PRIMER: Iowa State at No. 21 Iowa

AMES, Iowa - Iowa State hits the road for the first time in 2026 when it travels to Iowa City to face No. 21 Iowa in an Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series Showdown at Kinnick Stadium. With kickoff set for 6:30 p.m. on NBC, it will be the first night kickoff between the Cyclones and Hawkeyes since 2016.

Who: Iowa State (1-0, 0-0 Big 12) at Iowa (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten)
Where: Kinnick Stadium (69,250) – Iowa City, Iowa
When: Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026 – 6:30 p.m. (CT)

The Links
WATCH: NBC
PxP: Paul Burmeister; Analyst: Todd Blackledge; Reporter: Kathryn Tappen
LISTEN: Cyclone Radio Network – Varsity App, TuneIn Radio or Radio Affiliates
PxP: John Walters; Analyst: Eric Heft; Sideline: Ryan Harklau
GAME NOTES: ISU // IOWA
LIVE STATS
2026 CYCLONE FOOTBALL YEARBOOK
MEDIA CENTER

INSIDE THE SERIES
73rd Meeting
Overall: 25-47
Home: 9-22
Road: 16-25
Neutral: 0-0
Rogers vs. IOWA: 0-0
Last Meeting: 9/6/2025 (ISU 16, UI 13)

CYCLONES vs. HAWKEYES
Iowa State and Iowa square off for the 73rd time in history on Saturday. The Cyclones have won two-straight and three of the last four against the Hawkeyes, including two-straight wins in Iowa City. ISU will attempt to win its third-straight road game in the series for the first time since it did so from 1998 to 2002.

The last 27 years of the series has been tight with Iowa holding a 14-13 edge. The Hawkeyes won 15-straight from 1983-1997 and hold a 47-25 lead all-time.

Series Trends

Since 2015, ISU has forced just six turnovers in the series (2 fumbles, 4 INT), all of which came from 2022-24. In the 2024 win at Iowa, current Las Vegas Raider cornerback Darien Porter picked off a pair of passes in the Cyclone win.
In the last five meetings, ISU has held Iowa under 200 yards of offense twice and out-gained the Hawkeyes by an average of 308.2-215.0. ISU's defense has held the Hawkeyes to just 100.6 yards passing per meeting since 2021.
Iowa State's last two wins in the series were both won by the leg of kicker Kyle Konrardy. He's made game-winning 54-yard field goals in each of the last two meetings between the Cyclones and Hawkeyes. Since 1996, Konrardy is one of two FBS kickers with multiple game-winning field goals in the final two minutes of a game from 50-plus yards.

STARTING WITH A WIN
Iowa State opened the Jimmy Rogers era with a 38-10 victory over SEMO in Week 1. ISU controlled the game from start-to-finish in a contest where 30 Cyclones made their Iowa State debut, while 19 earned their first start in the Cardinal & Gold.

ISU's first four scoring drives of the game each took less than two minutes off the clock. In his first career start as QB for ISU, Jaylen Raynor finished with four total touchdowns, two on the ground and two more through the air, making him one of eight Cyclone quarterbacks with two rushing and two passing TDs in a single game since 1986. He was just 8-for-16 passing but finished with 184 yards. On the rushing attack, Raynor had 32 yards and a pair of seven yard touchdowns.

DEFENSE FLEXES ITS MUSCLE
The Iowa State defense showed its brawn in the win over the Redhawks to the tune of six sacks and three takeaways while holding SEMO to just 67 rushing yards (1.5 yds per rush). ISU's six sacks tied for the fifth-most in a game in program history and the most since 2020 (vs. TCU).

Defensive end Isaac Terrell had a noteworthy performance in the game. He was named the Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the Week after recording three sacks and forcing a fumble.

Linebackers Sullivan Schlimgen and Carson Willich had career days for the Cyclones. Schlimgen matched his career-high with nine tackles, including one sack. Willich notched a career-high with seven tackles, including two TFL.

Former wide receiver, now turned cornerback, Beni Ngoyi made one of the most remarkable plays in program history with a highlight reel one-handed interception.

ADEL CONNECTION
Iowa State's Vince Benetti and Aiden Flora both hail from Adel, Iowa where they were teammates with Iowa's Brevin Doll at ADM. Benetti and Flora were both walk-ons for the Cyclones and both players made their first career starts and scored touchdowns in last Saturday's season opener against SEMO.

Adel is also the hometown of the Kinnick family. Nile Kinnick Sr. was a letterwinner at Iowa State in 1913-14, while Nile Kinnick Jr. went on to win a Heisman Trophy at Iowa in 1939.

UNDER THE LIGHTS
Iowa State and Iowa will be playing at night for just the fifth time in 73 meetings. The teams are 2-2 in night games played against one another.

Cyclones vs. Hawkeyes Under the Lights
Year	Site	Kickoff Time	Result
1999	Ames	6:09 p.m.	ISU 17, UI 10
2002	Iowa City	5:05 p.m.	ISU 36, UI 31
2013	Ames	5:06 p.m.	UI 27, ISU 21
2016	Iowa City	6:42 p.m.	UI 42, ISU 3
2026	Iowa City	6:36 p.m.	-

OTHER NOTABLES

From 2006-16, ISU was 12-48 in road games. Since 2017, ISU has a 25-23 record on the road.
ISU is 13-6 in its last 19 games away from home.
Since 2017, Iowa State has 14 wins vs. Top-25 teams, four vs. Top-10 teams and six vs. Top-25 teams on the road. ISU's 14 victories over Top-25 opponents since 2017 rank in the Top-20 nationally during that span.
Jimmy Rogers coached teams are 30-2 in three seasons when tying or winning the turnover battle.
Drew Surges has forced a fumble in back-to-back games and has forced six turnovers in his career (4 FF, 2 INT).
Raynor leads the nation's active quarterbacks engineering eight game-winning drives (tied or trailing) in the fourth quarter of games.

WEEKLY MEDIA AVAILABILITY
Jimmy Rogers, Jesse Bobbit, Jaylen Raynor, Vince Benetti, Bryson Lamb and Sullivan Schlimgen spoke with the media Tuesday. Watch their interviews below.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Vince Benetti

Aiden Flora

Kyle Konrardy

Bryson Lamb

Beni Ngoyi

Jaylen Raynor

Sullivan Schlimgen

Drew Surges

Isaac Terrell

Carson Willich

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics