No. 16 Iowa State
Jaylin Noel, Wide receiver
Noel joined teammate Jayden Higgins in the 1,000-yard club in Iowa State’s big win over Kansas State last week but has been a little quiet down the stretch of this season.
After averaging 99 receiving yards per game over the first nine weeks, along with five touchdowns, Noel’s production has dropped dramatically.
Over the last three games, Noel is averaging just 40 yards per game and has just one receiving touchdown.
It hasn’t mattered much, as Iowa State has won all three of those games, but it just feels as though Noel is due for a big performance.
Noel has played some of his best games when the team needed him most, including going for 133 yards and a touchdown on five receptions in a 20-19 come-from-behind win over Iowa, as well as a 153-yard performance in a 38-35 comeback win over UCF.
This game projects to be a tight one, just like the above-mentioned regular season thrillers. In these tight games, it always seems like Noel is coming up with a big performance or at least one massive play.
Expect to hear his name in crunch time.
Carson Hansen and Abu Sama III, Running backs
To start the season, it looked like the Cyclone running back room was composed of three players who would split the carries fairly evenly with Hansen, Sama and Jaylon Jackson.
As of late, it’s been Hansen and Sama who have established themselves as Iowa State’s top two running backs.
Hansen leads the Cyclones in rushing yards with 618 on 4.9 yards per carry and in rushing touchdowns with 11. Sama is right behind Hansen with 547 rushing yards on 4.8 yards per carry but has only found the endzone twice on the ground.
The running back duo played a big role in last week’s win over Kansas State.
With Becht and the passing game struggling in the cold weather, Hansen and Sama combined for 139 rushing yards on 28 carries. Sama led the way with 81 yards, while Hansen was second on the team with 58.
Establishing a rushing attack will be important in order to take some pressure off of Becht and the receivers, but it will be a tough task as the Sun Devils rank second in the conference in rushing defense, allowing just 116.8 yards per game.
Entire linebacker room
It’s well known now that the Iowa State linebacker room has been decimated by injuries this season, but it’s gotten healthier in the last few weeks.
Despite continuing to miss standout linebacker Caleb Bacon, starters Jack Sadowsky V and Will McLaughlin have been back in the starting lineup after battling injuries throughout the season.
Due in large part to all the injuries, the Cyclones have struggled mightily against the run this season. Iowa State ranks 14th in the Big 12 in rushing defense, allowing 173.7 yards per game on the ground.
Though the Cyclones did have one of their better performances against the run in last week’s game against Kansas State. Iowa State held Kansas State’s standout running back DJ Giddens to just 72 yards on 14 carries, with half of those coming on a single run.
With a matchup against star running back Cam Skattebo on the horizon, the Cyclone linebacking core will have their work cut out for them. They’ll need to put together a much stronger showing than what they have done so far this season.
No. 15 Arizona State
Cam Skattebo, Running back
As previously mentioned, it’s no secret at this point in the season that the Iowa State defense struggles against the run.
The Cyclones rank third to last in the Big 12 in rushing defense, allowing 173.7 yards per game on the ground, and star running backs have shined against Iowa State this season.
Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson ran for 187 yards, UCF’s RJ Harvey ran for 196 yards, Texas Tech’s Tahj Brooks ran for 122 yards and Kansas’ Devin Neal ran for 166 yards.
Despite that list of names, Skattebo might be the best running back the Cyclones will have faced this season.
Skattebo is the driving force behind the Arizona State offense. The senior is third in the Big 12 in rushing yards with 1,398 and tied for second in rushing touchdowns with 17.
Skattebo does more than just run the ball. He is also second on the team in receiving yards with 468, as well as two receiving touchdowns. Due to an injury to the Sun Devils’ top receiver Jordyn Tyson, Skattebo will be the leading receiver on the field for the Sun Devils on Saturday.
If the Iowa State defense wants to find success on Saturday, stopping Skattebo will have to be its top priority.
Sam Leavitt, Quarterback
Leavitt has had about as successful of a freshman season as he could’ve asked for.
On the season, Leavitt has thrown for 2,444 yards, 21 touchdowns and five interceptions, while completing 62.3% of his passes. In the running game, Leavitt is second on the Sun Devils in rushing with 350 yards on 90 attempts along with four touchdowns.
Unfortunately for Leavitt, his favorite target will not be available on Saturday, as it was announced that Arizona State’s star receiver Tyson will be inactive for the Big 12 Championship game.
Tyson accounted for 45% of Leavitt’s passing yards, hauling in a total of 1,101 yards on the season. After Tyson, there is a large drop-off in production from the Sun Devil wide receiver room. Xavier Guillory is the next most productive receiver, but he has just 291 receiving yards on the season.
Leavitt will have his work cut out for him, as Iowa State boasts the top passing defense in the Big 12, certainly not the ideal spot to lose his most reliable target.
Parker Lewis, Kicker
Despite all the success that Arizona State has had this season, there is one area of the game where it has struggled tremendously: Kicking.
The Sun Devils have tried three different kickers this season and none have had much success.
As a team, the Sun Devils are 8-for-16 on field goals this season and are just 4-for-10 on field goals of 30 yards and longer.
Lewis took over the job after former kicker Ian Hershey went 0-for-2 on field goals in the Sun Devils’ 24-14 loss to Cincinnati on Oct. 19, which was the last time they lost a game.
Lewis hasn’t had to do too much, but he hasn’t been great in his limited sample size. The senior is 24-for-24 on extra points, but just 1-for-3 on field goals this season, including a miss from inside 30 yards. The one kick Lewis has made was from 47 yards.
The Sun Devils haven’t been feeling the effects of it lately, but troubles in the kicking game can prove costly in what projects to be a close game.
