Iowa State receiver Ed Williams is quickly approaching numerous school reception records but strangely enough, he is more concerned these days with rushing statistics.

Not his rushing stats, but those of his team. Oklahoma State outrushed ISU 175 yards to 43 yards in a 21-14 victory by Oklahoma State last Saturday.

“All great teams can both throw the ball and run the ball,” Williams said. “If we can establish the running game like we had last year, and perform like we did as far as the passing game Saturday, we’ll be a real success.”

Williams is currently fourth on the all-time ISU list for career receptions, career yards receiving and career touchdown receptions. He has 99 receptions for 1,432 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Tracy Henderson, who played between 1982-84, has the school mark for career receptions and yards with 150 catches for 2,048 yards.

Keith Krepfle has the school record with 15 touchdown receptions between 1971-73.

ISU threw for 242 yards against Oklahoma State, compared to only 137 yards for the Cowboys. Williams said the Cyclones will need to have more of a balanced offensive attack against Wyoming. “There’s going to be some games we’re not going to be able to pass for 300 yards, and there’s going to be some games we’re not going to be able to rush for 200 yards,” he said. “If we can establish both of them as being strong, then I feel we’ll have a successful season.”

Wyoming beat ISU 41-38 in overtime in last season’s opening game. The teams combined for 1,352 total offensive yards in the game.

The score is expected to be considerably lower for this year’s game. Wyoming held ninth-ranked Ohio State to 323 total offensive yards on Aug. 28. Ohio State won the game 24-10.

“Their offensive line did a lot of good things against [Ohio State],” ISU Head Coach Dan McCarney said. “They rushed for 170 yards, which is never easy to do against Ohio State.”

Dana Dimel replaced Joe Tiller as Wyoming coach during the off-season. Dimel, the youngest head coach in NCAA Division I football, is a former assistant coach at Kansas State.

Williams said the change in coaching staff will bring a change of defensive philosophy.

Nine out of 12 opponents scored 21 points or more against Wyoming last season.

“Their defense is probably a little more aggressive than it was last year, because of the coaching change,” Williams said. “We’ll be prepared for it, whatever they throw at us.”

McCarney mentioned the factor of Wyoming’s elevation during his weekly press conference.

Laramie, Wyo., the site of the game, is elevated at over 7,200 feet.

He pointed out that ISU nearly beat Colorado last season at Boulder, Colo., before losing 49-42.

“There’s not much of a difference between Boulder and Laramie from an elevation standpoint,” McCarney said. “It didn’t seem to affect our team last year when we went to the wire with a top 10 team.”

ISU is in the middle of a stretch of playing four out of five games on the road. The Cyclones travel to Minnesota next, and then play at home against Iowa.

Because of that, Williams said the Wyoming game is of utmost importance to the team’s morale.

“If we win this first road game against Wyoming, it will build our confidence up as far as [the] Minnesota [game] is concerned,” he said. “When we come back home to play Iowa, I think we need two road game wins to boost our confidence back up.”

McCarney said at least three ISU starters will not play against Wyoming due to injuries. Senior strong safety Tracy Williams is out with a knee injury while senior defensive lineman Rudy Ruffolo will sit out because of his torn pectoral muscle.

Redshirt freshman offensive lineman Ben Beaudet will not play because of a head injury he received during the Oklahoma State game.

The Cyclones travel to Laramie on Saturday for a 3 p.m. game.