WHO RUNS THIS STATE?: IOWA VS IOWA STATE GAME PREVIEW

Coming into week 2, both the Cyclones and Hawkeyes seek to get their second wins in a highly regarded rivalry game. Both teams handled business out the gate against their opponents. The Cyclones handed SEMO their first loss of the season with a 38-10 win. Additionally, the Hawkeyes won in sweeping fashion with a 40-0 win over the newly added Mountain West,  NIU Huskies. 

Takeaways: The two biggest takeaways from last week that will impact this week the most for the Cyclones are the defense and Arkansas State transfer Jaylen Raynor. Last week ISU’s defense was electric. The Washington State transfer Isaac Terrell made his presence known last week with 3 sacks, 1 shy of tying the ISU single game sack record. On top of that Linebacker Sullivan Schlimgen led the team in tackles with 9 and accrued a sack. Look for this week's Cyclone defense to be even better against the Hawkeyes run and pass game.

Starting QB Jaylen Raynor also made his first impression memorable for the Cyclone faithful. The Ark State transfer made his presence known by going 8/16 and 184 yards with 2 TDs in the air in his Iowa State debut. He also showed off his mobility with many scramble attempts to escape the collapsing pocket. Gaining 32 yards on the ground with 2 TDs on the ground. Raynor comes in to replace Rocco Becht, and Cyclone fans are going to have a great time watching him run all over the Hawkeyes' front 7 on Saturday. 

The Hawkeyes also showed up in week 1. The Hank Brown-led offense tallied i a 40-point effort on top of the Northern Illinois Huskies to propel them to their first win of the season. Brown ended the game with 12/20 with 129 yards and a TD. On top of a great passing performance from Brown, Iowa did what Iowa does best and ran the football very well.

Senior running back Kamari Moulton rushed for 183 yards on 11 attempts and scored 2 TDs, helping add to the blowout that was brewing inside of Kinnick stadium.

As per usual, Iowa’s defense was also strong. 60 team tackles, 6 sacks, and 7 TFLs loaded the stat sheet that shut down every angle that the Huskies tried to attack. To keep adding to the damage, Sophomore WR Evan James had a day with 3 punt returns for 108 yards and a return TD; he made his name known. Look for James to make a Cooper DeJean-like impact on the special teams side of the ball on Saturday evening against the Cyclones.

 This should be a must-watch game for any fans looking for an old-school hard-nosed football game this weekend in a very highly touted CyHawk rivalry game. This game features two new quarterbacks, but the focus of the game as it always in this rivalry will be the defenses. With almost an entirely new roster after losing their HC to Penn State a year ago, it will be interesting to see if the new-look Cyclones can start their Iowa State careers with an in-state rivalry win.