After Saturday's disappointing 31-17 loss to Utah, Iowa State (2-2, 0-1 Big 12) must move forward as it gets ready to take on West Virginia (3-1, 0-1) at Jack Trice Stadium this weekend.

We'll have plenty of things to preview this week, but before we get to this important game, the Cyclones need to make adjustments, and questions need to be answered. 

Here are three questions I still have about Iowa State football after Saturday's loss: 

Iowa State’s defense had a tough first half against Utah, yielding 272 yards and 24 points. But after halftime, they turned things around. The Cyclones forced three punts and kept Utah from scoring in the third quarter, making key stops on third and fourth downs along the way.

It didn't end up with a winning result, but Iowa State's defense cracking down on the Utes did allow its offense several chances to tie the game in the fourth quarter, so the improvement has to be a positive sign for Jimmy Rogers' group. 

This Iowa State defense has struggled to generate sacks all season, with only seven total sacks through the first four games (the majority of them were from the first game of the season against Southeast Missouri State). 

This defensive line has shown no ability to get to the quarterback, and the struggle for this defensive line to generate sacks continued after Utah's offensive line controlled them all game on Saturday. The Cyclones failed to generate a single sack or a quarterback hit against Utah's dual-threat quarterback Devon Dampier, who torched Iowa State for 

The second half of the game against Utah was a slight improvement, as the Cyclones managed to get Dampier off his spots in multiple situations, but no consistency was shown in that game. If Iowa State wants to make any impact in the Big 12 this season, they must find a way to get to and sack the quarterback.

Iowa State's offense has performed well on the ground early in the season, averaging 203.7 rushing yards per game and 5.5 yards per carry. The Cyclones are led by running back Aiden Flora, who has posted great numbers to start this season - averaging 109 yards per game and 8.6 yards per carry.

But in last week's game against Utah, the Cyclones struggled with their rushing attack, managing only 111 rushing yards in that game with an average of 3.7 yards per carry and scoring just one rushing touchdown. Flora was held to just 54 yards on the ground and under five yards per carry.

A big issue in this struggle was the Cyclone offensive line, as they were not able to get push against the Utah defensive front, leading to no holes being opened for the backs. Now, a question is raised: was the poor showing against Utah a one-off or a sign of wider problems that could continue during the season?

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