Saturday, October 3
Ames, Iowa
12:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
at
Iowa State
Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
Mountaineers, Cyclones to Meet on Saturday in Ames
September 30, 2026 12:54 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia will attempt to hit the reset button on Saturday when it faces Iowa State in a noon Big 12 clash at Jack Trice Stadium.
Both teams are coming off home defeats in their conference openers last weekend. West Virginia (3-1, 0-1) dropped a 41-24 decision to Oklahoma State while Iowa State (2-2, 0-1) lost to 15th-ranked Utah 31-17.
The Cyclones, under first-year coach Jimmy Rogers, are now 2-2 with blowout wins over Southeast Missouri and Bowling Green and losses to Utah and 21st-ranked Iowa.
Rogers, with a 35-11 overall record in four seasons, is considered one of the rising stars in the coaching profession after a stellar tenure at South Dakota State that included an FCS national championship in 2024.
That led to an opportunity to coach at Washington State last season.
During his one year in Pullman, the 39-year-old Rogers took over a roster with 75 new players and led the Cougars to a 6-6 record and a bowl victory over Utah State before landing a six-year contract at Iowa State last winter to replace Matt Campbell.
Rogers scrapped Iowa State's old 3-3-5 defense in favor of an aggressive, four-down front that is limiting teams to just 16 points and 272.5 yards per game.
During Iowa State's loss last Saturday, Utah jumped out to a 24-3 lead before the Cyclones rallied with a pair of touchdowns to make it a one-possession game late in the third quarter.
Defensive end Isaac "Bobby" Terrell, one of Rogers' Washington State imports, is widely regarded as the team's best overall player. He recorded three sacks in the season opener against Southeast Missouri and now shows 10 in 37 career collegiate games.
Incidentally, Terrell's nickname "Bobby" is in reference to Bobby Boucher, the fictional character played by Adam Sandler in the 1998 movie "The Waterboy."
Linebacker Sullivan Schlimgen, another Washington State transfer, is the team's top tackler with 35 stops, while athletic corners Jaheim Singletary and Beni Ngoyi are active in coverage and run support.
West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez considers Iowa State the "best defense" his young team will have faced so far this season because of its discipline, toughness and big-play avoidance.
"They're aggressive. They're not out of position, and they tackle well," he said. "I think five of them started at Washington State together last year so you can tell they know how to play in their system."
Offensively, the Cyclones employ a unique scheme that utilizes frequent shifting, pre-snap motioning and unusual personnel groupings to try and confuse the opposition. It will be imperative for the defensive coaches to be on point this Saturday to identify who is on the field at all times.
Arkansas State transfer Jaylen Raynor has played 41 career games at quarterback and shows more than 10,000 career all-purpose yards. The Winston-Salem, North Carolina, resident has completed 62.2% of his 1,298 career pass attempts for 9,333 yards and 57 touchdowns with 31 interceptions.
Raynor has also accounted for 1,320 career yards on the ground, including one run of 62 yards at Arkansas State in 2023, but his athleticism and mobility are more often used buying time in the pocket rather than just taking off and running like Coastal Carolina's Deuce Bailey did in the opener.
Raynor, the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year, has posted 22 career victories as a starting quarterback, the sixth-most in the country and the second-most in the Big 12.
"They've got an experienced quarterback, so he's going to be hard to fool, and they're big and strong up front," Rodriguez mentioned. "But the biggest challenge for us is they run a different formation from a different personnel group on just about every play.
"It's really, really complicated, so we've got to be sure we've got great eye discipline and make sure we're lining up in the right way," he added.
Former walk-on running back Aiden Flora is another offensive performer who will require plenty of attention. Regarded as the team's Swiss Army knife, the sophomore leads the team in rushing with 382 yards, is second with eight receptions for 66 yards and also returns punts, including one for a 66-yard touchdown.
Flora is one of the team's top big-play threats with touchdown runs of 61, 42 and 38 yards in 20 career games. His 10 runs of 10+ yards tie him for the fourth-most in the Big 12 with West Virginia's Cam Cook.
Mountaineer quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. is tied with UCF's Duke Watson for the most plays of 10+ yards in the conference with 13.
Hawkins and Cook have accounted for more than half of West Virginia's 1,912 all-purpose yards to date. Cook is the team's leading ground gainer with 510 yards on 99 carries, while Hawkins has added 425 yards and a team-best nine rushing touchdowns.
Hawkins is contributing 609 yards and five touchdowns through the air, but the Mountaineer passing game continues to be a work in progress.
DJ Epps shows a team-best 10 catches for 279 yards and three touchdowns while Jaden Bray has chipped in with eight catches for 118 yards.
Big plays could be at a premium for the Mountaineers this Saturday against the Cyclone defense on Jack Trice's natural surface.
