Big 12 teams going into Ames, Iowa, have known for a while that no matter what type of season Iowa State is having, if they don’t come to Jack Trice Stadium ready to play, they will leave with a loss at the hands of the Cyclones. Just ask TCU, which came into last year’s meeting with Iowa State sporting an undefeated record and a top-10 ranking, only to post season lows in points and offensive yards in a 14–7 loss.
West Virginia entered Saturday as the only undefeated team remaining in the conference and left stripped of its confidence, as the Cyclones shut down one of the nation’s top offenses and threw the Big 12 race into a more upheaval with a 30–14 rout, marking the first time they have beaten back-to-back ranked teams in 45 years.