Iowa State starting quarterback Austen Arnaud has taken some criticism as the Cyclone offense struggled this season before exploding in Saturday’s win over Texas Tech. The senior from Ames says he’s just worried about improving and not about the talk outside the program.
Arnaud says people ask him about his “doubters” but he says he tries not to pay any attention to it. He says it was great to get the team and himself on track and says they had a great week of preparation that led to good results on the field. The Cyclones have a young defense, but Arnaud says he doesn’t feel any pressure to score because of their inexperience.
Arnaud says the defense will play no matter what the score is and points out that the defense shut down Texas Tech for most of the first half. He says the defense is young, but they make a lot of plays with their feet and speed and he’s confident that the defense will make some plays. Scoring points could be key this week as the Cyclones host 10th rated Utah.
Arnaud says they are a “really good team,” and after watching tape of them he can see they are fast and their ranking speaks to how good they are. Arnaud says they can build off the 52-38 win over Texas Tech. He says the offense definitely took a turn in that game, but they have to keep pressing things and turn up the energy.
Arnaud says he doesn’t think the team will be satisfied and getting wins becomes contagious and they want to keep things rolling. The Cyclones are 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the conference. Game time Saturday in Ames is six p.m.