Good Cop: Henry Annen

The Iowa State Cyclones will start the main portion of Big 12 play against the undefeated Arizona Wildcats.

The Cyclones have already faced a few tests this year with matchups against Iowa and Kansas State, two strong programs from the Big 10 and the Big 12, respectively.

Last time out, the Cyclones defeated the Arkansas State Red Wolves 24-16. The Red Wolves had Jaylen Raynor at quarterback, who had offers to play at big football schools within the SEC. A close game was completely justified.

Redshirt sophomore kicker Kyle Konrardy was pulled from the game with some sort of leg injury. The potential strain has been a lingering injury, according to Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell.

Konrardy does have the Cyclones faithful on his side after two memorable kicks this season. A school record kick at 63 yards against South Dakota and the game-winner against Iowa.

After all, how many kickers have their own t-shirts? His merchandise is not just popular; it also supports a good cause, with part of the proceeds funding school lunches in the Dubuque school system, and his presence will be missed.

I could write about how dominant Arizona has been, but when you are playing teams like the Weber State Wildcats and the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors in non-conference play, it’s hard to mark those wins down as anything other than a cakewalk.

Arizona’s 12 touchdowns came against teams you have to pay to watch on ESPN+, and the team’s 7-for-11 kicking still can’t match Konrardy’s 7-for-9 on one leg. Arizona’s been scared to travel all season. Let us see how they handle a Jack Trice night game with a whiteout.

Score Prediction: No. 14 Iowa State 27, Arizona 13

Bad Cop: Zachary Petzold 

Time to play the almost weekly game of how much of my nail will be left after watching the Iowa State game?

The Cyclones once again won another nailbiter, 24-16, to improve to 4-0 as they moved into a bye week, and thank goodness for this bye week, with all the nailbiters that they’ve been having, there were barely any nails left for me to bite off.

In the four games played so far this season, three of them have been against FBS schools, while the one FCS game was a blowout. The other three FBS have all been one-possession affairs, with the Cyclones maxing out at 24 points so far this season. 

These teams that they’re barely beating don’t have good records. The FBS schools they’ve played have a combined record of 5-7, which isn’t that bad until you take away all of their wins on FCS teams and then they go down to 2-7. This team has been winning ugly against schools that can barely win against FBS teams.

Their wins might be ugly, but a win will always be a win, no matter how ugly it is, right? 

Yeah, but maybe this team can come out of the bye week and prove that they belong as the 14th-ranked team in the country, because their margins of victory have barely shown that at all.

Arizona is a team that’s hard to judge. The team is coming off a 4-8 campaign last year and has so far started the season at an improved 3-0, though their biggest test so far this season was Kansas State. This was a test that they passed, beating Kansas State with a wider margin of victory than when Iowa State beat them. 

Defense could be a major factor in this matchup. Arizona’s defense has allowed the sixth-lowest amount of points per game so far through three games. Iowa State isn’t far behind them, ranking 22nd, meaning that this could be another defensive showcase at Jack Trice.

On the offensive side of the ball, Iowa State has one thing that they haven’t quite proven this year. Can they make explosive plays? Both their longest passing play and their longest running play this year against an FBS opponent have been 44 yards, with a 44-yard pass to Xavier Townsend and a 44-yard run by Abu Sama III.

The Cyclones’ offense has been very methodical this year with its plays, but with another strong defense coming to Jack Trice, this methodical approach could cause another nail-biting finish that might not favor the Cyclones this time.

Iowa State needs to prove that it’s the real deal this week and regain momentum from its last two low-scoring games. If they get caught up by Arizona’s defense and can’t make the huge splash play that they’ve been missing so far this season, then expect another nailbiter that won’t go the Cyclones’ way.

Score Prediction: Arizona 27, No. 14 Iowa State 21