Good Cop: Noah LaBlanc
Iowa State travels to TCU for a Big 12 matchup on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The Cyclones will look to stop a four-game skid.
It is a tough time to be an Iowa State football fan right now. Since the team won its first five games, knocked off rivals Kansas State, Iowa and peaked at No. 12 in the rankings, the season has seemingly fallen apart.
They first lost at Cincinnati, who stormed the field. Then they lost to Colorado, who also stormed the field. When they got back to Ames and fell to No. 11 BYU and Arizona State, there wasn’t much field storming to do.
However, the streak looks worse than it is. Arizona State and Cincinnati are both tough teams this year.
BYU remains undefeated, and the Cyclones played an excellent first half of football against the Cougars until the wheels fell off with several critical mistakes in the second half. If the Cyclones played a little cleaner near the end of that game, they likely would get it done and the conversation surrounding the team would be much different right now.
Even though the final scores may not be falling in Iowa State’s favor, there are still bright spots. The run game has been nearly unstoppable in the past three weeks. Junior running backs Carson Hansen and Abu Sama III make an effective 1-2 combo that has been functioning the best it ever has over the recent stretch.
Sama has been explosive every time he touches the ball. He ran for 177 yards and two touchdowns against Colorado and is averaging 7 yards per carry over the last two games.
Meanwhile, Hansen has been phenomenal the past few weeks. Against BYU, he rushed for 152 yards and two touchdowns on a phenomenal 9.5 yards per carry. Hansen followed that up with another excellent game against Arizona State and posted 113 rushing yards.
Redshirt junior quarterback Rocco Becht has been struggling in this stretch. He has thrown five interceptions in the last three games. However, his performance at Iowa State outside of the past few games has been excellent and the trend is due to break.
TCU only has two losses this season, to Kansas State and Arizona State. They flattened Colorado 35-21 and have strong non-conference wins over North Carolina and SMU.
Its defense, however, has not been untouchable. The team has allowed more than 20 points in six of its eight games, including both of its losses.
While Iowa State’s defense has been heavily damaged by injuries, its offense, with the exception of junior tight end Benjamin Brahmer, has not had many of the same issues. I expect this game to be a high-scoring affair that could come down to one or two crucial plays.
If Iowa State can get to an early lead, avoid the mistakes and collapse that hurt them against BYU and continue to effectively utilize its run game, I see them getting back on track with a win over the Horned Frogs.
Score Prediction: Iowa State 37, TCU 35
Bad Cop: Henry Annen
If I am a Cyclone fan, I am expecting to be disappointed this Saturday. This team has not won a football game since Sept. 27 against Arizona, and I expect that streak not getting snapped for at least another week. It is best not to get your hopes up and then get crushed like last week.
This defense is in the intensive care unit. Four of the five week one starters are out in the secondary. Because of this, dropping more guys back into coverage allowed an ASU backup quarterback to run for 228 yards on 29 attempts.
The secondary problems show on the statistical sheet. Sophomore defensive back Marcus Neal Jr. leads the team in tackles. While Neal is a great player, defensive backs are not meant to make tackles, as the wide receivers should not be able to catch the ball.
Not to discredit Neal, as he is often the guy to fill gaps on runs or blitz when not in coverage. The Cyclone defense as a whole does give up 7.8 yards per pass attempt and gives up 243.6 passing yards per game.
If the defense can somehow get the offense the ball back, we’d better hope something changes on offense; otherwise, we are going to be looking like the early-season Iowa Hawkeyes, punting on every possession.
Shout out to the Hawkeyes for turning things around. They should be ranked in the AP poll and look a heck of a lot better than us at the moment.
TCU junior quarterback Josh Hoover would win in four over Becht. Hoover’s 184.3 passer rating at home shows a level of command and confidence that Becht, with a 126.7 rating on the road, hasn’t matched away from Ames.
Hoover has thrown for more yards, more touchdowns and fewer interceptions on more attempts. TCU is the second-best passing offense in the Big 12 and the fourth most efficient.
Iowa State hasn’t won at TCU since 2020. Iowa State doesn’t have anything other than a bowl game. TCU is undefeated at home, and things just don’t look good.
Vegas likes the TCU Horned Frogs, and I couldn’t agree with them more.
Score Prediction: TCU 34, Iowa State 17
