CY-HAWK SHOWDOWN: No. 16 Iowa State entertains Iowa

AMES — Bragging rights are again on the line as Iowa faces No. 16 Iowa State in the annual Cy-Hawk football game at Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday.

Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. The contest will be televised by Fox.

The Cyclones (2-0) are looking to knock off their arch rival at home for the first time since 2011 in a series that has favored the visitors in recent memory. The road squad is 10-2 since 2012, and has prevailed in five consecutive seasons — a trend that continued last year when Iowa State prevailed on a late 54-yard field goal by Kyle Konrardy inside Kinnick Stadium, 20-19.

Quarterback Rocco Becht fired a 75-yard scoring strike in the third quarter to help ISU come back from a 13-0 halftime deficit last fall. Becht, who had 272 passing yards and a pair of scores in that victory, has thrown for 461 yards and five touchdowns in early wins over then-No. 17 Kansas State (24-21 in Dublin, Ireland) and South Dakota (55-7).

Becht has at least one TD toss in a school-record 20 consecutive games.

Carson Hansen (90 yards), Dylan Lee (81) and Abu Sama III (66) have led a rushing unit that has been a little slow out of the gates, as ISU has accumulated 353 yards at four yards per attempt.

Iowa’s rushing attack, meanwhile, was on full display in a 34-7 triumph over Albany in its opener last Saturday. Xavier Williams had 122 yards on just 11 carries, with Terrell Washington (69) and Jaziun Patterson (47) also contributing to the 310-yard attack.

Mark Gronowski, an All-American transfer from South Dakota State, struggled in his Hawkeye debut at quarterback, completing just eight passes for 44 yards.

Five different Iowa players had sacks last week, including former Southeast Valley all-stater Aaron Graves. The Hawks gave up only 43 yards on the ground and 177 total yards versus the Great Danes.

Iowa State’s defense has also been stout, paced by defensive backs Marcus Neal Jr. and Jamison Patton.

Iowa is 6-0 at Jack Trice Stadium in the last 14 years.

The Cyclones are favored by 3.5 points as of Friday evening.