Teammates call it toughness – he calls it luck.

Whatever it is, when quarterback Bret Meyer takes the opening snap for the Cyclones against Texas on Saturday, it will mark the 43rd straight time he’s lined up under center for Iowa State.

“You’ve got big, 300-pound defensive linemen hitting him and trying to kill him,” said center Brandon Johnson. “It’s impressive.”

What’s more impressive is what the 6-foot-3-inch, 211-pound senior from Atlantic has done on the field. In 42 career games, Meyer ranks third in total offensive yards, total plays and passing yards in all-time Big 12 play.

His 42 straight starts rank first among all active Division I quarterbacks.

And he’s gotten up after almost every sack he’s taken, something he considers fortunate.

“Some guys here have those freak injuries where, in noncontact, they got hurt and things like that,” Meyer said. “I guess I’ve just been lucky, just haven’t gotten hurt.”

The closest he’s seen to the bench for the start of a game was in 2004 when Meyer and wide receiver Todd Blythe were both knocked out of a game against Texas A&M with concussions. The hit, Meyer said, was one of the toughest of his career as backup quarterback Austin Flynn took over for the remainder of the game.

“It was the first and last time I’ve tried to spin back in the middle of the field and get extra yards,” he said.

A week later he was back. While that hit forced him out of the game, he has taken control of the offense ever since. His 1,711 career offensive plays in the past four years are by far the most in the nation during that stretch. He’s been sacked 114 times during that stretch.

“Sometimes he’s calling a play and he didn’t know if it was a run or a pass,” Blythe said. “He’s a kid that goes out there, and he’s going to put everything he has on the line for this team.”

Even though he’s only seen Meyer brought down nine times this season, coach Gene Chizik said he’s impressed with the record.

“Obviously that speaks a lot for itself in my opinion, no matter where you play at,” Chizik said. “That’s great for him. That’s neat, and I think he’s hung in there through some really tough times and he’ll continue to do that.”

With six games remaining on the Cyclones’ schedule this year, Blythe said he wouldn’t want anyone else to be calling the plays.

“I can’t think of any other guy that I’d rather play for when I know he’s going to go out there and he’s going to get hit time after time after time, keep getting up and keep doing everything he can to help this team,” Blythe said.

Whether it’s toughness or not, Meyer said he still does the small things and has a little help to make sure he’s up and playing Saturday.

“Just taking care of myself, I guess,” Meyer said. “Needing to get treatments, and just being lucky too.”