The Iowa State Daily’s Sam Stuve delivers the good news for Iowa State football fans as “Good Cop” and Jack Shover plays devil’s advocate as “Bad Cop.”

This week, Stuve and special guest Stephen McDaniel as “Bad Cop” will make their picks on Iowa State’s road trip to Baylor.

Good Cop

Iowa State got the ball rolling against Lousiana-Monroe last week and should be able to have another solid performance against the Baylor Bears. Last season’s game was intense and chippy, there’s no reason to not expect the same for this game. 

Baylor has played tremedously offensively in its first three games of the season, scoring 140 points combined. However, it should be noted that the Bears have only played the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (an FCS team) as well as the University of Texas San Antonio Roadrunners and the Rice Owls, both of which are Conference USA teams.

Against the now 0-4 Owls, the Bears offense did not play as well as one might expect, only scoring 21 points and only beating the Owls by eight. 

In last season’s matchup, Iowa State gave up a lot of yards to Baylor but only held the Bears to 14 points. I’m expecting this game to be very similar to last season’s matchup in Ames.

Baylor’s quarterback Charlie Brewer will play well enough to lead the Bears to score three times. However, it will not be enough to defeat the Cyclones.

Iowa State will be able to control the line of scrimmage offensively against Baylor, setting up what should be its best rushing performance of the season thus far.

The Bears will keep it a ten-point game until the fourth quarter, where an Iowa State touchdown will put a nail in the coffin.

Prediction: Iowa State 34, Baylor 17

Bad Cop

There’s no denying that Iowa State had a historic performance last week against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks. But it’s also important to note that ULM is arguably the weakest opponent that the Cyclones had to worry about this year.

Now Campbell and company have to strap in for Big 12 play and they’re starting things off against the Baylor Bears, in a matchup that’s been attracting heat from both sides since the conclusion of their game a year ago in Ames.

If you need a quick refresher, the game from last season saw star running back David Montgomery get pushed by a Baylor defensive back into a Gatorade cart out of bounds.

A few plays later, a brawl broke out between the Cyclone offense and Baylor defense, highlighted by the exchanging of fists between Montgomery and Baylor defensive end Greg Roberts. The fight led to ejections and suspensions on both ends.

It’s safe to say that both sides remember what happened last year and tensions are high. It should also be safe to assume that after suffering the loss, Baylor will be coming in more determined to get back at the Cyclones, especially since Baylor will be the ones hosting the Cyclones.

But determination isn’t the only thing the Cyclones have to worry about with this Baylor squad.

While the Cyclones had a great week last week, the first two weeks were a struggle. Baylor, on the other hand, have started the year off hot with a 3-0 record, highlighted by a 56-17 win over Stephen F. Austin and 63-14 over UTSA.

The Cyclones are going to have to prove that they can finish drives and take control of the game, like they did against ULM. If they don’t and give the kind of performance that they showed against Iowa and UNI, it’ll be a difficult one for the Cyclones and Baylor may just get their revenge.

Prediction: Iowa State 21, Baylor 24