Good Cop

Jack Shover

Coming off of a strong win against No. 25 Oklahoma State on the road, Iowa State is in perfect position to knock off No. 6 West Virginia.

First of all, don’t let West Virginia’s 5-0 record scare you. So far this season, West Virginia has beaten 2-3 Tennessee, 2-3 Youngstown State, 2-4 Kansas State and 2-4 Kansas, which is, frankly, still Kansas.

The only team with a winning record West Virginia has faced is 3-2 Texas Tech.

On offense, the Mountaineers are headed by potential Heisman candidate Will Grier at quarterback.

Grier is a stud who operates like a surgeon in the pocket and has the confidence and skill to make any throw on the field. The only knock on his game is his decision-making in the red zone.

Grier tries and often is able to squeeze the ball into tight throwing windows, which can lead to trouble in the red zone where defenders have a better chance to make plays on the ball.

Against Kansas last week, Grier threw three interceptions in the red zone while trying to force the ball to receivers.

On Saturday, the Iowa State defense can’t and doesn’t need to shut down the West Virginia offense, but the defense does need to acquire turnovers or force field goals when the Mountaineers get into the red zone. With the Cyclones on offense, the team needs to put up points.

Freshman quarterback Brock Purdy was able to unlock the team’s potential last week against Oklahoma State.

In his first game taking significant snaps against a ranked team on the road, Purdy’s poise and decision-making were incredible.

In the game last week, Purdy’s dual-threat ability took away the defense’s ability to just key in on the running back, which opened up running opportunities for himself and the Iowa State running backs.

After Saturday, Purdy is second on the team in rushing.

In addition, Purdy was able to stretch the defense by connecting with his receivers downfield numerous times, creating an offense which is far less predictable. With a thriving offense, Iowa State will score in bunches.

Prediction: Iowa State 38, West Virginia 30

Bad Cop

Spencer Suckow

I hate to rain on the parade (Actually, that’s a lie. It’s literally the only thing I do here and it’s incredibly fun), but let’s pump the brakes on Brock Purdy.

No doubt, Purdy was impressive last week. Like, really impressive. The true freshman totaled over 400 yards and scored a total of 5 touchdowns coming off the bench, earning several conference and national accolades along the way.

The fact he’s only 18 years old rightfully has Cyclone fans giddy about the future of the team. Therein lies the problem, however. Purdy is still just 18, meaning there will undoubtedly be plenty of mistakes to come. Looking at who Iowa State is facing, several of those mistakes may come this week.

West Virginia’s 3-3-5 defense has been known to cause problems for even seasoned quarterbacks. Last year, it was the Mountaineers who snapped Iowa State’s four-game winning streak, and West Virginia did so in part because they were able to force a rare turnover from Iowa State’s offense. 

Coach Matt Campbell has said multiple times that the margin for error for the Cyclones is remarkably small, implying that it’s due to talent deficiencies and a lack of explosion on offense. That rings even truer this week, as Iowa State goes up against one of the nation’s top offenses, a Blietnikoff finalist at wide receiver in David Sills and Heisman-caliber quarterback in Will Grier.

If Purdy and the offense commit any mistakes, the game can (and likely will) be over in a heartbeat. West Virginia can turn any game into a rout almost instantly with their offensive talent. Asking an 18-year-old true freshman to play mistake-free in any instance seems like playing with fire, but that’s exactly what Iowa State is doing.

It may be a different story if Kyle Kempt was playing, but Campbell said that the sixth-year senior is “doubtful” for Saturday. That means it’s Purdy’s show under the lights at Mid-American Energy Field.

Yeah, I don’t like the odds here.

Prediction: West Virginia 34, Iowa State 14