By David Carducci

Record-Courier staff writer

Revenge doesn't seem to be on the mind of Iowa State's players and coaches as they prepare for their rematch of last year's season-opening loss to Kent State.

Gene Chizik recognizes his team is in a very different position than it was last season when the Golden Flashes spoiled his debut as the Cyclones' head coach.

"Any time you start a new program and start from ground zero trying to implement a way of doing things, that is always tough," Chizik said. "At the end of the day, it is a journey that depending on where you are, it can take longer than others."

Chizik's team will be one year and one week further along in its journey on Saturday than it was when Kent State beat Iowa State 23-14 in Ames. At that time, the Cyclones' coaching staff was still trying to get to know its players. Those players were still trying to understand scheme changes and what their coaches expected of them.

"We played Iowa State at the best time you could have possibly played them last year," Kent State coach Doug Martin admitted. "It was the coaching staff's first game together and their first game with that team. At that point, the players don't understand what the coaches want and the mentality they want.

"But I kept up with them as the season went on, and I talked to coach Chizik a couple of times. He is a real impressive guy."

Martin noticed significant improvement in Iowa State throughout its 3-9 season. When he turned on the game film on Monday of Iowa State's season-opening 44-17 win over South Dakota State, it was clear the Cyclones had taken another step in their development.

"The thing I noticed right when we turned on the game film from last week is how fast they are playing, particularly on defense," said Martin. "You can tell they understand him a lot better. It's the same players, basically, but they are in a lot better shape and a lot stronger. You can tell he is starting to put his imprint on those guys."

In last Thursday night's win over South Dakota State, the Cyclones intercepted five passes -- the most by an Iowa State team since 2001.

Chizik insists his team is more intent on building on the good and correcting the bad from last week's win than on fueling any notion of seeking revenge against Kent State.

"Whether Kent State came in and beat us last year or not, this is a new year," said Chizik. "We don't want to try to look back on all of those things. That's what our challenge is this week. Let's stay focused on the things we were not good at on Thursday night, and we had a plethora of those things.

"Hopefully our football team is of the mindset of getting better, not of 'Kent State came in here and beat us last year.' That is not the reason we should be focused."

Iowa State can, however, learn from last year's meeting with Kent State -- a game in which Golden Flashes players assume they were overlooked by a Big 12 opponent.

Prior to the win in Ames, Kent State had not beaten a school from a BCS conference since a 1987 trip to Kansas.

"I guarantee Iowa State overlooked us last year because we were Kent State," said quarterback Julian Edelman. "They are obviously going to turn up the heat and prepare for us a little more. We are going to have to expect to go out there and have to battle with those guys."