This will be the first time this year West Virginia is playing on grass, prompting Rodriguez to seek permission to have his kickers use the women's soccer practice facility some this week to get better acclimated to it.
The coach also mentioned earlier this week that Georgia safety transfer Jacorey Thomas could be available on Saturday to help bolster a struggling Mountaineer defense that allowed 609 yards in the Oklahoma State loss and is ranked 102nd nationally this week giving up 426.5 yards per game.
The bulk of that has come through the air where West Virginia is permitting 319.7 yards per game.
A recent court injunction granted Thomas immediate eligibility, and he was dressed for last Saturday's contest against the Cowboys. Rodriguez indicated that some personnel shifting at the team's three safety spots could be in order this Saturday to better suit their skillsets.
He also said he wants a "better plan" on that side of the ball.
A couple of other late additions - Utah running back NaQuari Rogers and cornerback Jason Chambers, who actually started 12 games last year for the Mountaineers - are practicing with the team now after having their preliminary injunctions granted, but their availability for Saturday's game is unknown.
"We've got to control the football offensively, and we've got to get first downs," Rodriguez said. "Defensively, we've got to get some three-and-outs, and they'll methodically drive the field if we let them and we've got to get them off the field."
National television coverage will be provided by TNT, TruTV and HBO Max (J.B. Long, Mike Golic Jr. and Jared Greenberg).
Mountaineer Sports Network radio coverage with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning begins at 9 a.m. on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps leading into regular network coverage at 11 a.m.
This will be West Virginia's seventh visit to Ames since joining the Big 12 in 2012, but the first trip for Rodriguez and his coaching staff.
"This being our first true road game, obviously we've got to be ready for some crowd noise and some negative crowd noise, and we've got to be able to communicate better," Rodriguez pointed out. "Crowd noise doesn't bother you if your guys know how to communicate and do it pretty forcefully, and that's what we're going to work on all week."
Both teams are coming off home defeats in their conference openers last weekend. West Virginia (3-1, 0-1) dropped a 41-24 decision to Oklahoma State while Iowa State (2-2, 0-1) lost to 15th-ranked Utah 31-17.
The Cyclones, under first-year coach Jimmy Rogers, are now 2-2 with blowout wins over Southeast Missouri and Bowling Green and losses to Utah and 21st-ranked Iowa.
Rogers, with a 35-11 overall record in four seasons, is considered one of the rising stars in the coaching profession after a stellar tenure at South Dakota State that included an FCS national championship in 2024.
That led to an opportunity to coach at Washington State last season.
During his one year in Pullman, the 39-year-old Rogers took over a roster with 75 new players and led the Cougars to a 6-6 record and a bowl victory over Utah State before landing a six-year contract at Iowa State last winter to replace Matt Campbell.
Rogers scrapped Iowa State's old 3-3-5 defense in favor of an aggressive, four-down front that is limiting teams to just 16 points and 272.5 yards per game.
During Iowa State's loss last Saturday, Utah jumped out to a 24-3 lead before the Cyclones rallied with a pair of touchdowns to make it a one-possession game late in the third quarter.
Defensive end Isaac "Bobby" Terrell, one of Rogers' Washington State imports, is widely regarded as the team's best overall player. He recorded three sacks in the season opener against Southeast Missouri and now shows 10 in 37 career collegiate games.
Incidentally, Terrell's nickname "Bobby" is in reference to Bobby Boucher, the fictional character played by Adam Sandler in the 1998 movie "The Waterboy."
Linebacker Sullivan Schlimgen, another Washington State transfer, is the team's top tackler with 35 stops, while athletic corners Jaheim Singletary and Beni Ngoyi are active in coverage and run support.
West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez considers Iowa State the "best defense" his young team will have faced so far this season because of its discipline, toughness and big-play avoidance.
"They're aggressive. They're not out of position, and they tackle well," he said. "I think five of them started at Washington State together last year so you can tell they know how to play in their system."
Offensively, the Cyclones employ a unique scheme that utilizes frequent shifting, pre-snap motioning and unusual personnel groupings to try and confuse the opposition. It will be imperative for the defensive coaches to be on point this Saturday to identify who is on the field at all times.
Arkansas State transfer Jaylen Raynor has played 41 career games at quarterback and shows more than 10,000 career all-purpose yards. The Winston-Salem, North Carolina, resident has completed 62.2% of his 1,298 career pass attempts for 9,333 yards and 57 touchdowns with 31 interceptions.
Raynor has also accounted for 1,320 career yards on the ground, including one run of 62 yards at Arkansas State in 2023, but his athleticism and mobility are more often used buying time in the pocket rather than just taking off and running like Coastal Carolina's Deuce Bailey did in the opener.
Raynor, the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year, has posted 22 career victories as a starting quarterback, the sixth-most in the country and the second-most in the Big 12.
