Iowa State needs offense to get better before trip to Okie State - KTIV News 4 Sioux City IA: News, Weather and Sports

Iowa State's running game is unproductive, and the Cyclones have to try to fix it against Oklahoma State with their leading rusher on the sideline.

The Cyclones are last in the Big 12 in rushing after just 65 yards on the ground in Saturday's 27-21 loss to Kansas State.  James White, who leads the team in rushing, missed that game and won't play Saturday in Stillwater.

Coach Paul Rhoads pounded the table twice during his weekly press conference to emphasize his point that the Cyclones have to run the ball to be successful.

Iowa State is 14-4 under Rhoads when rushing for at least 190 yards in a game and 8-18 when it falls below that figure.

ISU also completed just 16 of 36 passes on Saturday.

"My decision-making has always got to get better," said quarterback Jared Barnett. "In this game against K-State I had a lot of inaccurate passes and I really have to work on that, making sure that I'm setting my feet, making sure that my mechanics are right at all times."

"We know how close we are to being a 6-0 football team," said Rhoads. "That's a positive in my mind because we know that we're a good football team. Now we have to build on that. That's the challenge."

Iowa State, who is 4-2 overall and 1-2 in the Big 12, plays at Oklahoma State at 11:00 AM Saturday on F-X. The Cowboys are 3-2 overall, 1-1 in the conference.