Iowa State coach Matt Campbell finds himself in an oddly familiar position.

His team is coming off a 10-point loss and facing a quarterback controversy as they prepare for an 11 a.m. kickoff against the Oklahoma Sooners at Jack Trice Stadium.

It’s the same story as last year, but will the result against Oklahoma be the same?

This time around, the controversy isn’t around former quarterback Jacob Park. There’s no mystery about who fills the backup role if the starter — redshirt senior Kyle Kempt, who was coincidentally last year’s backup — is unable to play.

If Kempt can’t go due to his “dinged up” MCL (according to Campbell), redshirt sophomore Zeb Noland will be the guy.

“I think there was a little bit more [last year], at least internally, knowing exactly what our situation was,” Campbell said. “This year, if Kyle’s healthy and ready to roll, he would certainly be available to play for us. If not, it definitely would be Zeb [Noland].”

Last year in his first career start — against these same Oklahoma Sooners — Kempt went 18-for-24 in the air for 343 yards and three touchdowns in a historic 38-31 win.

Last week, however, Kempt couldn’t get the offense revving in Iowa City, Iowa, against the Hawkeyes. He went 15-of-21 for 126 yards. The offense was held to three points.

“Right now it looks more day to day than it did long term,” Campbell said of Kempt’s injury. “[We all have] a deep sigh of relief here. His availability for this week I think is still up in question a little bit, but a lot better than what we thought it was gonna be on Saturday.”

Noland has shown the ability to serve as a capable starter. Last year, he took over during the Oklahoma State game (which Iowa State lost, 49-42) and threw for 263 yards on 17-of-28 passing.

He also started the following game against Baylor, leading the team to a 23-13 win on the road. Noland was 14-of-28 in that game for 180 yards and two touchdowns.

Last week at Iowa, Noland got relief duty when Kempt went out. He was 4-of-10 in the air. That brief time in the game might come in handy next Saturday, should Noland be thrust into the starting lineup.

“I think that’s one thing [quarterback coach Joel Gordon] instilled in me,” Noland said. “‘You’re one play away, so why not prepare like you’re starting?’ That’s what I try to do every week.”

Noland is more known for his arm strength than Kempt, but he also has fewer years at the college level. Kempt has 190 more pass attempts to his credit than Noland and 13 more touchdowns.

But as last year’s game against No. 3 Oklahoma proved, experience doesn’t always make a difference.

Iowa State stuck to the first few pages of the playbook at Iowa. Rarely did the offense air it deep or find creative ways to get the ball to playmakers.

Oklahoma’s pass defense hasn’t been anything special this year — the Sooners are dead last in the Big 12 in passing yards allowed per attempt and eighth in the league in completion percentage allowed, according to CFB Analytics  — so Noland’s arm strength could change the game.

“We feel really confident about that [quarterback] room right now,” Campbell said. “We’ve been down this road a multitude of times… you have to, in today’s world of football, have multiples at that position.”