Iowa State coach Dan McCarney says the Cyclones are happy to see game-week begin. A season with lofty expectations opens at home Saturday night against Illinois State and while the Cyclones will be heavily favored McCarney says every year some one-double-a programs rise up and post upsets. He says you see good players and coaches in the programs, and he says you see them on NFL rosters, so they have a good talent level. McCarney says they won’t take Illinois State lightly as they’ll go in with the thought that they’ll have their hands full. McCarney says Cyclone fans remember how UNI beat Iowa State twice in the 1990’s so it shows a 1-AA can beat a 1-A school if they’re not ready to play. McCarney says back-up running back Jason Scales will not play in the opener. Scales has been nursing a sore knee. He says it’s a day-to-day thing for Scales, who he says is questionable for the ISU-Iowa game the next week.