By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – A very strong case could be made for Brock Purdy being the best quarterback in the history of the Iowa State football program.

Seneca Wallace was more explosive than Purdy as a dual-threat quarterback for the Cyclones in 2001 and 2002. Wallace was also undefeated in his two games against Iowa, and he always seemed to be at his best against Hawkeyes.

But as far as body of work goes, Purdy is in class by himself.

Purdy ended his career at Iowa State in 2021 as a three-time All-Big 12 quarterback, holding 32 school records including career pass attempts, completions, percentage, yards, and both passing (81) and total (100) touchdowns. His 14 games with 300-plus passing yards was nearly triple the previous school record of five by Bret Meyer.

Iowa State also had a winning season in each of Purdy’s four seasons in the program, marking the first time the school’s football program had four consecutive winning seasons since the 1923 to 1927 seasons.

Unlike Wallace, however, Purdy struggled in his two games against Iowa, especially in the second game as a senior in 2021.

Purdy, who now starts for the San Francisco 49ers, was pulled from Iowa State’s 27-17 loss to Iowa early in the fourth quarter after throwing three interceptions in Ames.

In 2019, Iowa State, trailing 18-17 in the closing minutes, drove to the Iowa 34 before a false start, a slip by Purdy and an incompletion brought up fourth-and-13.

The Cyclones went for it, and and after offsetting penalties led to a do-over, Purdy overthrew his receiver in the end zone with 2:00 minutes left, turning the ball over on downs.

Purdy isn’t the only former Cyclone star that has recently self-destructed against Iowa.

Former All-America running back Breece Hall was stripped of the ball near his own goal line in the 2021 game in Ames.

Former Iowa All-America linebacker Jack Campbell scooped the bouncing ball and took a couple steps into the end zone, expanding Iowa’s lead to 21-10 with just over five minutes left in the third quarter.

Iowa would go on to win 27-17 in Ames.

Two of the best players in Cyclone history both had costly turnovers in key moments against Iowa, and that has been an ongoing problem for Iowa State in the series, at least for the past decade in which Iowa is plus-nine in turnover margin.

If this game truly is Iowa State’s Super Bowl, which Iowa fans have said for decades, than the Iowa State players have a weird and destructive way of showing it.

Iowa State sophomore quarterback Rocco Becht has made enormous strides since throwing a pick six in last season’s 20-13 loss to Iowa in Ames.

It was only Becht’s second career start, and he played like it for much of the game.

If Becht were to struggle in Saturday’s game at Kinnick Stadium, or commit a costly turnover, or two, the Cyclones will probably lose to Iowa for the eighth time in the last nine games.

“We’re just going to try and make it as difficult as we possible can, put pressure on him and hit him as many times as we possibly can,” Iowa All-America linebacker Jay Higgins said of Becht.

Turnovers impact the outcome of football games perhaps more than anything else, and Iowa State has made it much easier for Iowa to keep dominating the series by committing way too many turnovers.

The Cyclone will also be in trouble if they fall behind by at least eight points, considering that Iowa has a 72-2 record since 2015 when leading by eight points at any point in a game.

Iowa’s vaunted defense has has allowed 14 or fewer points in 20 of the last 28 games and it has held 10 teams without a touchdown since the start of the 2022 season.

Phil Parker’s defense will be matched on Saturday against an Iowa State offense that struggled on the ground against North Dakota, gaining just 86 yards on 22 carries, but that compensated by making big plays.

Iowa State receivers Jaylin Noel and Jayden Higgins will be among the best receiver tandems that Iowa will face this season.

They have combined for 4,005 career receiving yards and 31 touchdowns.

Combine them with Becht at quarterback, Abu Sama at running back and Ben Brahmer at tight end and the Iowa defense could have its hands full.

“Obviously, defensively we know how good their offense can be,” Higgins said. “The receivers they have, a good running back, a good  quarterback, a good offensive line, so we’re preparing to be the best.”

Iowa State’s strength on offense is making big plays, while Iowa’s strength on defense is limiting big plays.

Those two strengths will collide head on Saturday, and whichever unit does a better job of using its strength will likely prevail, unless, of course, turnovers impact the game.

The much-maligned Iowa offense showed a pulse against Illinois State in the second half last Saturday when it scored touchdowns on five of six possessions.

Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara passed for 251 yards and three touchdowns in the 40-0 victory, and he looked as healthy as he ever has as  a Hawkeye.

The level of competition will obviously improve significantly against Iowa State, although, the Cyclone defense already has been decimated by injuries with starting linebackers Caleb Bacon and Will McLaughlin both out for an extended time because of injuries.

Look for Iowa to try to exploit their absences by emphasizing the run early and often.

Iowa always wants to establish its running game, and that won’t change with Tim Lester as the new offensive coordinator.

Iowa can easily go four deep at running back without suffering much of a drop off, and that has to be a concern for Iowa State’s depleted defense, which allowed 174 rushing yards against North Dakota.

The best way to contain Iowa State’s big-play offense is to keep it off the field. And the best way for Iowa to accomplish that is to stay ahead of the chains on offense with a productive running game.

Both teams have avoided saying anything that would qualify as bulletin board material, and that speaks well about the culture in each program.

The Iowa players like to say publicly that facing Iowa State is just another game because that is what their taught to say.

But from a hype standpoint, this isn’t just another game.

“Any of those big games the media tries to sell, we’ve had our fair share,” Higgins said. “So, we just treat it as one of those.”

That is about as close as you’ll get to an Iowa player acknowledging that facing the Cyclones is a big game.

Saturday’s showdown will also be the last for Higgins in the series.

He hinted to the media on Tuesday that he might have some interesting things to say after the game.

“I want to keep the trophy in Iowa City and get to brag for the rest of my life because I won’t have to play them again,” Higgins said of the Cy-Hawk trophy that goes to the winner of this game. “I might be a little aggressive with the media after because I won’t have to back it up anymore.”

This annual showdown is all about handling the emotions and rising to the occasion, and a big part of that is avoiding making mistakes and committing turnovers.

Matt Campbell already has established himself as one of Iowa State’s best head coaches ever.

However, Campbell’s record is just 1-6 against Iowa, and turnovers is the biggest reason why his teams have struggled.

And until that changes, it’s hard to envision the Cyclones winning on Saturday.

Prediction: Iowa, 23, Iowa State 15