ISU looks for improvement with Iowa ahead

Iowa State coach Dan McCarney says his Cyclones will need to make major strides this week if they hope to beat the Iowa Hawkeyes in their 53rd meeting in Ames. The Cyclones struggled to an 8-8 halftime tie with Illinois State before they pulled away for a 32-21 victory on Saturday night. McCarney says if the team plays four quarters like that in any other games then they won’t win another game this year. He this will be an important week of practice as they have to be the “most improved team in America” next Saturday. McCarney says if they don’t improve, it’ll be “ugly.”Iowa opened with a 56-0 win over Ball State and McCarney says the Hawkeyes looked like a top ten team. Cyclone quarterback Bret Meyer finished 30 of 41 for 314 yards and a touchdown as ISU overcame a sluggish first half. Meyer says they knew they were better than they were playing in the first half.Meyer says they will need a complete game this weekend after putting things together in the second half. Defensive end Jason Berryman made his return and finished with four tackles and an interception. He says they have a lot of work to do to correct the mistakes, but he says Illinois State played “outstanding.”Berryman agrees the Cyclones must play a lot better against the Hawkeyes. He says they’ll bring their best game and he says Iowa will bring their best game too.