The ISU football team has gotten used to the underdog role this season, having been favored in only two of its nine games so far. However, this week presents a whole new meaning to that title.

The Cyclones (5-4, 2-4 Big 12) are a 27.5-point underdog in their final home game of the season as they host No. 2 Oklahoma State in the primetime spotlight of a Friday night game that will be broadcast on ESPN.

“The truth of it is on both sides of the ball, [Oklahoma State] is not overly complicated,” said ISU coach Paul Rhoads. “What they’re doing on offense [is] what a lot of folks are doing, they just do it so well, they have such great success.”

Iowa State has never beaten a team ranked sixth or higher in the national polls. The highest-ranked team the Cyclones have upset was ranked No. 7, having done so three times — in 1976, 1985 and 1992 — in school history.

The Cowboys (10-0, 7-0) are averaging 51.7 points per game — which is second in the nation — with a 25.4-point average margin of victory. Much of the team’s success is thanks to its 28-year-old quarterback Brandon Weeden.

“Weeden can diagnose the defense in a split second and put it only where his wide receiver can get it every single time,” said junior linebacker Jake Knott. “I’ve probably watched six of their games from start to finish and haven’t seen him throw a bad pass.”

Weeden’s favorite target has been Justin Blackmon, who was the 2010 Biletnikoff Award recipient for best receiver in college football.

Blackmon, a junior, has amassed more than 1,100 receiving yards on the season and leads the nation in receiving touchdowns with 14.

“It makes me shiver just as I think about him and watch any tape on him,” Rhoads said of Blackmon. “You’ve got to find a way to get as many bodies around him and the other players as you can.

“So much of their success is because so many of their big plays come because a guy like him catches the ball in open field and makes one guy miss, makes one guy really look bad and then runs the length of the field with just grass to cover.”

In having the extra week to prepare for the Cyclones’ highest-ranked opponent since 2007 (45-7 loss to No. 2 Kansas), ISU quarterback Jared Barnett said he made the most of it by studying the opposing defense and what it has to bring.

“I’ve watched a lot of video trying to learn everything about their defense that I could possibly know,” Barnett said. “[I want to know] what to expect in certain situations, what to expect from the [defensive backs] whenever they’re bringing a certain blitz, their tendencies on third-and-long, third-and-short, things of that nature.”

Barnett, who is 2-0 as the Cyclones’ starting quarterback, has yet to eclipse the 200-yard mark in passing yards, having only thrown for one touchdown. However, he will be facing an OSU pass defense that is 93rd in the nation, giving up 256.1 passing yards per game.

“They’re a quick-strike team,” said running back James White. “Keeping the ball out [of] their hands and creating turnovers and us taking advantage of the turnovers is going to be a key.”

The Cyclones sit one win away from being bowl eligible for the second time in the past three years. Iowa State has not made a bowl since Rhoads’ first season at the helm of the program — a 14-13 win over Minnesota in the Insight Bowl.

“With the chalk in our hand, we’re going to be able to put some things out there that we should be able to throw and catch and run and move the chains,” Rhoads said. “It’s a matter of going out and executing.”