"They've got an experienced quarterback, so he's going to be hard to fool, and they're big and strong up front," Rodriguez mentioned. "But the biggest challenge for us is they run a different formation from a different personnel group on just about every play.
"It's really, really complicated, so we've got to be sure we've got great eye discipline and make sure we're lining up in the right way," he added.
Former walk-on running back Aiden Flora is another offensive performer who will require plenty of attention. Regarded as the team's Swiss Army knife, the sophomore leads the team in rushing with 382 yards, is second with eight receptions for 66 yards and also returns punts, including one for a 66-yard touchdown.
Flora is one of the team's top big-play threats with touchdown runs of 61, 42 and 38 yards in 20 career games. His 10 runs of 10+ yards tie him for the fourth-most in the Big 12 with West Virginia's Cam Cook.
Mountaineer quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. is tied with UCF's Duke Watson for the most plays of 10+ yards in the conference with 13.
Hawkins and Cook have accounted for more than half of West Virginia's 1,912 all-purpose yards to date. Cook is the team's leading ground gainer with 510 yards on 99 carries, while Hawkins has added 425 yards and a team-best nine rushing touchdowns.
Hawkins is contributing 609 yards and five touchdowns through the air, but the Mountaineer passing game continues to be a work in progress.
DJ Epps shows a team-best 10 catches for 279 yards and three touchdowns while Jaden Bray has chipped in with eight catches for 118 yards.
Big plays could be at a premium for the Mountaineers this Saturday against the Cyclone defense on Jack Trice's natural surface.
This will be the first time this year West Virginia is playing on grass, prompting Rodriguez to seek permission to have his kickers use the women's soccer practice facility some this week to get better acclimated to it.
The coach also mentioned earlier this week that Georgia safety transfer Jacorey Thomas could be available on Saturday to help bolster a struggling Mountaineer defense that allowed 609 yards in the Oklahoma State loss and is ranked 102nd nationally this week giving up 426.5 yards per game.
The bulk of that has come through the air where West Virginia is permitting 319.7 yards per game.
A recent court injunction granted Thomas immediate eligibility, and he was dressed for last Saturday's contest against the Cowboys. Rodriguez indicated that some personnel shifting at the team's three safety spots could be in order this Saturday to better suit their skillsets.
He also said he wants a "better plan" on that side of the ball.
A couple of other late additions - Utah running back NaQuari Rogers and cornerback Jason Chambers, who actually started 12 games last year for the Mountaineers - are practicing with the team now after having their preliminary injunctions granted, but their availability for Saturday's game is unknown.
"We've got to control the football offensively, and we've got to get first downs," Rodriguez said. "Defensively, we've got to get some three-and-outs, and they'll methodically drive the field if we let them and we've got to get them off the field."
National television coverage will be provided by TNT, TruTV and HBO Max (J.B. Long, Mike Golic Jr. and Jared Greenberg).
Mountaineer Sports Network radio coverage with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning begins at 9 a.m. on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps leading into regular network coverage at 11 a.m.
This will be West Virginia's seventh visit to Ames since joining the Big 12 in 2012, but the first trip for Rodriguez and his coaching staff.
"This being our first true road game, obviously we've got to be ready for some crowd noise and some negative crowd noise, and we've got to be able to communicate better," Rodriguez pointed out. "Crowd noise doesn't bother you if your guys know how to communicate and do it pretty forcefully, and that's what we're going to work on all week."
| Tale of the Tape | ISU (2-2) | WVU (3-1) |
| Points Per Game | 30.8 | 36.3 |
| Points Against | 16..0 | 24.8 |
| Rushing Yards Per Game | 180.5 | 294.8 |
| Rushing Yards Allowed Per Game | 113.8 | 144.3 |
| Passing Yards Per Game | 164.8 | 165.8 |
| Passing Yards Allowed Per Game | 158.8 | 282.3 |
| Total Yards Per Game | 345.2 | 460.5 |
| Total Yards Allowed Per Game | 272.5 | 426.5 |
| First Downs For | 71 | 91 |
| First Downs Against | 57 | 83 |
| Fumbles/Lost | 2/1 | 3/2 |
| Interceptions/Return Yards | 2/7 | 3/25 |
| Net Punting | 37.6 | 38.8 |
| Field Goal/Attempts | 6/7 | 4/4 |
| Time of Possession | 29:33 | 29:02 |
| Penalties/Yards | 19/195 | 19/143 |
| 3rd Down Conversions | 15/47 | 33/62 |
| 3rd Down Conversion Defense | 15/53 | 17/52 |
| 4th Down Conversions | 3/7 | 2/5 |
| 4th Down Conversion Defense | 4/6 | 4/8 |
| Sacks By/Yards Lost | 7/63 | 10/75 |
Players Mentioned
WR
/ Football
CB
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RB
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WR
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QB
/ Football
N/S
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