ISU head football coach Dan McCarney sounded confident Monday when talking about Saturday’s game against Iowa.

McCarney said he was pleased with the Cyclones’ 48-20 win over Ohio Saturday. He said the Cyclones must get better to compete with their intrastate rival.

Breakdowns in fundamentals, technique and execution were on the list of McCarney’s items to fix.

“We still had plenty of mistakes,” he said. “A lot of things to get corrected.”

McCarney said he believes this game will be another close one in the series.

“A tremendous matchup,” he said. “It will be a knockdown, drag-out, four-quarter game.”

The Cyclones are four-point underdogs to the 23rd-ranked Hawkeyes after Iowa outscored its first two opponents by a combined score of 77-10.

McCarney said the state of Iowa should be proud of both teams heading into the game. Iowa is the defending Big Ten champion, and Iowa State has played in three consecutive bowl games.

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz and McCarney know each other well after coaching as assistants at Iowa under Hayden Fry.

“[There is a] tremendous mutual respect for one another,” McCarney said.

McCarney said although Iowa graduated 11 starters from an 11-2 squad last season, the Hawkeyes still look to be a very good team.

“They have a tremendous rush game going,” he said.

To many, Iowa’s success on the ground might be somewhat of a surprise.

They lost the four starting offensive linemen to the NFL draft, and Jermelle Lewis, a junior running back who complemented Iowa starter Fred Russell last year, went down in the spring with a torn anterior cruciate ligament and will be out for the season.

Iowa State has suffered its own string of injuries this season. Left guard Bob Montgomery has yet to play after a preseason injury. Starting defensive end Tyson Smith broke his leg in the opener — he will miss the rest of the season and was also suspended from the team Monday following his arrest Sunday on domestic assault charges.

Punter Tony Yelk and defensive back Johnny Smith were also injured late in the game, but McCarney said his usual policy is not to discuss injuries during the week. McCarney did say, however, that he expects “everyone” to play this weekend.

After losing 15 games in a row to the Hawkeyes from 1983-1997, the Cyclones have taken the last five.

Last season, Iowa State pulled out a 36-31 come-from-behind victory at Iowa City’s Kinnick Stadium.

McCarney said several factors contributed to the swing, but said recruiting of in-state players had a lot to do with it. After they are recruited, McCarney said, players must believe in his system.

“Slowly but surely, one player at a time, make each one of them believe that you can together have the courage and the passion to blaze new trails and change history and turn things around,” he said.

McCarney said he didn’t anticipate any changes in the ISU depth chart. Freshman quarterback Austin Flynn will again lead the Cyclone offense with senior Michael Wagner in at the tailback spot.

Although he was pulled in the second half after a coverage breakdown led to a 71-yard pass and Ohio’s last touchdown, Harold Clewis will likely start at cornerback over Bryan Ollie, McCarney said.

“[Clewis and Ollie] are seniors — they’re both very competitive,” he said.

“We’ll go back out to the practice field today and we’ll coach the heck out of them and see if we can correct some mistakes from last week.”