gone on to the professional ranks ... ISU's NFL players at the start of training camp are all McCarney products: Jordan Carstens (DL, Carolina), Reggie Hayward (DE, Jacksonville), Ellis Hobbs (DB, New England), James Reed (DL, Kansas City Chiefs), Sage Rosenfels (QB, Houston), Oliver Ross (OL, Arizona), Seneca Wallace (QB, Seattle), Tony Yelk (PK, Atlanta), Tim Dobbins (LB, San Diego), LaMarcus Hicks (DB, Detroit), Landon Schrage (DS, Baltimore), Steve Paris (S, Baltimore), Nick Leaders (NG, Baltimore).
WATCH LIST MANIA
Several of Iowa State's players have been recognized as ranking among the nation's best at their respective positions:
Bret Meyer, QB Maxwell Award; Davey O'Brien Award
Archie Manning Award
Scott Stephenson C Rimington Award; Lombardi Trophy
Brent Curvey DT Outland Trophy/Nagurski Award; Lombardi Trophy
TOUGH SCHEDULE
Based on 2005 records, Iowa State's 2006 football schedule is the second toughest nationally:
1. Duke .639 (92-52)
2. IOWA STATE .633 (93-54)
3. Northwestern .624 (88-53)
4. Florida .620 (88-54)
5. Cincinnati .610 (86-55)
6. Michigan .607 (85-55)
7. Colorado .606 (86-56)
8. Arizona .603 (85-56)
Iowa State and North Carolina face the most 2005 bowl teams in 2006:
1. IOWA STATE 9
North Carolina 9
3. East Carolina 8
Maryland 8
Duke 8
Colorado 8
CULBERTSON CONSISTENT
Iowa State placekicker Bret Culbertson has been a consistent performer ... he has been successful on all 55 of his career PAT attempts, including four against Toledo and is set to break the school record for the longest streak of consecutive successful PAT tries. Culbertson has hit on his first two field-goal attempts of the year, a 39-yarder against Toledo and a 24-yarder against UNLV ... the 6-6 junior is 19-of-22 lifetime inside 40 yards ... when you add in his extra-point efforts, Culbertson is 77 of 83 (.928) as Iowa State's kicker.
