It shouldn’t take long for Iowa State to reveal the direction its season will take.
The No. 22 Cyclones open Saturday against No. 17 Kansas State in Dublin, Ireland, and two weeks later play the annual CyHawk Game against Iowa at home.
The game on the Emerald Isle will be Iowa State’s first opener against a Top 25 team since 2002, and it will be only the seventh time in 23 years the Cyclones won’t open against an opponent from the second-tier Football Championship Subdivision.
The Cyclones, who beat the Wildcats 29-21 in Ames in the final regular-season game last year, are well-positioned to take on the challenge. Rocco Becht is entering his third year as the starter and is the Bowl Subdivision active leader with a touchdown pass in a school-record 18 straight games. He’s led the Cyclones to 18 wins the last two seasons for the best two-year stretch in program history.
