Fun Facts: Cincinnati vs. Iowa State. As God as our witness, we thought turkeys could fly

1. This is the first time Big 12 rival Cincinnati has played in Ames.

2. Iowa State starting defensive back Malik Verdon is from Cincinnati. He attended the same high school, Hamilton, as Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson.

3. Cincinnati was 53-11 over Luke Fickell’s last five seasons as coach, is 8-13 since.

4. The 532 yards Iowa State allowed against Kansas last week was the most it surrendered in a game since 2016.

5. Since 2004, Cincinnati has been in four different conferences. It went from Conference USA to the Big East to the American to the Big 12.

6. Cyclone quarterback Rocco Becht has thrown touchdown passes in his last 13 games, a school record formerly owned by Brock Purdy.

7. The Bearcats outgained West Virginia by 188 yards last week and had 24 first downs to the Mountaineers’ 10. Yet, Cincinnati lost, 31-24.

8. The Cyclones have scored 60 points over their last five fourth quarters.

9. Cincinnati has averaged over 10 points per first quarter.

10. Seven of the last 12 punts by Iowa State’s Tyler Perkins have been longer than 50 yards.

11. Entering this week, Iowa State was one of just five teams in the nation to have two players with 50 or more catches, Jayden Higgins (62) and Jaylin Noel (50). The others are Hawaii, Miami (Fla.), Rice and TCU.

12. No other Cyclone has more than 10 receptions.

13. Forty-five Cincinnati players are transfers from other four-year schools, including five Big Ten teams as well as Findlay, Wittenberg and Kentucky Christian.

14. When Iowa State Coach Matt Campbell had the same position at Toledo in 2012, his team upset No. 21 Cincinnati, 29-23, and moved into the Top 25 itself the next day.

15. Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium has been used for football for 100 years.

16. Cincinnati is nearer the University of Kentucky than Ohio State.

17. A bearcat is neither a bear nor a cat, and isn’t native to the United States. It is a red panda, the state animal in the Indian state of Sikkim. Its natural habitat is a rainforest.

18. The American Cornhole Organization was founded in Cincinnati in 2005 and is considered the global governing body of cornhole.

19. An Appanoose County town in southern Iowa is named Cincinnati. When the northeast part of the town was without power last Jan. 20, its residents were encouraged to wait out the outage at the town’s community center, which had a stove and microwave available.

20. “WKRP in Cincinnati” is remembered fondly every November for its famous 1978 episode “Turkeys Away” in which station manager Arthur Carlson said “As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.” The series was consistently funny during its four years on CBS and received 10 Emmy nominations.