Iowa State and Bowling Green will attempt to rebound from very different losses when they meet Saturday afternoon in Ames, Iowa.
Iowa State will be coming off an emotional rivalry game loss after falling 16-13 at Iowa last Saturday. The Cyclones (1-1) built a 10-point lead in the second quarter, but mustered only three points on offense over the last 37:51 of the game.
Iowa State’s offense has been led by Arkansas State transfer Jaylen Raynor, who has thrown for 301 yards and three touchdowns. He passed for only 117 yards last week, when the Cyclones finished with 255 yards of total offense.
On the other side, Bowling Green (0-2) is coming off a lopsided 56-7 loss at Nebraska after losing to FCS Tarleton State in its season opener.
The Falcons have struggled to move the ball, accumulating just 535 yards of total offense and two touchdowns in two games, ranking 132nd or worse among FBS teams in total offense and scoring offense.
First-year Iowa State coach Jimmy Rogers is looking beyond the stats to see the team that is coming to town this week.
“I think they are way better than their 0-2 start that they’ve had,” Rogers said of Bowling Green. “They have turned the ball over, which has hurt them. They play hard. There’s no question that they are going to come in with the belief they can win this game and that they should win this game. We’re going to have to come out and play with the right intensity and focus and communicate really well throughout the game.”
Bowling Green coach Eddie George, the former Ohio State and longtime NFL running back, likes the baseline he’s seeing from his team even if the results have yet to reflect it.
“The things that we’ve given up are more or less technique and fundamentals, eyes not in the right place in terms of eye discipline,” George said. “But the effort, the energy and the physicality are there. The fight is there.”
This will be the third meeting all-time between the programs, but the first since 1979. Iowa State is 2-0.