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Iowa State Cyclones head coach Matt Campbell watches from the sideline against South Dakota during the third quarter in the home game opening at Jack Trice Stadium on August 30, 2025, in Ames, Iowa Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Three Keys for Iowa State Cyclones to Defeat Arizona Wildcats in Week 5

Originally posted on Iowa State Cyclones on SI
By Nick Ziegler | Last updated Sep 25, 2025 9:00 AM ET

The Iowa State Cyclones will be at home in Week 5 hosting the Arizona Wildcats in their second Big 12 game of the season. Both teams will be coming into the matchup with undefeated records, and this will be a high stakes game in the conference.

For the Cyclones, they were largely being considered the team to beat in the Big 12 heading into their bye week. However, the Texas Tech Red Raiders were able to blowout the Utah Utes in Week 4 and have now emerged as the top team in the conference.

Even though it was a very impressive victory for the Red Raiders, it is still very early in the campaign and there are a lot of games to be played. For the Cyclones, they will be seeking to move to 5-0 on the year with a win over the Wildcats. Here are three keys to the game for Iowa State.

Get Off the Field

Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

One of the main issues for the Cyclones in their win against the Arkansas Red Wolves was the performance of their defense. Even though they didn't give up a ton of points, the defense had a lot of trouble containing quarterback Jaylen Raynor.

Getting off the field and stopping the Red Wolves was a major issue for the defense with plenty of long drives and third-down conversions. This resulted in a lopsided time of possession and kept their offense off the field. Due to the lengthy breaks in drives, the offense felt a bit rushed. Against a higher quality opponent, the defense needs to be better.

Contain Passing Offense

Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

The Wildcats will be coming into this game with a couple of impressive offensive performances to their credit so far this year. A significant reason for that has been the play of quarterback Noah Fifita. The talented quarterback has had a much better season than in 2024, when expectations for him and the program were high.

This campaign, he has totaled 712 passing yards, six interceptions, and no interceptions. His favorite target has been wide receiver Javin Whatley, who leads the team in both receptions and receiving yards this year.

Establish Ground Game

Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

One of the bright spots in the closer win over Arkansas State was that the running game for the Cyclones finally got going a bit. Iowa State’s talented duo in the backfield both had their best games of the season, which made the close win a bit of a head-scratcher.

In the Week 3 win, Carson Hansen led the way with 116 rushing yards on 18 carries. He was complimented nicely by Abu Sama III, who totaled 69 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. With quarterback Rocco Becht also being a factor on the ground, establishing this running game early could result in a lot of success.