No. 14 Cyclones travel to face Grier, West Virginia

No. 14 Iowa State (6-2, 4-1 Big 12, CFP No. 15) at West Virginia (5-3, 3-2), Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

Line: West Virginia by 2.5

Series record: West Virginia leads 4-1.

WHAT'S AT STAKE

Iowa State, in a four-way tie for first place after beating previously undefeated TCU last week, has a surprising front-row seat in the Big 12 championship race entering the final month of the season. West Virginia will look to put a dent in the Cyclones' chances for one of two spots in the conference championship game.

KEY MATCHUP

Iowa State's pass defense against West Virginia QB Will Grier. The Cyclones limited Texas Tech's Nic Shimonek to 207 yards two weeks ago and TCU's Kenny Hill to 135 yards last week. Grier is tied with Missouri's Drew Lock for the national lead with 26 passing TDs but threw four interceptions in a 50-39 home loss to Oklahoma State on Saturday.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Iowa State: RB David Montgomery. The sophomore has a way of making opponents miss. He leads the Big 12 with eight rushing TDs and is the second-leading rusher with 716 yards behind Oklahoma State's Justice Hill.

West Virginia: LB David Long. The sophomore had 18 tackles, including seven for losses, against Oklahoma State. He missed the first four games of the season after sustaining a knee injury during summer conditioning.

FACTS & FIGURES

Iowa State's defense has allowed just 61 points in five league games. TCU got its only points against the Cyclones last week on a kickoff return. ... West Virginia has averaged just 75 rushing yards over its last three games. ... Iowa State is 4-1 in Big 12 play for the first time in school history and, dating to last season, has won four straight on the road for the first time since 1970-71. ... Kyle Kempt's four league wins are the most by a Cyclones quarterback since 2010. ... West Virginia recovered three Oklahoma State fumbles last week. Iowa State and SMU are the only FBS schools that have not lost a fumble this season.

___

More AP college football coverage: http://collegefootball.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_Top25