Gridiron Staff Picks: Ohio

Andrew Harrington, Hailey Dohnal, Christian Royston, and Biong Biong|September 16, 2022

Hunter Dekkers takes the field during 10-7 win over Iowa on Sept. 10.

Andrew Harrington, sports editor (1-1)

Iowa State 38, Ohio 13

Iowa State both impressed and surprised me last week with the way it was able to move the ball down the field on an elite Iowa defense.

Obviously, only putting up 10 points seems like a bad day of offense, but the cause of this was simply carelessness with the ball. The Cyclones turned the ball over far too many times to put up a lot of points.

Now that the Cyclones are over the hump of Iowa, the Cyclones need to assert their dominance against an inferior team such as that of Ohio.

I expect the Cyclones to push the pace early on offense, with Dekkers driving the team downfield and putting up points.

Hailey Dohnal, assistant sports editor (2-0)

Iowa State 31, Ohio 10

It’s been an emotional past two games for Iowa State football. We saw the Cyclones blow SEMO out of the park but just barely won against Iowa. There are both great things and not-so-great things that Iowa State football has shown so far and I think the third of the season will show how consistent they are able to be.

Ohio doesn’t come from a power five conference so many may think this will be another blowout game. However, not only is it hard to win multiple games in a row, I feel it can go either way for the Cyclones. They may come off strong from the excitement against winning CyHawk or may come out too strong and make silly mistakes.

However, I believe that Iowa State will come out with a 3-0 record on Saturday. I feel that the Dekkers to Hutchinson connection will be back once again with Jirehl Brock rushing down the field for a hundred yards.

As for the Ohio Bobcats, I feel they will still be able to put a few points on the board. A touchdown and a field goal is what I think the Bobcats will end up with at the end of the day. It’ll be exciting to see just how confident and consistent the Iowa State Cyclones can be. I think this game will be a good indicator of how the rest of the season may go.

Christian Royston, sports reporter (1-1)

Iowa State 35, Ohio 17

Iowa State is hot right now, and coming off a huge win in Iowa City, there’s a lot on the table.

Ohio should be a relatively easy team to take down on paper, especially since the Cyclones will be back at home in Ames. Iowa State will need a win to put them in a good spot going into Big 12 play, and not just a win, but a dominating win.

The Iowa game highlighted many glaring issues that Iowa State needs to fix if they want to compete in a tough Big 12 Conference. The offense has the capability to go off at any given time, as seen from the 99-yard touchdown drive, but it also has the capability to stagnate and not close out important drives, as seen from the rest of the Iowa game.

This boom or bust nature adds plenty of chances for the opposing team to come out with a win, especially when going up against top teams in the conference. However, Iowa State showed that with Dekkers calling the shots on the field, moving the ball isn’t an issue.

I expect Iowa State to come out guns firing and pick apart the Ohio defense, which seems to be a lacking point of the team, giving up over 38 points in each of the first two weeks. I believe Ohio will keep the game relatively close, as SEMO and the struggling Iowa offense were able to drive well against the Iowa State defense.

Ohio has the chance to find the end zone on multiple occasions, especially with how hot Kurtis Rourke has been playing. In the end, Iowa State will be able to hold off Ohio in dominant fashion and start the season 3-0 for the first time since 2012.