Following a much-needed bye week, the No. 14 Cyclones will take on Arizona in front of a sold-out Jack Trice Stadium at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Saturday is set to be the Cyclones’ whiteout theme game for the 2025 season, something the team did a year ago against Baylor in a 43-21 win to improve to 5-0. The Cyclones have a chance to do the same Saturday.
Iowa State has made it through the first third of the season without any dents in its record, sitting at 4-0 heading into the bulk of Big 12 play. Arizona has only played three games thus far, but it is also undefeated.
The Wildcats are much improved from their 2024 campaign, which ended in a 4-8 record, and a lot of that is because of a defense that has grown and gotten better during the offseason.
Through three games, Arizona has outscored its opponents 111-26 and has only given up two touchdowns. In that stretch, the Wildcats have also outgained their opponents 1312-667 yards, nearly doubling their opponents’ offense.
“Their defense is a problem; they made some really good adjustments from last year,” Iowa State Offensive Coordinator Taylor Mouser said. “They’re different than probably anything, at least I’ve seen since I’ve been with coach [Matt] Campbell.”
The Wildcats have sacked the opposing quarterback eight times, tallied five interceptions and 25 tackles for loss through three games. For comparison, the Cyclones have seven sacks, four interceptions and 24 tackles for loss, and that is through four games.
“The way that defense runs to the football, the blitzing, the twisting, you know, the differences in fronts,” Mouser said. “It’s a real challenge, and credit to those guys for, you know, the turnaround they made.”
As for the Cyclones, they still believe they have the weapons to exploit this tough Arizona defense in ways that it hasn’t been this season. A strong spot for the Cyclones has been the depth of the tight end room.
“They got a really good scheme, so it’s gonna be a great challenge for us offensively,” Tyler Moore, redshirt senior tight end, said. “We all look forward to that challenge, because it’s a defense that we haven’t necessarily seen in the last few years, so we look forward to playing those guys.”
The Wildcat defense has only given up eight catches for 32 yards to tight ends this season, so the Cyclones may need receivers like sophomore Brett Eskildsen and redshirt junior Xavier Townsend to step up. That starts with redshirt junior quarterback Rocco Becht.
“Well, ‘how do I get better?’ Rocco [Becht] and those guys to really go to work on some of their rhythm,” Iowa State Head Coach Matt Campbell said. “I think the big thing for Xavier [Townsend], you felt like, visually, you saw him get better at every single game that he’s played over a four-week period.”
On the opposite side of the ball, Arizona has redshirt junior Noah Fifita at quarterback in his third season as the starter. Fifita has thrown for just under 3,000 yards in each of his first two years, and he is on pace to put up similar numbers this year.
Despite not having the numbers to back it up, Fifita can also be dangerous on the ground and getting outside of the pocket on busted plays, something the Cyclones will have to contain.
“Boy, is he [Fifita] confident,” Campbell said. “He’s confident with where he’s throwing the football, he’s got elite arm strength, he’s got the ability to make all the throws. Yes, he is mobile, but he’s also confident enough to step up in the pocket and make throws over the middle.”
Iowa State has its hands full with Fifita and senior running back Ismail Mahdi, a transfer from Texas State. The two combined for 237 rushing yards and two touchdowns in their win over Kansas State.
The Cyclones, wearing all white uniforms, take the field at 6 p.m. for a date with Arizona under the lights Saturday.
“It gives a little extra juice to you for sure,” junior linebacker Kooper Ebel said. “First time under the lights this year, we’re ecstatic about that.”
