Iowa State football trying to simplify in short week

AMES — Matt Campbell has led teams that faced quick turnarounds before.

As the head football coach at Toledo, his team played five of its 12 games on a day other than Saturday last year. In his first season as Iowa State's coach, he'll lead another short week with a Thursday night home matchup against No. 11 Oklahoma (6:30 p.m. on ESPN).

With just four days in between game days, Campbell said preparation has to become simplified.

'We've got to do a great job of we know who we are, we can't be too complex and we've got to give our kids the best opportunity to be successful,' Campbell said. 'Fortunately or unfortunately it simplifies you.

'The unfortunate part is you're going against a really good opponent. The fortunate part of it is you hope that that quick turnaround forces both teams to have to be simplified in what they do in terms of game planning for Thursday night.'

Iowa State (1-7, 0-5) hasn't played a non-Saturday regular-season game since Oct. 3, 2013 when it hosted Texas — and lost 31-30. The Cyclones also played Thursday the week before at Tulsa, winning 38-21.

Oklahoma (6-2, 5-0) started 1-2 — with a 10-point loss to Houston and a 21-point home loss to Ohio State — but has won five in a row since and has scored 51.4 points per game in those wins. The Sooners are coming off a 56-3 win against Kansas.

The Cyclones held practice Sunday, as they do on a normal schedule, but won't have an off day Monday as they normally would. Practice schedules get moved up two days with the short week so Monday and Tuesday will be full practice days with more installation and a walk-through Wednesday.

'You've got to prepare a lot quicker and you've just got to be up here a lot more than you would during a regular week because you lose that extra day of preparation,' said quarterback Joel Lanning. 'I think we'll be fine. We handled it fine yesterday, watching film and fixing the correction from Kansas State and preparing for Oklahoma now.'

Netten on cusp of ISU history

Kicker Cole Netten leads the Big 12 and is 12th in the nation in field goal percentage this season (88.9 percent), and has a chance to solidify his place in Cyclones history Thursday.

Netten needs just four points to become Iowa State's all-time leading scorer and would be a continuation of a productive year. He's made 16 of 17 kicks dating back to last season and is 8 of 9 this season — his only miss was a 50-yarder at Texas — and owns a career field goal percentage of 76.7.

'I think what's gotten me there is just focusing on one kick at a time,' Netten said. 'I'm just focusing on the next kick and I've had a lot of people in my career help me succeed. A lot of coaches have put me in the positions and a great snapper and holder for my whole career here and a great line as well.'

Warren injury update

Campbell said running back Mike Warren, who suffered a sprained ankle in the loss to Kansas State, 'sounds like he'll be good to go' against Oklahoma.

Warren, who has 124 carries and 530 yards with three touchdowns this season, participated in practice Sunday and will be evaluated throughout the beginning of the week.

Kansas kickoff time set

Iowa State's final road trip, at Kansas on Nov. 12, has been slated for an 11 a.m. kickoff and will be televised on FSN.

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