Addressing the media in his weekly press conference Monday, Iowa State football coach Paul Rhoads was notably more subdued — in glasses and sporting combed hair — than he was last Saturday evening following the Cyclones’ (3–1) victory over Army.

While the team enjoyed the victory that moved the team to 3–1 on the year, the Cyclone coaching staff and players are getting prepared for Saturday’s Big 12 Conference opener against Kansas State (2–2) at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

“In the locker room after the game Saturday, everybody was excited, but it’s time to go back to work and we did yesterday,” quarterback Austen Arnaud said. “We had a great shortened practice yesterday, doing things … you just saw it in guys’ eyes that we’re confident and focused.”

Rhoads echoed those sentiments, calling Sunday’s practice the best weekend practice the team has had all year. He remains excited about the prospects of starting the conference season with a divisional foe. The Wildcats bring in a rushing game averaging just under 200 yards per game, and a defense that hasn’t allowed more than 23 points this season.

The game is called a neutral site, with the Cyclones being allowed the classification of home team, but being 100 miles closer to the stadium from Manhattan, Kansas than from Ames, the players recognize it as a road game and opportunity to experience an NFL stadium.

“They are very excited about it,” Rhoads said. “How many kids get an opportunity to play in an NFL stadium? And they are very much looking forward to that and the opportunity that that brings. It’s maybe a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Injuries and Replacements

Notable players were injured during the Army game, with running back Alexander Robinson suffering a leg strain on his last touchdown catch and four-year starter defensive end Rashawn Parker going out with a severe knee injury. Parker was helped off the field during the game, but was later carted off and had an MRI scheduled for Monday afternoon. The team is expecting the injury to keep the senior out for the year.

“We just have to go to the next guy on the depth chart, it’s as simple as that,” Rhoads said. “It doesn’t mean it’s an equal solution to what Rashawn was giving us as a fourth year player.”

Parker’s season started off with promise, logging 13 tackles, two sacks, and one forced fumble three games in.

“You just feel so bad because he’s one of the pillars of the program right now, a guy that embodies Cyclone football,” Arnaud said. “He works hard, he’s a big kid, strong, fast, good in the classroom, an all-around great guy. It sucks to lose a guy like Rashawn Parker, especially before the Big 12 season even starts.”

Replacements Patrick Neal and Roosevelt Maggitt saw time making significant contributions after Parker went out. Neal is a 230-pound redshirt sophomore from Valley High School in West Des Moines and has seen time on the roster at fullback and linebacker during his short stint with the Cyclones. Neal is expected to relieve Parker for the time being, and will need to use speed and toughness to prepare for the rigors of the Big 12 schedule, including much larger offensive linemen than what he saw against Army in limited action Saturday evening.

“You never want to see a guy like that go down, he’s a great player, he helped out this team a lot,” Neal said. “But you just gotta get yourself ready, that’s what the coaches do for us. One play and you’re in, so you just have to have that mindset to be ready to go.”

Robinson will be working with the trainers throughout the week and while he pulled up slowly and collapsed at the game, he said he feels “pretty good”. Rhoads has said he’ll be ready to go come game time.

“I’m sure he’ll wear out the trainers more than the trainers will wear out him as the week goes along,” Rhoads said.

Play of A-Rob and Jesse Smith

Robinson’s 178 yards of total offense and three touchdowns against Army were enough to earn him Big 12 Co-Offensive Player of the Week, and give him his third consecutive 100-yard rushing game. His teammates were willing to praise the back, as he became the first Cyclone runner to log three-straight century efforts since Ennis “The Menace” Haywood in 2000.

“I think it’s too early to make a big deal out of anything, it’s a long season. I don’t think it’s a big deal,” Robinson said.

Also joining Robinson in the kind shelter of positive play is senior middle linebacker Jesse Smith, who after recording 13 tackles, including 11 unassisted against Army, has moved himself into fifth place in the Big 12 for tackles per game. The ferocious Smith Cyclone fans are used to seeing out on the field may not be the Smith the team sees in meetings and around Jack Trice Stadium, but his numbers are a big reason the Cyclones have held teams to 31 total points in the team’s three victories.

“You talk about passion and what he’s bringing to that, he’s really very even keel,” Rhoads said. “He’s a one-play-at-a-time guy, he’s not a rah-rah guy, he doesn’t yell and scream at our players but he talks to them. That’s the mark of a true leader and a veteran player, when you can do that with no insecurities because you know you’re going about your job the best you possibly can.”

Smith’s role as a leader has reached increased importance since the projected loss of Parker for the year, but his fellow defenders have confidence in the Southeast Polk-product’s ability.

“Jesse’s a laid back guy, he’s a nice guy, he’s a hard worker. He’s a great linebacker, and we’re glad to have him,” Neal said.

Punter Mike Brandtner is a big reason for the team’s success this season as well. The shaggy redshirt senior from Bettendorf is gathering NFL buzz with his leg. The four-year starter is averaging a career high 43.9 yard per punt in the first four games of the year. Against Army Brandtner took five kicks for an average 47.8 yards including a 64-yarder and embraces his position on the team despite his pleasantly infrequent visits to the field.

“We feel good, but coach Rhoads always breaks our mind that we’re not there yet,” Brandtner said. “We’ve taken strides to being a great team, and we’re competing at a level where we can win, but we gotta put it all together in all phases.”

Improving Offense

The Cyclones’ spread offense hasn’t been seen by Kansas State in their four games this season and while the unit feels it is putting some things together, there is still a long way to go. Rhoads said after the Army game the system was still at infantile stages and players understand the challenges in front of them.

“Looking at it from the offensive perspective, there have been times where we’ve been really inconsistent, and that’s just something we’re going to have to work on,” Robinson said. “We know we still have a lot of work to do, and that’s what we’ll do this week.”

Arnaud wants to raise his 54 percent completion rating around ten points to give his team even more success and attributes some of his recent struggles to mechanics and progressions, but the Wildcats’ lack of play against the spread offense this season may be a welcome sight for the junior captain.

“Some of the formations we run they haven’t even seen yet, so it’ll be kind of how we think they’ll play it as opposed to how they will play it,” Arnaud said.

Saturday’s game is set for a 2 p.m. kickoff in Kansas City, Mo., with plenty of tailgating and travel activities offered to Iowa State fans at the neutral site game.