It has been more than a year since the Cyclones vanquished a Big 12 foe, and they haven’t beaten a conference opponent outside the friendly confines of Jack Trice since 2005.

Iowa State (3-1) will have the opportunity to end both streaks this weekend when the team travels to Kansas City to play Kansas State (2-2) at Arrowhead Stadium at 2 p.m Saturday.

“We’ve got a lot to accomplish this season, especially after coming off a season like we had last year,” said sophomore receiver Darius Darks. “With every win, whether it be conference or non-conference, it just brings us that much closer to being a good team. Our confidence is up. We have already won more games than we won last season, and if we get a Big 12 win, that is just going to boost us that much higher.”

In order to get that win, the Cyclones will have to be able to move the ball against the 10th-ranked defense in the nation.

The Wildcats have yielded just over 241 yards per game, including just 91.5 yards rushing.

The Kansas State defense is coming off a monster game against Tennessee Tech last week, in which it allowed -19 yards against the run.

“They’ve got some big guys up front that do a good job of moving the o-linemen around,” said offensive coordinator Tom Herman. “They also do a good job of run blitzes as we like to call them. Blitzes that maybe aren’t meant to rush the passer but to create confusion up front and disrupt a run play.”

Yet, Herman is confident his team can move the ball on the ground if it just executes.

Pointing to the Army game, when the Black Knights were giving up just 77 yards per game coming into the contest, Iowa State gained 201 yards rushing.

However, the Cyclones had a healthy Alexander Robinson against Army. Although Robinson is a little banged up, he does not expect it to hold him back.

“I don’t think you ever, after the first game or two games, totally feel 100 percent throughout the season, so I’ll be up at top speed,” Robinson said.

The Cyclones will need Robinson to have another good game as the Wildcats pass defense is the most complex the Cyclones have faced in their season so far.

Herman claimed they have seen more coverages out of the Kansas State defense then he has seen in 15 years of coaching.

“The only thing that makes it difficult, really, is we haven’t seen it yet this year, and they are probably going to be one of the toughest defenses that we will play this year,” Darks said.

For all its strengths on defense, the Kansas State offense has struggled so far this season, gaining just 375 yards per game, ranking the team 55th in the NCAA.

The Wildcats offense has had to transition into both a new coaching staff and adapt to the loss of their star quarterback, Josh Freeman, who entered the NFL draft after last season.

“Last year I think there was a lot more drop back passing because Freeman had a cannon for an arm,” senior nose guard Nate Frere said. “So this year they are running the ball a lot more. They have a good running back and a good running quarterback.”