Brett Twelmeyer, Sports Editor (2-1)
No. 18 Iowa State 31, Houston 10
Undefeated kind of has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? That’s exactly what No. 18 Iowa State is after a successful bout in non-conference play.
But now the real fun begins.
This is not only the first Big 12 game of the season, but the first time Iowa State will ever face Houston in football. There are a lot more milestones that this game offers as well.
Maybe you didn’t hear, but Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell has the opportunity to pass Dan McCarney as the all-time winningest coach in Cyclone football history. Campbell would grab his 57th win and do just that with a win over the Cougars.
Senior wide receiver Jayden Higgins will look to set the Iowa State record for consecutive games with a touchdown pass. Currently, Higgins has a touchdown in the past five games and would set the record at six with a touchdown this Saturday.
Not only that, but a 4-0 start would be the Cyclones’ best since 2000 when McCarney was head coach.
To get there, however, Houston cannot be overlooked. This is a team that is in its second year in the Big 12, and its first year in a rebuild.
Former Tulane head coach Willie Fritz took over the Cougar football program this season, and though they are not expected to do big things, Houston did almost upset Oklahoma on the road.
Road games are tough anywhere, and Big 12 teams are 2-5 in conference games so far.
Regardless, the Cyclones should rise to the occasion and get Campbell his 57th win. I have Iowa State taking care of business and beating Houston.
Pavle Markovic, Assistant Sports Editor (2-1)
No. 18 Iowa State 30, Houston 13
It was definitely satisfying to watch now-No. 18 Iowa State demolish a team like Arkansas State, at home, to end off the non-conference slate. Now, I did not expect the Cyclones to score over 50 points in that game, but it’s always nice to see nonetheless.
Perhaps the biggest takeaway that came from this dominating win was that the rushing game looks to have finally found its footing. Despite not being led by sophomore Abu Sama III, Iowa State’s offense finally found a way to utilize this rushing attack after struggling to do so in the first two games of the season.
Running backs like sophomore Carson Hansen and freshman Dylan Lee and Aiden Flora found the endzone for their first collegiate touchdowns, with Hansen scoring two against the Red Wolves. Senior Jaylon Jackson led the team in carries with 10 which resulted in 53 yards, as he continues to showcase his abilities during his third stint in his collegiate career.
But now, we finally have made it to the point of the season where things start to get interesting. Big 12 conference play officially begins for Iowa State, when they travel to Houston to take on the 1-3 Cougars.
For Houston, they have struggled to find ways to score points when needed the most, as they have only scored a combined 26 points through four games played. Most recently, the Cougars started their conference season on the wrong side as they got shutout 34-0 to Cincinnati.
Needless to say, this team shouldn’t pose much of a problem against a confident Cyclones team. However, this is still a conference matchup. This game should not be taken lightly in the slightest because of the track record of how hard it is to win on the road in this conference.
With that being said, I still have Iowa State taking down Houston on Saturday, but not by as big of a margin as they did against Arkansas State.
Cayden Storm, Sports Reporter (3-0)
No. 18 Iowa State 33, Houston 6
Another game week has come and gone, and just like the Cyclones, I am also still undefeated on the season.
It was nice not having to sweat out this game. We’ve gotten used to the Cyclones playing down to the competition in those sorts of games, but not this team. Campbell was adding on to the score with just minutes remaining in that blowout and I loved every single second of it.
I’m going to give away my pick kind of early here, but I think that Campbell might have the chance to do the same thing in this game in route to his historic 57th win, because this game is not going to be close.
If I wanted to, I could probably just point to Houston’s week four 34-0 loss to Cincinnati and that would be my entire rationale, but disaster games happen from time to time, so I’m willing to cut Houston a tiny bit of slack.
What I think makes this game a blowout is a lot of what made the Cyclones win against Arkansas State a blowout. I just don’t think that Houston quarterback Donovan Smith is going to be able to get anything going against the Cyclones secondary. I think the Cyclones could be in line for a couple more interceptions in this game as Smith has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns so far this season.
The Houston defense isn’t bad though, so I’m not quite expecting 52 points like we saw last week, but I think that Becht and his receivers, paired with a revived running game will do more than enough to make this a comfortable win.
If the Cyclones win the turnover battle, like I expect them to, there is no way that Houston has a chance in this game. I like the Cyclones in this one, by a lot.
