Iowa State’s road losing streak has been documented, as have the penalties and sloppy play that led to a 35-3 loss a week ago.

Tomorrow night, the Cyclones, who have lost 17 straight road games, will travel to Kent, Ohio and try to move on from all the negative talk from the past week.

“We’re back out there and we’re getting after it like we always have,” said junior running back Alexander Robinson. “We’re going to get out there and let the cards fall where they may.”

Robinson will lead a struggling Iowa State offense into the game against Kent State — a team that beat the Cyclones 23-14 two years ago.

Now Robinson, who has 185 rushing yards and a touchdown in the first two games, along with the rest of the offense are going up against a defense that allowed 34 points last weekend to ACC foe Boston College.

“We need to get more in sync,” said sophomore receiver Darius Darks. “It’s still our first year running this offense. Not to make excuses, but as the season goes on we’re going to start to click and we’re going to start looking a whole lot more smooth out there on the field.”

Darks, who has not caught a pass yet this season, will try to click in the new spread offense against a Kent State team that held the Cyclones to 374 total yards of offense in last season’s 48-28 Iowa State victory.

Last weekend, the group had struggled to gain just 303 yards and three points.

The Iowa State defense will be key for the team to get their first road win since 2005. The unit has allowed 52 points this season and looked shaky at times when faced with short fields or unfavorable conditions.

Against both Iowa and North Dakota State, the defense has allowed seven touchdowns to only one field goal, and has allowed the opposing offense to score a touchdown seven of the nine times they’ve entered the red zone.

“I don’t care how short of a field it is or anything, we’ve got to respond. We’ve got to force field goals,” said defensive coordinator Wally Burnham. “We’ve got to stop them sometimes. We can’t just let them keep going.”

This season, Kent State will be without their top offensive threat — running back Eugene Jarvis, out with a lacerated kidney — and have injury and depth issues at the quarterback position to contend with.

Kent State head coach Doug Martin said, during his weekly teleconference, early season starter Giorgio Morgan has been battling an ankle injury, forcing him to go to Anthony Magazu and freshman Spencer Keith in relief roles.

“Obviously we’re a little bit hamstrung at the quarterback position,” Martin said. “With (Morgan’s) ankle still being a problem he wasn’t really able to be effective in the (Boston College) game.”

Martin also said Keith would be the frontrunner to replace Morgan if he is unable to play on Saturday. The coach stressed, if Morgan is “limping or not 100 percent” he would not be starting.

Playing a freshman at quarterback in a rare home game against a BCS conference school has it’s downsides, however, Martin said he would not be afraid of using the senior Magazu to calm Keith down.

“Defensively they really play with a lot of speed,” Martin said. “They’ll bring some zone pressures that are unique, and, you could argue, that for a younger guy like Spencer that could offer a bit of concern.”

The coaching staff for the Cyclones was not worried by the quarterback carousel though, saying that preparation would continue as scheduled; no matter who suits up for Kent State on Saturday.

“If (the quarterbacks) are not significantly different then you don’t alter what you’re doing,” said head coach Paul Rhoads. “You put your game plan on paper and away you go.”

Although these teams have played one another in each of the last two seasons, there is no guarantee that it is an advantage in preparation for the game.

“They do have new players in the secondary and teams change just like we have changed in the past year,” Darks said. “I would say that I know what to expect, but I don’t know if that’s true.

“They play hard and I know they’re going to hit us. We’ve got to bring a lunch pail and a hard hat and come ready to play on Saturday.”