AMES — No. 16 Iowa State has the chance to make history once again, just one week after head coach Matt Campbell made history of his own by becoming the Cyclones’ all-time winningest head coach. 

A win Saturday against Baylor would move Iowa State to 5-0 for the first time since 1980, which alone shows how much Campbell has done for this program. 

Standing in the way of one of the greatest starts in program history, though, is a Bears team that will be very motivated to put an end to the Cyclones’ perfect season.  

Baylor is off to a 0-2 start in Big 12 play and 2-3 overall with losses to No. 18 Utah, Colorado and No. 17 BYU. The game versus the Utes was considered a non-conference game due to it being scheduled before Utah joined the Big 12.

The Bears may be winless in conference play, but they could easily be 2-0. The Buffaloes needed a hail mary to beat Baylor in Boulder, Colorado, and the Cougars were barely able to hold off the Bears’ second-half comeback.

Baylor won’t be a walkover and Iowa State knows it.

“We’re going to get a very hungry football team,” Campbell said. “Maybe the best team we’ve played all season coming in here. So a lot of respect for them.”

If the Cyclones want to keep up their winning ways, they’ll need to see a little more from the offense.

Iowa State’s offense struggled for the majority of the game in its 20-0 win against Houston. After its first drive of the game, which resulted in a field goal, the offense went five straight drives without scoring. 

It wasn’t until senior wide receiver Jayden Higgins’ record-breaking touchdown with just over two minutes left in the third quarter finally got the Cyclones offense back on track. 

On the following drives, Iowa State marched down the field for a field goal, sophomore running back Abu Sama III broke off a 77-yard touchdown and on the last drive, all they had to do was run down the clock. 

Now the focus turns to the Bears’ defense. It has shown to be vulnerable, giving up over 30 points in both of its Big 12 games thus far. The Cyclones offense will need to get out to a faster start, because, unlike the Cougars, Baylor has a respectable offense that will not get shut out. 

“[Baylor] has a lot of older guys, a lot of guys that have been there since their Big 12 championship game, so they know what they’re doing,” quarterback Rocco Becht said. “I think we have a good plan so far coming out of practice.”

A part of that plan will no doubt be the three-headed running back room of Sama, senior Jaylon Jackson and sophomore Carson Hansen. The trio carried the offense against Houston, rushing for a combined 231 yards on 6.8 yards per carry. 

This was never expected to become a running back by committee backfield. Before the season, the expectation was that Sama was going to be the workhorse, taking the majority of the carries. 

That hasn’t been the case, and it’s not because Sama has played poorly. It’s because Jackson and Hansen have played so well. 

“All three of those guys have shown that they can do their job really well,” Campbell said. “Our team hasn’t skipped a beat when any of those three guys have been in the football game.”

Jackson was largely unknown to Iowa State fans before the season. A transfer from Eastern Michigan, Jackson had 810 yards from scrimmage last season for the Eagles but was largely expected to be a depth piece in the Cyclones’ running back room. 

He hasn’t just been a depth piece, as over the last two weeks, Jackson has 149 rushing yards on 6.1 yards per carry and led Iowa State with 14 rushing attempts in its win against Houston. He continues to earn his ever-growing workload. 

“When I’m on the field, I just want to play with a chip on my shoulder,” Jackson said. “I just feel like I’ve been overlooked my whole life.”

As far as the defense goes, there isn’t much that needs to change from their performance against the Cougars. The Cyclones pitched a shutout and came away with two interceptions. But of course, there are always things to work on. 

The rushing defense was still a little suspect, allowing 153 yards on the ground. Especially with the Bears having a considerably better offense than Houston, Iowa State’s defense will have to continue to level up. 

“At the end of the day, our guys have to be able to continue to play good football,” Campbell said. “I would say, and I’m sure Jon [Heacock] would say the same thing. We still are really far away from being the defense that we want to be. We need to be better. We want to be better.” 

It’s important that the Cyclones don’t get complacent. Baylor may be 2-3, but it’s more than capable of ruining what could be a very fun night for the team and the fans. 

Iowa State will take on Baylor at 6:30 p.m. Saturday from Jack Trice Stadium. The game will be nationally televised on FOX.