AMES, Iowa — In their final tune-up game before conference play begins, Iowa State will have their first road test of the season against Ohio.
Last season, Iowa State dominated the Bobcats at Jack Trice Stadium 43-10. In that same season, Ohio finished as Mid-American Conference runner-up and with a 10-4 overall record.
It's not often that a MAC team gets to host a power five team like Iowa State. No one knows that better than Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell who spent four seasons coaching in the MAC at Toledo.
"They run to the football on defense," Campbell said. "They're physical up front on offense and they have a great quarterback. It'll be the best quarterback we've played against so far this football season. One of the best quarterbacks we've seen in a long time. He's tough, so it's a great challenge. It's a great place to play college football to be honest. Played there a bunch. You know, honestly, one of the great MAC environments so it's gonna be a really tough road game, and what a great challenge for our football team to go into a team that knows how to play championship football and a great competitor for us."
Campbell and his players know they'll be getting the Bobcats best shot when they set foot in Peden stadium.
"Of course, it's going to be hard," said sophomore defensive back Jeremiah Cooper. "We're playing at another person's stadium and everybody there is rooting for them, not you. But I mean, for our preparation, nothing changes. It's just another game. We play it like it's a big game so we're gonna go into Ohio like we're playing Texas."
Iowa State is 6-0 all-time against Ohio and will look to make that 7-0 when they return to Athens for the first time since 2001.
Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 16 on ESPNU.