Iowa State Welcomes West Virginia to Jack Trice Stadium for Big 12 Matchup

The Cyclones host the Mountaineers Saturday at 11 a.m. CDT on TNT, with Iowa State installed as a three-point favorite at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames.

West Virginia visits Iowa State on Saturday for a Big 12 football game that kicks off at 11 a.m. CDT. The venue is MidAmerican Energy Field at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa, which seats 61,500. Iowa State enters as a three-point favorite on the posted line.

TNT supplies the television coverage, with J.B. Long on play-by-play, Mike Golic Jr. as analyst and Jared Greenberg on the sideline. Home fans can listen on the Cyclone Radio Network, where John Walters calls the game, Eric Heft provides analysis and Ryan Harklau reports from the sideline. West Virginia's radio team pairs Tony Caridi on play-by-play with analyst Dwight Wallace and sideline reporter Jed Drenning.

The Cyclones arrive having dropped a 31-17 decision to Utah at Jack Trice Stadium on Sept. 26. Per the injury report issued Friday at 9 p.m., Crawford and Moore remain unavailable for Iowa State, while Singletary has been upgraded to probable.

Quarterback Jaylen Raynor steers the Iowa State attack. He has gone for 639 yards through the air with five touchdowns against three interceptions, adding 137 rushing yards and three more scores. Among active FBS players, his 10,653 career yards of total offense are third most and his 9,326 career passing yards rank fifth. Running back Aiden Flora has produced a team-best 382 rushing yards on 51 carries, averaging 7.5 per attempt with three touchdowns, plus 573 all-purpose yards; he is third in the Big 12 in yards per carry, and his four career punt returns covering 50 or more yards stand as the active FBS record.

In the passing game, Omari Hayes sets the receiving pace with 11 catches for 156 yards and Dominic Overby has turned seven grabs into 142 yards, a 20.3-yard average, plus a score. Cameron Pettaway averages 38.2 yards per kickoff return, a number that tops the Big 12 and sits fourth in the country. That average includes a 100-yard return for a touchdown against Bowling Green.

West Virginia's offense runs through quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr., whose nine rushing touchdowns and passing yards per completion both rank second nationally. He has added 425 rushing yards and 663 passing yards with six touchdowns through the air, and he is the first Mountaineer since 1972 to reach three rushing scores in consecutive games. Cam Cook has 510 rushing yards, fifth most in the country, at 127.5 per game with three touchdowns, and his 2,169 yards since the 2025 season began top every active FBS running back. Receiver DJ Epps averages 28 yards per catch, second in the nation, including a 112-yard performance against UT Martin.

On defense, linebacker Sullivan Schlimgen averages 8.8 tackles per game, a figure bettered by only one Big 12 defender, and his season totals include 35 stops, 3.0 tackles for loss, one sack and a personal-best 12 tackles in the Utah game. Linebacker Carson Willich is next with 24 tackles, 5.0 TFL and a sack, and he has made at least one stop behind the line in every game this year. End Isaac Terrell was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 7 following a three-sack performance against SEMO, while safety Drew Surges has 10 tackles and four career forced fumbles, a total that ties him for 14th among active FBS players.

For the visitors, nickel/safety Geimere Latimer II sits third in the country in forced fumbles and safety Kamari Wilson has 27 tackles, an interception and a pass breakup this season. Wilson's season-best 10 stops came against Virginia.

Keyon Washington spent a redshirt year at West Virginia in 2024, later passed through Bowling Green and now plays for Iowa State; he and Cyclones running back Cameron Pettaway were Bowling Green teammates of Mountaineers edge rusher David Afogho. Three freshmen — Iowa State defensive back Torrence 'Toe' Sanders, West Virginia quarterback John Johnson III and West Virginia receiver Greg Wilfred — shared the field at Edna Karr High School in New Orleans, finishing 14-0 and capturing a Louisiana state championship. Iowa State linebacker Tristan Exline and West Virginia defensive lineman Will LeBlanc were college teammates at Division II UT-Permian Basin. Mountaineers running backs coach Jay Boulware held the same job at Iowa State from 2007-08 under Gene Chizik, also carrying the title of co-special teams coordinator.