No. 18 Iowa State cautious of host Houston in Big 12 matchup

No. 18 Iowa State won its first three games by an average of 21.3 points, but Cyclones coach Matt Campbell isn’t the least bit impressed.

Iowa State (3-0, 0-0 Big 12) looks to please its coach on Saturday when it visits Houston (1-3, 0-1) in the Cyclones’ conference opener.

The Cyclones do have a 20-19 victory over fierce rival Iowa on the ledger, but Campbell said his team has to perform much better to survive in Big 12 play.

“We’ve got a lot to prove. We’re a football team that’s got a lot of work to do,” Campbell said. “When you get into conference play, you want to be at least creating some momentum for yourself. We were able to do some of that at times. But to win in the Big 12 is hard. To win week in and week out is really, really hard.

“The challenge for us is can we keep getting better? Can we keep improving? Can we continue to show up? We’re on the road (this) week, which isn’t easy to do. It’s really hard to win conference games on the road, and it’ll be a great challenge for us.”

Iowa State rolled to a 52-7 home win over Arkansas State last weekend, building a 31-0 halftime lead and cruising to Campbell’s 56th win at Iowa State. That tied him with Dan McCarney (1995-2006) for most victories in school history.

Jayden Higgins (17 catches, 208 yards, three touchdowns in three games) caught a touchdown pass for the fifth straight game to match the school record. Sidekick Jaylin Noel (15-317, two TDs) has caught at least one pass in 35 consecutive games, the fourth-longest streak in school history.

Cornerback Darien Porter has a team-best two interceptions for a defense that ranks ninth nationally in opponents’ scoring at 9.67 points per game.

The Cougars could have a hard time moving the ball against the Cyclones after being blanked 34-0 by host Cincinnati last weekend. Houston had just 233 total yards and 12 first downs.

The poor performance led first-year coach Willie Fritz to switch to a two-quarterback system. Donovan Smith will start against Iowa State, but backup Zeon Chriss also will see action.

Smith has thrown four interceptions while completing 65.3 percent of his passes for 610 yards and two touchdowns. Chriss is 2-for-5 passing for 19 yards.

“They’ve both done some good things,” Fritz said. “I’ve seen some good things and some things not so good. We’re going to play both of those guys, and we’re going to give both opportunities to show us what they can do. We’ve got to play better at the other 10 guys. That’s a big part.

“The quarterback gets too much credit when things go well, and they get too much blame when things don’t go well. The whole offense has got to play better. That starts with the head coach, the coordinators and the position coaches as well. We’ve got to do a better job.”

The Cougars rank 129th (out of 133 FBS schools) in scoring at 13 points per game, and they sit 122nd in total offense at 294.2 yards per game.

Houston safety A.J. Haulcy had 11 tackles against Cincinnati for his eighth career game of 10 or more stops. Linebacker Michael Batton had a season-high 10 tackles.

This is the first meeting between the teams.

–Field Level Media