MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Iowa State coach Matt Campbell knows how good his team has been on the road. He also needs no reminder what happened to the Cyclones the last time they traveled to West Virginia.
The Mountaineers picked apart the Big 12’s top defense in 2021, and an Iowa State team that started that season with a No. 7 ranking tumbled out for good after the 38-31 loss.
No. 11 Iowa State (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) again has the league's best defense and is on the verge of another top 10 ranking with West Virginia (3-2, 2-0) standing in its way Saturday night. The winner will forge a first-place tie with idle Texas Tech, which is 3-0 in league play.
The Cyclones have won six straight road games dating to last season, including a last-second squeaker over archrival Iowa on Sept. 7.
“We’ve been in two tough road environments already. There’s value to that," Campbell said. “What West Virginia will be, will be another level of excitement.”
Iowa State is 5-0 for the first time since 1980 and hasn’t started 6-0 since 1938. But Campbell cautions that now isn’t the time to celebrate.
“You’re really judged by who you are at the end of the year and who you become through this journey,” Campbell said.
West Virginia has won two straight heading into a night game in which it will wear black uniforms in honor of the state’s coal mining industry. The Mountaineers' losses were to two current unbeaten teams, No. 4 Penn State and No. 22 Pittsburgh.
“Our guys aren't going to blink in these games,” West Virginia coach Neal Brown said.
The Cyclones are allowing 10 points and 272 yards per game, both the stingiest in the Big 12. It’s been a group effort. Darien Porter, Jeremiah Cooper and Jontez Williams have two interceptions apiece. No defender is averaging more than seven tackles per game.
This could be Iowa State's toughest test yet. West Virginia had 389 rushing yards alone in a 38-14 win at Oklahoma State.
Iowa State's Rocco Becht is one of the Big 12's more accurate quarterbacks and has thrown for nine touchdowns with three interceptions. Brown calls the sophomore “efficient.”
West Virginia's Garrett Greene is among the league’s top dual threats, averaging 5.4 yards per rush and nearly 15 yards per completion, although West Virginia runs the ball on two-thirds of its offensive plays.
“Any time their quarterback's got the ability to run, it can put your defensive rules in conflict really fast," Campbell said.
Becht won’t be the only member of his family getting attention on the field Saturday. His father, Anthony Becht, will be recognized for his induction into the West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.
Anthony Becht, a tight end for the Mountaineers from 1996 to 1999, couldn’t be at the school’s Sept. 21 induction ceremony and instead said he would attend Saturday’s game.
Becht was selected 27th overall in the 2000 NFL draft by the New York Jets and played for five NFL teams over 11 seasons. He currently is a Jets radio analyst and is the head coach of the UFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks.
Since defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley made the move from the sideline to the coaches’ box to give him a better vantage point, West Virginia has limited two opponents to 187 passing yards per game, significantly less than the 281 average over the first three.
Lesley said he enjoys and misses the emotions on the sideline but watching the game from up top “calms it down a little bit.”
“Now that I’m there, I’ll never go back,” he said.
Iowa State’s Myles Mendeszoon blocked a Baylor punt that teammate Caden Matson returned 25 yards for a touchdown last week. Porter had his fourth career blocked punt against Arkansas State on Sept. 21, setting up a TD drive.
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