The ISU football team is at an important point in the season.

Its commanding 38-13 win against Kansas last week marks its first 1-0 conference start in more than a decade and keeps the Cyclones’ hope for postseason play healthy.

But now the Cyclones are heading into the tougher part of their schedule. Seven of the final eight opponents on Iowa State’s schedule were either ranked or receiving votes in this week’s AP Top 25 Poll.

But it starts this weekend when Iowa State (2-2 overall, 1-0 Big 12) heads to Lubbock, Texas, to take on Texas Tech (3-2 overall, 0-2 Big 12) on Saturday.

“I think we’ll match up with them pretty well with Texas Tech just because we’re quick and we’re pretty good as a defense,” said defensive lineman Dale Pierson. “I think if we just stay consistent with everything that we do, we’ll be pretty good.”

One of the biggest problems the Cyclones will need to solve is how to slow down the Red Raider offense.

Currently, the TTU offense is on the field just more than 25 minutes a game. But it is still averaging 50 points per contest, compared with Iowa State’s 27.25 points per game.

Texas Tech also averages 423.8 yards per game through the air, one of the best marks in the NCAA.

But one thing the Cyclones hope will slow down the strong Red Raider attack is the 3-4 defense, something they have implemented more this season.

“We’ve got players capable of playing the spots [in the 3-4], and the coaches who have the confidence to put them out there,” Rhoads said. “There is no pattern to it except for trying to keep guys fresh and attacking.”

The 3-4 primarily defends the pass but also attempts to apply more pressure on the quarterback. TTU quarterback Patrick Mahomes has only been sacked one time through the first five games.

Pierson, who is currently leading the team in sacks through the first four games with six quarterback takedowns, said he is up to the challenge.

“I know they get the ball out quick,” Pierson said. “I’ve just got to continue to use my quickness and speed just to get penetration straight into the gap. We’ll just try to get as much pressure on them as we can.”

And while adding pressure to Mahomes in the backfield is a goal for Saturday, the Cyclones know that they can’t overlook the ground attack. Texas Tech is averaging nearly 180 yards per game — the fourth best in the Big 12.

DeAndre Washington, Texas Tech’s starting running back, is putting up more than 100 yards per contest.

But Rhoads said he is going to put emphasis on stopping the run. 

“It would be dangerous for other people to [overlook Tech’s run game] — we’re not doing that in Ames, Iowa,” Rhoads said. “We’re very respectful of their run game and we’re taking quick notice of that … They run the ball very effectively and they’re committed to running the football.”

So if the Cyclones are going to stop Texas Tech’s high-powered offense, which manifest nearly as well on the ground as it does in the air, it’ll take a strong defensive showing to do so.

The best chance to accomplish that is with the 3-4 defense, and while Rhoads said he will implement the scheme at times against Texas Tech this weekend, he added it isn’t quite perfect.

“Part of the presence of the 3-4 defense is to try to get us that leverage to try and have enough guys on the perimeter for that passing game and enough guys close to the interior to defend the run game,” Rhoads said. “This is one of the reasons we went to it.

“There were pieces of it that need to be played much faster than what we saw [against Kansas] from what we’re going to see this week and the next eight weeks of the season.”