Tulsa QB has won in Ames before

AMES - It's arguable Cody Green had little impact on what turned out to be a demoralizing loss in Iowa State football coach Paul Rhoads' second season.

But he was Nebraska's starting quarterback in 2010 when the Cyclones lost, 31-30 in overtime, and missed bowl eligibility by ending up 5-7.

Green returns at 2:30 p.m. Saturday as Tulsa's recently minted starting quarterback, serving as both a link to a what-if past and a possible hindrance to a bright immediate future.

“It was a tough loss,” said Cyclone senior linebacker Jake Knott, who made 11 tackles in that game. “It was big, but it definitely adds to the work ethic our team has and makes you get in there every single day and work harder for those guys who were around when that happened.”

Green ran for just 10 yards in the 2010 matchup and completed 7 of 12 passes for 79 yards.

“You don't prepare for Cody Green as much as you prepare for the offense and what the quarterback position brings to the offense,” said Rhoads, who pushed ISU to bowl games in his other two seasons. “Obviously, he's 1-0 in this stadium and I think any time you lead a team to a victory anywhere you gain confidence from that occurrence.”

Green transferred to Tulsa last season and impressed Coach Bill Blankenship with his athletics tools and overall pedigree immediately.

“Right, wrong or indifferent, there's just no shortcut to experience,” Blankenship told the Tulsa World. “That experience will translate into some calmness of what's going on as opposed to a guy in a brand new situation.”

There's no lack of confidence, either. And that may be an understatement.

“I was able to go to a Big 12 school at the time and compete as a freshman (in 2009),” Green told the Associated Press recently. “I got to be the first starter since Tommie Frazier. I was in a sentence with Tommie Frazier, who won national championships and could have won a Heisman. I was able to be in that sentence. Who else can say that? Nobody.”

True enough.

But the local significance of the name Cody Green didn't register immediately with Cyclone running back and longtime football junkie Jeff Woody. He didn't remember Green starting for the Cornhuskers in that heartbreaking loss.

“You'll have to ask Jake or A.J. about that,” he said.

Still ...

“Giving me some Nebraska?” Woody said. “That adds a little bit to the pot.”