Cyclones have 7-0 mark for Rhoads in games under lights

AMES - There's something to be said for routine, and by golly Iowa State's football team has gotten into one so far this season.

Saturday's non-conference game against No. 10 Utah at Jack Trice Stadium will be the Cyclones' third-straight 6 p.m. start, and fourth night game overall. Athletics officials got word Monday morning that the Oct. 16 game at Oklahoma also is set for a 6 p.m. kickoff.

No one's complaining.

ISU (3-2, 1-1 Big 12) has won all three games under the lights and is 7-0 under Coach Paul Rhoads at night, despite his dislike for late starts.

“That's a wild stat. There's no explanation for it,” Rhoads said Monday during his weekly news conference. “I don't know if there's a coach alive who would rather play at night. We'd rather get up, eat and go kick off and get a little rest that night that we don't get any other day of the week. Fans don't like (early starts) because they don't get to tailgate near long enough.”

His players don't seem to mind sleeping in.

“Night games have been pretty good for us,” said quarterback Austen Arnaud, whose best performance of the season came during last Saturday's 52-38 victory over Texas Tech. “It feels like it's a bigger stage and the crowd is more into it.”

Saturday's game against the Utes (4-0) will be ISU's third straight at home.

Before beating Tech, the Cyclones beat Northern Iowa 27-0, their first shutout in six seasons. The consistency in kickoff times adds to the comfort level.

Players know they'll eat breakfast at 9 a.m., have 11 a.m. meetings, relax in the hotel room watching other games for a few hours and be at the stadium two hours before kickoff.

“You wake up and do the same thing you did the last week and the week before,” said linebacker Jake Knott. “You are used to it and it's a comfortable feeling.”

Rhoads isn't a big believer in superstition, but that doesn't mean he's above repeating the things he did preparing for the previous games.

The average score in ISU's six home victories under Rhoads played at night has been 33-14.

“I'm going to have pancakes tomorrow and I've had them the last two Tuesdays,” Rhoads said. “That's a wild stat, but I'm going to eat them because I feel good about them that we've won the past two games.”

Utah and its spread offense will be a test.

The Utes have won 52 games over the past six seasons, 20 of them against teams from the six Bowl Championship Series conferences.

They currently are members of the Mountain West, but are joining the Pac-10 for the 2011-12 season. Utah has the longest active bowl winning streak in the nation (nine).

“They are definitely a BCS-level team,” Knott said. “They are going to be a challenge for us.”

Maybe playing at night will be the mental edge the Cyclones need to pull the upset.

“I guess everyone's just woken up by then,” Knott said.