Iowa State ‘has a lot left to chase’ in matchup with Texas Tech

AMES — Winning back-to-back games might seem trivial or insignificant, but when even just one win has been hard to attain, it's not a small feat.

Among many things, getting back-to-back wins for the first time in three years is on the collective mind of the Iowa State football team heading into its penultimate game.

'We just have to know that we're playing for something bigger than a bowl game right now and we just have to understand that,' said wide receiver Allen Lazard, who has never won two games in a row in his college career. 'We've just got to come in and work hard every single day and understand it'll have a ripple effect going into next year.'

Coming off its second win of the season and first in conference play, Iowa State (2-8, 1-6) gets its final two games at home, starting with Texas Tech (4-6, 2-5). Kickoff is at 2:30 p.m. and will be televised on FS1.

The Cyclones were in a position to win back-to-back games early last month after they came off a 34-point win against San Jose State and hosted then-top-15 Baylor. Iowa State led by 14 points in the fourth quarter only to lose on a last-second field goal, and went on to lose at Oklahoma State the following week after holding a 17-point lead.

'Winning is fragile. It really is,' said Iowa State Coach Matt Campbell. 'Nobody knows that more than the Cyclones this year and deservedly so, too, to be honest ... Some lessons we deserved to learn. And now can you learn from them and can you grow? I think we took a step in the right direction last week, and can we continue that?'

Texas Tech visits Ames with a modest record and needs to win out to attain bowl eligibility, but it does so with the most prolific passing offense in college football. The Red Raiders are fourth in the nation in total offense (580.2) and first in passing offense (473.1), leading the Big 12 in both categories.

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes, along with Coach Kliff Kingsbury, is the catalyst behind the production, generating a 66.7 percent completion rate with more than 500 passing attempts and 34 passing touchdowns.

A possible affectation on the Texas Tech passing game could be a brisk day in Iowa. The Red Raiders have played north of the state of Oklahoma just five times in team history. Given how much Texas Tech tends to pass, the Cyclones see the possible weather conditions favorably.

'Any advantage we can have (is great),' said linebacker Kane Seeley. 'I heard it's going to be 42 for a high with high gusts of wind, so I would say that's in our favor. They're obviously going to have a game plan, they can still run the ball. They're a solid team, so they're going to have a game plan too to out-execute the weather.'

Campbell, who was an assistant at Toledo during its rebuild from 2009-11 before becoming head coach there, sees similarities in this first season at Iowa State. The wins are validation, he said, for what happens in the middle of the week, and players are starting to see the fruits of that with last week's win.

'I think that's the one thing we found about our video is we still left a lot out there Saturday in terms of what we're capable of playing and what our expectations, at least my expectations are, of this team to play,' Campbell said. 'A lot left for us to chase.'

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