Good cop/Bad cop: Drake edition

Spencer Suckow & Jack Shover
November 29, 2018

Good Cop

Jack Shover

Not having a chance is one thing, but Iowa State’s game vs Drake this weekend puts a whole new definition to the phrase.

Odds Shark has Iowa State favored to win by 42 points. In other words, there is no reason to take Drake to win or even beat the spread in this game.

The Cyclone football team may even outscore the Cyclone basketball team, who plays North Dakota State on Monday.

So far this season, Drake has a record of 7-3, but when you look at Drake’s schedule, you can see Drake hasn’t played a team which is even close to Iowa State’s talent level.

The best team the Bulldogs have played this year is Montana, who is currently 6-5. Montana won the game 48-16.

Talent-wise, Iowa State overmatches Drake at every position.

Iowa State had 17 players named to the All-Big 12 team such as Iowa State’s only First-Team All-Big 12 member and the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, Greg Eisworth.

Realistically, Iowa State’s first-teamers will pummel Drake in all three phases of the game: offense, defense and special teams. During their time on the field, Iowa State touchdowns will be scored and Drake turnovers will be forced.

It won’t be long into the game before Iowa State’s back-ups start taking significant snaps and add onto an Iowa State lead. If Drake scores, it won’t be until garbage time when the game is out of reach.

Iowa State will be taking the Bulldogs to the pound this Saturday.

Final

Iowa State – 69

Drake – 9

Bad Cop

Spencer Suckow

Not surprisingly, Iowa State received some criticism for its decision to schedule makeup game with Drake this Saturday.

From what I’ve seen, most of the complaints center around two things. One being that the game is essentially meaningless at this point of the season. Iowa State is already locked into a tie for third place in the Big 12 standings, and a win, which would put the Cyclones’ record at 8-4 for the season, would be purely cosmetic.

The louder complaint is that the Bulldogs are a non-scholarship team. Sure, they’re in the FCS like South Dakota State and Incarnate Word, but zero players on Drake’s roster are on an athletic scholarship.

Going up against an FBS, Power-five opponent in Iowa State, where the vast majority of players were nationally recruited, it’s clear that the talent disparity between the two teams will be vast. On paper, it looks like this game will be a heavy blowout at best, and result in the annexation of Drake at worst. As a result, the Cyclones are currently favored to win by 42.5 points.

With that in mind, I can’t realistically pick Drake to actually win the game.

*Stephen A. Smith voice* BUT!

I will say that I don’t think this game will reach that 42.5-point line. In fact, I think there’s a good chance Drake could come out with a little more punch than expected.

Drake really isn’t that much smaller than Iowa State on the offensive and defensive front (Only about 20 pounds lighter and roughly the same height, on average), and they’re going to come out motivated. Why wouldn’t they? This is easily the biggest game of their lives, and it’s against a school less than an hour away in the same state.

On top of that, Iowa State isn’t exactly known for blowing out opponents. Its largest margin of victory this year is 24 points against Kansas, and the team hasn’t really looked dominant at any point this season, save for perhaps the West Virginia game.

Not only that, but the team is coming off a highly emotional victory against a rival that it hasn’t beaten in 10 years. The team gave everything it had to erase a 17-point deficit, so who’s to say the Cyclones won’t come out of the gate with a bit of a hangover, against a team that they probably don’t take seriously?

In the end, I still think Iowa State will win the game by multiple scores. However, don’t be surprised if the above factors, plus a little bit of weather, all combine to make the game closer than expected.

Final:

Iowa State – 38

Drake – 13