Iowa State football goes back on the road to take on an Oklahoma State team that has hit its roughest patch of the season.

There is one massive question mark surrounding Oklahoma State, and that is the availability of quarterback Spencer Sanders. In the team’s previous matchup against Kansas, Sanders missed the game, with Garret Rangel throwing three interceptions in a 37-16 loss.

Defensive coordinator Jon Heacock is putting no stock into which quarterback will be the starter for the Cowboys, saying his defense goes through the same process regardless.

“We would still go through the same preparations, spend the same amount of time, same gameplan, it wouldn’t change anything we do to be honest,” Heacock said.

Heacock said regardless of the quarterback, the Oklahoma State system would still remain relatively similar.

Oklahoma State has now lost three of its last four games, allowing 34 or more points in each of them. The Cowboys have allowed 31.8 points per game this season, which is second worst in the Big 12 ahead of only West Virginia (34.2).

Iowa State on the other hand is coming off its first win of Big 12 play, beating West Virginia 31-14. For the Cyclones, the focus is on carrying over this offensive momentum into the next game.

Tight end DeShawn Hanika said the best part of the offense having a breakout game is they helped out a defense they believe is up there with the top units in the country.

“We found out that when we do take care of our assignments, and do our job, we can move the ball and we can put points on the board,” Hanika said. “We felt as a unit like we were letting the team down ourselves.”

Iowa State scored three fourth quarter touchdowns, taking a commanding win over the Mountaineers. The Cyclones are starting to show signs of life offensively, despite being last in the Big 12 in points scored per game with just 22.7. The next closest team is Kansas State which averages 30.6 points per game.

Hanika also said he knows fans have been questioning the gameplan, but when the players properly execute, the team can put up points.

“The stuff does work,” Hanika said. “Show people that we are gameplanning right, we do know what we’re doing.”

The game is set to begin at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The game will be aired on ESPNU.