The last time Iowa State scored 60 points in a game was on Sept. 20, 1986, a 64-9 win against Indiana State. None of the players taking the field against the Baylor Bears Sept. 27 had been born yet.

No. 7 Baylor (3-0, 0-0 Big 12) has put up 60 points eight times in its last 16 games. Iowa State has scored 60 points only nine times in its 1,170-game history.

How many points does head coach Paul Rhoads think his team needs to score to win?

“Oh, 72,” Rhoads said with a smile.

Rhoads was joking about losing last season’s battle 71-7, but he wasn’t joking about scoring. Rhoads called Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty his Heisman front-runner and he leads the No. 1 offense in the nation with 59.3 points per game.

Though the old saying is “the best offense is a good defense,” defense won’t win the Cyclones the game against a team like Baylor. The offense hopes to flip the cliche.

“You want to try to get their offense off the field as long as you can,” said ISU quarterback Sam Richardson. “Putting up points is the main thing.”

The Cyclones could not do either of those things in last season’s 71-7 thrashing in Waco, Texas. Keeping the Bears’ offense off the field seemed impossible as nine of the Cyclones’ 16 drives lasted less than two minutes. To make matters worse, the Cyclones turned only one drive into points.

“That’s kind of one of those that you burn the tape and move on from,” said center Tom Farniok. “We’ve got a new staff and pretty much a new team, so we are totally different [than last season].”

With a new staff comes a new offensive system, which has improved every week after a rocky start. Since finding their stride against Kansas State, the Cyclones have engineered five drives of four minutes or longer, scoring on three of them.

But the Bears don’t just put up points because they need to outscore the other team — their defense is plenty impressive on its own. Baylor currently ranks No. 3 in the nation in scoring defense, only allowing 9.0 points per game.

 

“They play with confidence,” Richardson said. “It’s not difficult to do [with them] being up in the game so much.”

If the Cyclones can keep the Baylor offense off the field and strike first, maybe that confidence takes a hit. With a week to rest and a night game at Jack Trice Stadium that will be nationally televised on Fox, the Cyclones aren’t short on confidence themselves. 

And who knows what ISU offensive coordinator Mark Mangino has up his sleeve? After showing more and more comfort with the playbook in the first three weeks of the season, it wouldn’t be surprising to see some new offensive plays after having two weeks to prepare for Baylor.

With the early betting lines for the game giving the Bears a 23.5-point edge, some Cyclones, including Farniok, are reminded of another high-powered offense that visited Ames as 27-point favorites.

“It’s pretty much the exact same as Oklahoma State [in 2011]. It’s just the beginning of the year instead of the end,” Farniok said. “It’s a huge game, huge opportunity.”

During the 2011 upset win, the Cyclones won the time of possession battle with 35 minutes to the Cowboy’s 25 minutes and forced two more turnovers than the Cowboys. They didn’t need to score 60 points to win because they controlled the game through the offense and held strong defensively.

While asking for history to repeat itself is asking for a lot, ISU players are confident.

“It’s a night game at Jack Trice Stadium against a top 10 opponent,” Richardson said. “It doesn’t get any better.”