Iowa State Seeking Firsts

Iowa State (8-3) will be seeking its first bowl victory and first nine-win season since 1906 tonight when the Cyclones take on Pittsburgh (7-4) in the Insight.com Bowl at Phoenix.

The game, which had been played in Tucson, moves to Bank One Ballpark.

The Panthers are led by Antonio Bryant, the Biletnikoff Award winner as the nation’s best wide receiver. Pittsburgh’s defense, which gave up 99.7 yards a game, will have to contain Iowa State’s Ennis Haywood, who led the Big 12 with 123.7 yards a game.

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In today’s other bowl games: Freshman quarterback Philip Rivers, who has thrown for 3,054 yards and 25 touchdowns, leads North Carolina State (7-4) into the Micronpc.com Bowl against Minnesota (6-5) at Miami. The Gophers will be without two key secondary players, cornerback Willie Middlebrooks (broken ankle) and free safety Delvin Jones (suspension). . . . West Virginia Coach Don Nehlen will lead the charge one final time as the Mountaineers (6-5) face Mississippi (7-4) in the Music City Bowl at Nashville. Nehlen, who has coached at West Virginia for 21 seasons, will retire after the game. . . . Two high-scoring offenses will square in the Humanitarian Bowl at Boise, Idaho. Boise State (9-2) leads the nation by scoring 44.9 points a game. Texas El Paso (8-3) averages 32.3 points.