After two brutal encounters on the road, the 22nd-ranked ISU football team returns to Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday to host the Missouri Tigers.

The Cyclones (6-3, 3-2 Big 12) are coming off a disappointing 21-10 loss to seventh-ranked Texas this past weekend, and hope to make the most of their home-field advantage before heading back out on the road to face Kansas State and Colorado.

ISU head football coach Dan McCarney is glad to be home, but knows his team will have its hands full with Missouri.

“We’re really looking forward to the Missouri game. They’re obviously a much improved football team from a year ago,” he said. “It’s good to be back home, at least for a week.”

Missouri (4-4, 1-3) gained their first conference victory of the season in a 36-12 win over Kansas last weekend.

Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said catching the Cyclones on a two-game losing streak does not make his job any easier.

“They are a heck of a team. They played two of the best teams in the nation,” Pinkel said. “I thought [Iowa State] played tremendously well against a great Texas team. Their guys are always ready to play at a high level, and we’ve just got to focus on our preparation.”

Pinkel said he has a lot of respect for the ISU program.

“[McCarney’s] done a remarkable job there. They are a very well coached football team,” he said. “They’ve got great athletes. As we’ve watched film throughout the season, it seems like we’ve played a lot of people that have played Iowa State, so we’ve seen them on video quite a bit.”

Missouri’s offense comes to Ames ranked 25th in the nation in total offense with an average of 412 yards per game. The Tigers are led by freshman quarterback Brad Smith, whose ability to run and throw draws many comparisons to Iowa State’s Seneca Wallace.

However, Pinkel does not think it is fair to compare the two.

“I’ve got a rookie that’s trying to get better each and every week. Wallace is a seasoned veteran that is a great player who has proven himself,” he said. “Hopefully someday [Smith] can be as good as a Seneca Wallace.”

McCarney has been impressed by Smith’s ability to perform at such an early age.

“He’s got great talent. I haven’t seen a better freshman quarterback around in college football,” he said. “He can get you running the football or throwing. He’s a tremendous talent. Unfortunately for us in the Big 12, he’s going to be around for a long time.”

Pinkel has equal respect for Wallace. “He’s just a great athlete. He’s so athletic. He’s got a great arm. And he’s quick,” Pinkel said. “He’s a playmaker. He presents huge problems, but we’re going to do the best we can to try to contain him. You’re not ever going to stop the guy, but you can try and limit as much damage as you can.”

The Cyclones hope to get their offense moving again while at home, and McCarney has one specific goal in mind — establishing a solid running game.

“These last two games we’ve been very ineffective. We’re obviously not pleased with our rush game,” he said. “It has not been good. Part of that is the two fabulous defenses we’ve seen the last two weeks, and part of that is we just haven’t been as effective as we need to be. We’re going to do all we can to improve that.”

Iowa State is attempting to salvage any hopes of a possible Big 12 divisional or conference title, but McCarney isn’t looking any further than Saturday.

“We’re not talking about winning anything, other than trying to win this Missouri game right now,” McCarney said.