Iowa State is coming off another Big 12 road win, extending its winning streak to three before an important matchup at home against Kansas.
There are a lot of good areas of improvement that the Cyclones showed in their 30-18 win over Baylor, but there are still issues across the board. With time running out to make a splash in the Big 12, here is what to learn from the win against Baylor:
Run game makes strides
Iowa State’s run game has gotten consistently better as the season rolls on. Saturday was no different.
The thing that stood out about the run game was not the individual success of the running backs. It was the variety of success that was surprising.
Each running back put together big plays at times. There were three running backs with runs of 19 yards or more.
Eli Sanders was the big winner of the day as he neared 100 yards on the ground. Sanders finished with 90 yards while averaging over six yards per carry. Combined with his 11-yard catch, Sanders ended with over 100 all-purpose yards.
Over the last few weeks, since he has come back from injury, Sanders has proven himself as the clear-cut leader of the group.
Sanders’ biggest rush came later in the game when he ripped off a 27-yard rush, which was the second-longest rush of the day. The longest came from Cartevious Norton, who broke out a 49-yard run to the end zone to pick up his first touchdown of the season.
Norton’s day did not end there, as he punched in a short rush near the goal line later in the game to get his second touchdown of the day. Although Norton finished with 58 yards on 10 carries, most of those yards came from his big rush.
The last running back who found success on the ground and even broke out for a 19-yard rush was Abu Sama. After not playing against Cincinnati, it was a good sign for the running back room to get him back at full steam.
Becht underperforms
Rocco Becht has been the rock of the team through Big 12 play, as he consistently navigates the Cyclones down the field and proves that he can perform at an elite level.
After weeks of seeing Becht have monstrous games, it was a step back to see his performance against Baylor. It was by no means a bad performance from Becht, but it was lackluster, to say the least.
Becht finished the day with 238 yards on 19-for-31 passing. He also passed for one touchdown and one interception while maintaining a 62.8 quarterback rating throughout.
On paper, it was not a bad game for Becht, but there were a handful of missed opportunities from him that stood out.
Although Iowa State won by two scores and put up 30 on the Bears, the game could have gotten even more out of hand. Becht missed Jaydin Higgins on a couple of deep throws and even threw a low ball to Jaylin Noel just outside the end zone.
If Becht was more dialed in and connected on a handful of throws, his stat line could have looked much closer to the Oklahoma State game. Instead, the running game had to make up for lost chances.
Becht’s one interception was also an example of how off he was against Baylor. He was looking for Noel for an easy pickup but misfired and led the ball a little too far into the arms of a diving Baylor defender.
Overall, Becht looked slightly off but did enough for the Cyclones to stop a Baylor comeback from forming.
Brahmer season loading
Benjamin Brahmer has quietly had a solid season, especially for a true freshman.
Becht has found Brahmer from time to time throughout the season for big plays. Brahmer has 236 yards on the season, the third most behind just Higgins and Noel. Brahmer is also the only tight end with over 100 yards and leads the tight end room with two touchdowns.
Brahmer opened the season with a 36-yard touchdown catch and most recently found the end zone against Cincinnati. Brahmer almost had a one-handed touchdown catch early in the Cincinnati game but made up for it later.
Brahmer had another breakout game against Baylor, nearly leading the team in yards. He ended the day with 69 yards on three catches, which trailed Noel by just seven yards on five less catches.
Brahmer’s most exciting play came on a 48-yard catch-and-run, which nearly secured the Cyclones another touchdown. Brahmer has become a big-play machine and has shown that his size, combined with his wide-receiver talents, make him a dangerous offensive threat.
Defensive rollercoaster
The defense had good and bad moments, which seems to be the norm at this point in the season.
Although the defense played an airtight game overall, there were times when they slipped, and a Baylor comeback looked possible. Later in the game, as the fourth quarter rolled around, Baylor started driving the ball with ease.
Baylor even had a chance late to cut the game to one score, although the Cyclones clutched up on two-point conversions and fourth-down attempts over and over to keep the Bears at bay. The Cyclones have embodied a bend-don’t-break mentality throughout the season, which was on display early against Baylor.
The first three drives for the Cyclone defense resulted in three turnovers in different ways. The Cyclones stuffed a fourth-down attempt, forced a fumble and picked off Blake Shapen.
The turnovers are a good sign for Iowa State’s defense, especially considering its Big 12-leading interception total so far this season, but the need for turnovers is worrying. Relying on turnovers to stop big drives could come back to bite them if they cannot get turnovers later in the season.
Big plays are still happening constantly, which is uncharacteristic for the lockdown defense Iowa State boasts. Going forward, Iowa State still has things to clean up, despite how elite its defense is.
Big 12 Championship becomes possible
Saturday proved to be a highly important day in the Big 12. Not only did Iowa State’s win keep it with only one loss in the Big 12, but Oklahoma lost to Kansas.
Oklahoma was the only unbeaten team in the Big 12 entering Saturday and held the sole lead over the conference. Now, with Oklahoma sporting a loss on the season, there are five teams in a tie for first place, including Iowa State.
As it sits now, if the Cyclones win out, they make the Big 12 Championship game. Saying that following the start of the season sounds absurd, especially considering the Cyclones lost to Ohio.
However, the Big 12 has proven itself to be an unpredictable conference, which could be in Iowa State’s favor. Iowa State has good opportunities coming up to make a push for the postseason.
The Cyclones do not have a cakewalk by any means, as they face three of the better teams in the Big 12. However, of those three teams, two are home matchups for Iowa State.
If the Cyclones can have strong showings against Kansas and Texas at home, there is no reason to think those games are unwinnable. Of course, there is no telling how the rest of the season will play out, but just having a chance at the Big 12 Championship game seems like more than the Cyclones could have asked for at the start of the season.
