Iowa State running back Jeff Woody says Oklahoma State will be "out for blood" on Saturday.AMES, Iowa (KTIV) - -
Under coach Paul Rhoads, Iowa State has pulled off a "shocker" every year but no upset was bigger than last year's over Oklahoma State. They Cyclones were 28-point underdogs to the second-ranked Cowboys but ISU won 37-31 in double overtime.
The win knocked Okie State out of the national championship picture and helped Iowa State get to the six wins they needed for a bowl game.
The Cowboys are unranked this year at 3-2 but the offense averages nearly 49 points per game. Iowa State knows Okie State will be looking for some payback for what happened last year in Ames.
"They're obviously a different team this year," said Iowa State quarterback Jared Barnett. "They're going to be a different team at home than they would be if they came up here. We're going to have to be ready to go into that atmosphere. Their fans are going to be really hostile and we're just going to have to make sure that we stay focused."
They're going to be out for blood," said Iowa State running back Jeff Woody. "They know what we ended for them last year so they're going to come in with a vengeance, trying to obviously take advantage of that emotion and that momentum and we're have to be able to match that intensity in order to pull out a win this weekend."
Coach Rhoads doesn't think revenge will be that big of a factor. Instead, he thinks the chance to simply win another conference game will have both teams ready.
"Coach Gundy is a very smart coach," said Rhoads. "He doesn't need extra motivation for his team. He knows the importance of this game because it's the next game. I'm sure that's how he's preparing them, just like that's how we're preparing our football club."
That game starts at 11:00 AM Saturday on FX. Okie State is a 14-point favorite.
