As one of four coaches to emerge into a head position from under Tommy Tuberville, Paul Rhoads has a lot to be grateful for from his former boss.

After a 52-38 win last year in Ames, the third-year ISU coach will again have a shot at beating Tuberville’s Texas Tech team at 6 p.m. Saturday at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas.

“He has done and he’ll continue to do a great job, but we’ll have our hands full,” Tuberville said of Rhoads at a news conference Monday. “He’ll have them fired up and ready to play and try to bring the same scenario of what we did last week.”

The Cyclones (3-4, 0-4 Big 12) are under the first four-game losing streak under Rhoads, who said he learned a lot from Tuberville’s coaching style in his year coaching under him at Auburn.

“He really allowed the coaches to coach and didn’t meddle at all,” Rhoads said of Tuberville. “You had full authority with what it was that you were doing. That allowed you to really pour everything that you had into it and never worry about second-guessing.”

The Red Raiders (5-2, 2-2) are coming off a 42-38 upset win against then-No. 3 Oklahoma last Saturday in Norman, Okla. Iowa State has had its share of upset victories and knows the after-effects of one.

“I bet they’re exhausted,” said redshirt sophomore safety Jacques Washington. “It’s a hit and a miss, some guys are ready after a big win and some guys are a little conceited.”

TTU quarterback Seth Doege is coming into the game leading the conference in total offense with 2,669 yards, a full 400 yards more than Heisman candidate Robert Griffin III of Baylor.

“[Doege] knows how to get through a defense and how to diagnose what the defense is,” said junior linebacker Jake Knott. “He makes really good reads, so that’s one thing that we’re going to have to make sure everybody is doing the right thing. If someone is covered, he’s going to find the next guy that’s open.”

Doege is also averaging 372.6 passing yards per game, a league best through seven games.

For the ISU offense, redshirt freshman Jared Barnett will take the reins from Steele Jantz for his first start at quarterback. Last week, Barnett finished 16-of-36 in pass completions for 180 yards and no touchdowns.

However, with a first-quarter performance of 6-of-8 pass completions having driven the team down the field for an early scoring drive, the ISU coaching staff has confidence in Barnett and the poise he has shown.

“It’s always been there,” Rhoads said of Barnett’s poise. “But just because you’re poised doesn’t mean you have the experience or the talent to be ‘the guy’ and that still shows at times. But right now, he’s shown plenty to be the guy as we head toward this Saturday’s game.”

Running back James White, who scored a 19-yard touchdown run in the first-quarter scoring drive orchestrated by Barnett, said Barnett’s efficiency has given them reason to be optimistic for getting an offense going that has stumbled in past weeks.

“Him and Steele, they’re battling every day and that’s a good thing,” White said. “There is a competition at the quarterback position so they can both be prepared for the situation.”

As for Rhoads, however, looking for a second straight win against his former boss will not yield an extravagant game plan.

“Is there extra motivation to beat him? Is there extra time spent in here preparing because of that? No,” Rhoads said of facing Tuberville. “This is our eighth football game and we need to play well to have an opportunity to win.”

The game will be televised on Fox Sports Net with kickoff slated for 6 p.m.