AMES, Iowa — After a heartbreaking loss to Kansas on Saturday, Iowa State is shifting its attention to Kansas State and looking to avoid falling to 0-3 in Big 12 play.
Reflecting on the team's 14-11 loss to the Jayhawks, Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell said in their loss to Kansas, a lot of mistakes were self-inflicted, something that comes with having a young team.
"I still think when you're a little bit of a young football team, where the youth will show up the most is on special teams at times," said Campbell.
Freshman kicker Jace Gilbert missed three field goals in Saturday's game, including one to tie the game late in the fourth quarter.
Campbell was able to find a silver lining in that, saying that those things can be fixed.
"The great thing about where we're at is I feel like we're finally in a place schematically of where we want to be," Campbell said. "Those aren't the issues. The issues are the continued growth of some of the people in those units."
Those fixes will have to come quickly though, with another team with all the momentum in the world coming to town this weekend.
Quarterback Adrian Martinez and running back Deuce Vaughn are two players leading the charge for the Wildcats.
"You're looking at another elite runner, elite athlete at the quarterback position," Campbell said when asked about Martinez. "What you would say about Adrian watching him though his career, the guy has played so much football. He's confident."
Iowa State linebacker O'Rien Vance compared Vaughn to Cyclone running back Deon Silas when talking about what makes players with smaller statures like theirs difficult to defend.
"I feel like him being lower to the ground and harder to see when it comes to the offensive linemen, that's what makes it more difficult," said Vance. "He's one of those guys who can catch the ball in the backfield and it's just one of those things where it's another element that we gotta make sure we're able to stop."
Iowa State will host Kansas State on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 6:30 p.m.