Good Cop: Owen Slinde
The Cyclones look to get back to an even record as they open up Big 12 play at home against the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
The Cyclones are a young team looking at yet another older team in college football. While they have seen growth, fans want a win.
We have not seen a consistent look from Iowa State’s offense yet, but there has been some growth for Rocco Becht. I think that is a huge positive being that the last two games were tough losses, yet he still played well going into Big-12 play. I still think the Cyclones can open the playbook up on offense in both the pass and run game.
Becht has missed a few deep shots, but the ones he’s connected with have looked great. He connected with Jayden Higgins for another touchdown, as the Becht-Higgins connection has looked good all year.
Defense yet again looked good in a very low-scoring match as it has all season. While Oklahoma State has not had consistency in the quarterback and running back room, it’ll be interesting to see how fluid the Cowboys are with a tough Cyclone defense as typically their scheme is good.
Look for the Cyclones who were out last week to be back and ready to go on Saturday. Despite the back-to-back losses, the guys in the locker room are fired up, ready to get back out there to start the Big 12 season off strong.
I think the defense will get some takeaways to set up the offense in good positions, and I see the Cyclones coming out on top in a close battle.
Score Prediction: Iowa State 24, Oklahoma State 21
Bad Cop: Cayden Storm
The Cyclones take on the Cowboys this Saturday and one thing is clear, the winner will have their confidence restored and feel good going into Big 12 play, and the loser will be in full-on panic mode as their season starts to look hopeless.
Iowa State had one of its most embarrassing performances of the Matt Campbell era last Saturday in the 10-7 loss to Ohio, in which the Cyclones recorded only 38 rushing yards, 31 of those coming from quarterback Rocco Becht.
I thought Becht played a very solid game despite the two interceptions. The lack of a running game was the clear problem for the Cyclones offense.
The Iowa State offensive line was not able to get any push up-front against Ohio’s defensive line, which is a huge problem. Granted, Ohio has a very strong defense for the G5 level, but there are no more G5 opponents left on the schedule.
Every defense the Cyclones will face for the rest of the season is, on paper, more talented than what Ohio had to offer. Iowa State could only manage to tally seven points and 271 total yards against the Ohio defense, which makes me very concerned about the odds of seeing offensive improvement.
Luckily for the Cyclones, they might not have even had the most disappointing week three in this week’s matchup.
The Cowboys were dominated by South Alabama at home 33-7, and their offense looked just as hopeless as the Cyclones.
Oklahoma State has played three different quarterbacks this season and none of them have shown signs of being high-level players as none of them completed more than 50% of their passes against South Alabama.
I think it’s safe to say that Iowa State’s defense shouldn’t have much trouble containing this trio of quarterbacks, and I expect the defense will once again carry the offense into another close game in the fourth quarter.
I would love to say that the offense will take a step forward, but I simply don’t forsee it, at least not in this game. Until I see any signs of improvement from the offense I don’t think I can count on them to pull out games in the Big 12, even at home.
I think the defense does what they can, but once again it isn’t quite enough.
