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It is, in many ways, a game that has everything òòò½ÊÓƵ” the Big 12's leading rusher and a Heisman Trophy candidate in ISU running back Breece Hall vs. òòò½ÊÓƵU's stingy rush defense which has turned the word negative into a positive, at least defensively as it ranks in the nation by averaging seven tackles for lost yardage per game.

But Iowa State is not your everyday opponent. It is a team that has had òòò½ÊÓƵU's number the last three years, outscoring the Mountaineers, 110-34, including an embarrassing 42-6 whipping last season.

Iowa State is a veteran team, so much so that Coach Neal Brown jokingly offered this up this week during his Tuesday press conference:

"I was laughing the other day telling my staff, 'There are some guys on their defense playing longer than some of our coaches have been coaching.'"

But, as good as Iowa State is defensively, it is the offense that is the main concern of òòò½ÊÓƵU for they are unique in their approach to the game, playing the bully on the block by often utilizing two tight ends of great skill in Charlie Kolar and Chase Allen, but sometimes three of them.

The scheme is challenging and they make it work with Hall running the ball and the crafty quarterback Brock Purdy directing the show, especially good when òòò½ÊÓƵU's defense is on the other side of the line scrimmage. Tough, mobile and accurate, Purdy engineered ISU's three victories over òòò½ÊÓƵU while completing 47 of 78 passes for 730 yards and seven touchdowns.

Last year he was good on 20 of 23 throws.

"He's probably one of the most competitive quarterbacks I've seen. You know you have to stop Hall, but what Purdy does and how he moves around in the intermediate passing game brings a whole other element to the game," defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley said.

"You've got to find a way to be good against both."

That mix, with Breece Hall, offers a full menu of items for Coach Matt Campbell to pick from, knowing it all begins with Hall and the running game.

"He's patient," òòò½ÊÓƵU defensive tackle Dante Stills said. "He's downhill, he's strong and tough; he's athletic, and he knows how to make plays, and we have to limit those."

"Breece Hall, he's real patient. He holds, holds and when he accelerates through a seam or a gap he has, he's as good as anybody. He does that fast and breaks tackles, keeps his shoulders square to get downhill," Lesley said.

"Normally a guy that's good at that is a power guy, but Breece is good in space, too. If you hang on blocks, he makes it really hard. They stay on their blocks and when he finds a crease he accelerates through as good as I've seen."

It is the running game that is the No. 1 priority for òòò½ÊÓƵU to stop, as it is in all games. òòò½ÊÓƵked to list his approach to defense, òòò½ÊÓƵU coordinator Jordan Lesley offered this up:

a. Rush defense

b. Scoring defense

c. Turnover margin

Why stop the run first?

"You are always looking at the next down," Lesley began. "If I can play second and eight on defense, I kind of understand what your playbook is going to be from that point. A lot of teams have a first-down run tendency to try and get that drive or that series going.

"That's obviously not 100%. Playing the next down after a pass you're playing a chess match but there's a lot more things you can against the pass in coverage than you can do to stop the run.

The run is block recognition, block defeat, tackling. Everything is basic fundamentals of the game, which we work very hard on."

But Iowa State makes it tougher on you by having an All-American running back, a running threat at quarterback and extra blockers via the tight ends.

Then they really mess with your brain by what they do pre-snap.

"The motions and shifts change the picture they show you. That's unique. It's almost triple 'option-esque'," Lesley said.

"I think it's more unique what their tight ends are," Lesley said. "When you are 6-6 or 6-7 and weigh whatever, you don't really have to be very unique with what you do. You just have to be unique with where you put the ball so they create a huge challenge with just their body presence."

And just to make the challenge complete, Iowa State has first-class wide receiver in 6-foot-3, 210-pound Xavier Hutchinson. His size, with the tight ends, is a major challenge to òòò½ÊÓƵU D-backs who mostly are 5-10 or 5-11.

òòò½ÊÓƵU comes into the game an underdog but doing so off a win and knowing they played Oklahoma even until the last play of the game this year gives them something to latch onto as they scramble for bowl eligibility.