The Iowa-Iowa State game has even more meaning for the players who grew up in the state. Iowa State running back Jeff Woody went to high school at Southeast Polk and grew up in the middle of the rivalry. Woody says he grew up in Des Moines where there’s a split group of fans for both sides.
Woody says a lot of players on one side of the state only experienced one side of the rivalry and he says it’s good for the state to have that much excitement and interest in one game.
The Cyclones have lost the last three games in the series but Woody says ending that streak is not what motivates them. “You never, ever, ever want to take a loss, and against a team like Iowa, against a rival like that, it is a big game because it is a game,” Woody says. He says he is dying for a win because it would be win number two, regardless of the opponent.
In the last two years Iowa State has won at Nebraska and Texas but the games against Iowa have been lopsided. Woody says it comes down to mistakes. He says they can’t turn the ball over and expect to beat a good team.