As true as it was at the beginning of the season, the defense has never backed down from a challenge.

With a defense that has been on the field more than any other unit for the Cyclones (3-1, 0-1 Big 12), the challenges only continue to mount as it prepares to face Baylor and its Heisman-candidate quarterback Robert Griffin III on Saturday in Waco, Texas.

“That’s impossible,” ISU coach Paul Rhoads said of trying to sum up the challenge of facing Griffin. “He is a highly explosive and talented athlete who’s proven he can beat you with his legs as well as his arm.”

For an ISU defense that gives up an average of 373.3 total yards per game, the challenge of stopping Griffin — who has passed for 18 touchdowns and only has 20 incompletions on the season — will start fundamentally.

“I think we just need to get a lot of pressure on him,” said senior linebacker Matt Tau’fo’ou. “He didn’t seem too much like he liked being hit, so we’ve got to get back there somehow.”

Griffin, who is commonly mentioned in the discussion for this year’s Heisman trophy, averages 328 passing yards per game and 11.1 yards per pass attempt in four games for Baylor (3-1, 0-1) this season.

The junior quarterback also leads the nation in quarterback rating with a mark of 230.3 while having completed 82.3 percent of his passes — a full 6.6 percent above the next-highest completion percentage in the nation.

Tau’fo’ou went onto say the defensive ends — seniors Jacob Lattimer and Patrick Neal — will be key in applying that pressure on Griffin.

“The one thing I know about dual-threat quarterbacks is you have to stay in your rushing lane and you can’t let him break contain,” Neal said. “You just have to make sure he’s contained as well as possible.”

Although Griffin will be the obvious focal point of the ISU defense Saturday, the BU offense offers many different weapons to be aware of as well.

“You can’t really focus in on one player with Baylor,” said junior linebacker Jake Knott. “They have so many aspects of the Baylor offense geared toward fast-going, fast-paced. It’s not traditional at all. It’s one of those things we’re going to have to get ready for.”

Baylor receiver Kendall Wright will be the biggest threat to the ISU secondary, averaging 15.5 yards per catch and having amassed 621 receiving yards in 40 receptions for seven touchdowns. Both of the latter stats tie his career-high in fewest attempts and most receiving touchdowns for his career.

“With a receiver that has that many catches, you’ve got to find ways to double him or bracket him or build zones around him because that’s a large part of their offense,” Rhoads said of Wright.

A strain for the defense this season has been the frequency of “sudden changes,” as Neal called it, in which the defense has been abruptly forced back out onto the field after a turnover by the offense.

“You’ve just got to be prepared for it and go out there and play football,” Neal said. “There’s nothing else you can do.”

The average time of possession for the ISU offense has been 27:48, meaning the defense has played for the majority of a game in all four games this season. The mindset of the defense has had to stay composed in the tense times in which the offense gives up a turnover.

“The way things started going in the season with turnovers, I think we’ve learned to expect the worst and just be ready at all times,” Tau’fo’ou said. “No matter how good our offense is doing or not, we just always have to be ready.”

With a few exceptions, Iowa State has not traditionally been successful on the road, having gone 4-19 since 2007 and 4-8 in the Rhoads era.

Those exceptions, though, have been the more iconic wins in recent program history, with victories at Nebraska and Texas in 2009 and 2010.

“When we’re on the road, we feel more like it’s just us and there’s a lot more camaraderie and it’s us versus the whole area,” Knott said. “We kind of thrive on that, being the underdog in that type of situation.”

Besides those victories, Iowa State has not won a Big 12 road game since 2005, when it traveled to College Station, Texas, to defeat Texas A&M, 42-14.

The game in Waco, Texas, is slated to begin at 6 p.m. and will be televised on Fox Sports Network.