Cyclone Football Preview: Ohio

Iowa State takes on Ohio this Saturday on ESPN+, trying to keep their perfect season alive. The Cyclones have never lost to Ohio in school history, and look to keep that going this week. This Preview is brought to you by Farm4Profit Podcast and their new podcast that drops Friday, with Larson Farms:

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Ohio QB Kurtis Rourke is a dual threat problem for defenses. Rourke has a 25-yard run on the season to go along with his 464 yards and 4 touchdowns over the air. He has also protected the ball, throwing no picks. This ball security helped them to a 41-38 win over Florida Atlantic. They also lost 46-10 this season to Penn State. Ohio doesn't have much of a tradition running game, with their leading rusher with just 139 yards on the ground, however, covering Rourke will be a good test for the Cyclones due to the fact they did not have to worry about much when playing Spencer Petras and Iowa's offense last week. Ohio has a very weak secondary, and this will be good for other Cyclone receivers to have breakout games, other than Xavier Hutchinson.

Iowa State finally brought the Cy-Hawk Trophy back to Ames last week. It was an ugly game, with both teams fumbling a yard away from the end zone. Iowa State's special teams continued to be a problem last week, and something the team has to look to improve this week. The Cyclone defense and defensive coordinator Jon Heacok have looked amazing, with the defensive line for the Cyclones making a huge stride against Iowa from their week 1 performance. MJ Anderson looked unstoppable at times, paired with Will McDonald and Gerry Vaugn. The secondary looked strong again and had Iowa's quarterback, Spencer Petras, looking as bad as ever, which they will try to do again this week. Xavier Hutchinson will look to continue to put up crazy numbers against a weak passing defense. Jirehl Brock will also look to keep things rolling. Catch the game on ESPN+ at 1 pm (CT) if you cannot make it to Jack Trice.