Rob Gray

“All Rocco Becht.” Iowa State football coach Matt Campbell described two pivotal and pulse-pounding plays by his redshirt freshman quarterback in last Saturday’s 27-14 win over TCU at Jack Trice Stadium.

Cincinnati boasts the Big 12’ssecond-best defense in terms of average yards allowed per game (328.4). Iowa State will meet Cincinnati for the first time in program history — and here are five Bearcats to watch this weekend.

Hoopla helped frame the festivities that presaged Iowa State’s 27-14 Big 12 football win over TCU in Saturday night’s first Jack Trice Legacy game, but the power that permeates the story that surrounds it impacts the football program every day — not simply on special occasions.

A redshirt freshman starting at quarterback and two true freshmen made the pivotal plays on a crucial quick-strike scoring drive to fuel Iowa State’s 27-14 win over TCU Saturday at Jack Trice Stadium.

The Iowa State Cyclones were spitting mad about their sparse offensive production in one-score losses to Iowa and Ohio — and it showed early on in what eventually devolved into a 50-20 loss to the Sooners on the road.

Saturday night’s Big 12 football game between Iowa State and TCU at Jack Trice Stadium is pivotal to both teams’ success moving forward. Here are three keys for the Cyclones, plus a score prediction.

Iowa State receiver Jaylin Noel is on pace to match or exceed his career-high 60 catches while connecting with first-year starter Rocco Becht and has become an elite route runner with an ability to modify on the fly.

Veteran Iowa State defensive coordinator Jon Heacock is adept at making adjustments — whether it’s in-game or during the season — so expect improvement to come when ISU (2-3, 1-1 Big 12) takes on TCU (3-2, 1-1) at 7 p.m. Saturday at Jack Trice Stadium.

Another week, another top-two Big 12 passing offense for Iowa State to face. Here are five TCU players to watch against the Cyclones.

While the Iowa State defense struggled against Oklahoma, the offense appears to be finding its groove.

Razor-thin margins. High-end quarterbacks. Heart-pounding defensive stops. Iowa State’s seen it all in its past three trips to Oklahoma. But can current Cyclone starting quarterback Rocco Becht channel his inner Kyle Kempt — the walk-on who led ISU to an unlikely 2017 upset?

Iowa State doesn’t have much to lose Saturday night at Oklahoma, frankly. Here are three keys to the game for the Cyclones and a score prediction.

Chase Contreraz emerged from limbo — aka the transfer portal — and committed to the Iowa State. He earned the starting field goal kicker job in camp and enters Saturday's game against Oklahoma still finding his way as his long and winding college career nears its conclusion.

Iowa State finally experienced a modicum of success in the running game against an FBS opponent last week against Oklahoma State — a slight opening they seek to expand as heavy underdogs against No. 14 Oklahoma at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Oklahoma QB Dillon Gabriel is off to a great start, completing 78 percent of his passes; Bob Stoops’ son is one of his solid targets.