MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia is hunting for its second Big 12 Conference victory of the season when it meets Iowa State later today at MidAmerican Energy Field at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa.

The Mountaineers are currently 1-4 in league play, one game ahead of winless Iowa State at 0-5. However, the Cyclones have dropped three conference decisions by a combined seven points to Kansas, Kansas State and Texas, lost by a touchdown to Baylor and fell 27-13 last weekend against Oklahoma.
 
The Cyclones (3-5, 0-5) were driving for a game-tying score when a Hunter Dekkers pass was intercepted and returned to the Iowa State 1. He attempted 57 passes in that game to compensate for a ground game that managed just 66 yards.
 
Defensively, Iowa State ranks among the best in the country and is No. 1 in the conference allowing just 295 yards per game. The most yards anybody has gotten on them is the 388 Kansas State generated on October 8 – a 10-9 Wildcat victory.
 
"Statistically, they are the best defense in the Big 12 and their video is very impressive," West Virginia coach Neal Brown said. 
 
West Virginia (3-5, 1-4) is coming off a 41-31 loss to seventh-ranked TCU last Saturday in Morgantown. The Mountaineers had the ball with less than four minutes to play with an opportunity to score a go-ahead touchdown, but the Horned Frogs forced a three-and-out possession and tacked on a late score with 20 seconds left to put the game on ice.
 
WVU's rollercoaster season has included a pair of early-season losses to Pitt and Kansas, back-to-back wins against Towson and Virginia Tech, a loss at Texas, a win versus Baylor, and then losses to Texas Tech and TCU.
 
"We've got to be better," Brown said. "We've got to handle the travel. We haven't played well on the road the last two weeks, so we've got to be able to handle that without a doubt."
 
The Mountaineers have not won in Ames since 2016.
 
"I think the team that scores touchdowns in the red zone wins the game," Brown concluded.
 
Here is today's Countdown to Kickoff:
 
10 – West Virginia remains the only Big 12 schools with three receivers ranked among the top TEN in receptions per game – Bryce Ford-Wheaton (third, 6.4), Kaden Prather (fifth, 6.0) and Sam James (eighth, 5.2).
 
9 – A Mountaineer receiver has caught multiple touchdowns NINE times during the Neal Brown era, including twice this season.
 
8 – Outside linebacker Jasir Cox ranks EIGHTH nationally with two fumble recoveries, one he returned for a touchdown in the Baylor win.
 
7 – WVU is hunting for its SEVENTH all-time victory in a series with Iowa State that began in 2012 when West Virginia joined the Big 12. WVU has won three times in Ames in 2012, 2014 and 2016.
 
6 – The Mountaineers rank SIXTH nationally in punt return defense allowing opponents just 0.75 yards per return.
 
5 – West Virginia is averaging 27.4 points in its FIVE prior meetings at Iowa State.
 
4 – Over the last FOUR seasons, West Virginia has punted the ball 192 times with its opponents only returning 48 of them.
 
3 – Quarterback JT Daniels ranks THIRD in the Big 12 this week averaging 274.0 yards per game through the air.
 
2 – West Virginia ranks SECOND in the Big 12 and 20^th nationally in time of possession averaging 32:27 per game.
 
1 – Senior defensive tackle Dante Stills now ranks FIRST in school history in career tackles for loss with 48.5 entering today's game.
 
Today's game will kick off at 3:30 p.m. and will be televised on Big 12 Now (Mark Neely, Chad Brown, and Shane Sparks).
 
Mountaineer Sports Network coverage begins with the GoMart Mountaineer Tailgate Show at 12:30 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the popular apps WVU Gameday and the Varsity Network.
 
Regular network coverage with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning will get underway at 2:30 p.m.