ISU/Iowa perpare for Saturday games

Iowa returns from a two-week layoff to open the Big Ten race at home against Penn State. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz says the Hawkeyes have tried to turn the lengthy lay-off into a positive.Ferentz says while Penn State has struggled out of the gate the Nittany Lions remain dangerous, and it almost seems like a setup.Ferentz says Penn State always has talented players, but they haven’t gotten in their rhythm yet. He says last year they started out 0-2 and then won big in their third game.The Iowa State Cyclones open Big-12 action at home against Baylor. The Cyclones are coming off a three-point victory at Ohio and coach Dan McCarney is happy with the 2-0 start. He says it’s still a young team that needs to improve. McCarney says Baylor has shown major improvement and has a lot of veterans back.McCarney says the defensive line needs to continue to make strides this week. He says they had some individual breakdowns last week that led to them giving up a lot of yardage. He says those things have to be taken care of.