2017 Gridiron Staff Picks: Week 12

Brian Mozey

Every week during the year, Brian Mozey, Aaron Marner, Jack MacDonald and a special guest make their predictions for the Iowa State football game. Here are their predictions for the Cyclones’ week 12 game against Baylor at 1:30 p.m. on FSN.

Brian Mozey, Sports Editor (6-4)

Winner: Iowa State 

Score: 45-17

Iowa State had a hard loss this past weekend to Oklahoma State to finish out their home schedule. This loss makes two straight losses for the Cyclones, but Iowa State will come back this weekend. 

The Cyclones are heading to Waco, Texas, for the Baylor Bears and I believe it’ll be an easy win. Baylor’s defense has lacked ability and talent this season, which is why the team is currently 1-9 on the season. 

It’s hard to have success when the offense has to score close to 30 points a game to even have a fighting chance. Since the Iowa State defense will be back and ready to attack this weekend, there will be no chance for a Bears win. 

Aaron Marner, Assistant Sports Editor (5-5)

Winner: Iowa State

Score: 37-21

The bad news for Iowa State: the Cyclones are on a two-game losing streak, which effectively ended their chances of competing for a Big 12 Championship.

The good news for Iowa State? The next opponent is 1-9 Baylor.

Baylor’s record is a bit deceptive, however, since the Bears have played relatively close to West Virginia, Kansas State and Oklahoma. Baylor’s biggest problem is its defense, which has given up 36.3 points per game this season.

Iowa State can take advantage of the Bears’ loose defense Saturday and put up points early and often. The Cyclones are favored by about nine points for a reason, and I think they’ll win by more than that.

Jack MacDonald, Assistant Sports Editor (4-6)

Winner: Iowa State

Score: 34-17

If there was one shining moment from last weekend’s loss to Oklahoma State, it was the fact that Iowa State gets to play Baylor in its next game. And much like Oklahoma State, Baylor gives up a lot of points — a lot of points to teams that shouldn’t score on a Big 12 defense or a team that went 10-3 only two years ago.

And with Kyle Kempt’s status up in the air, I don’t think that matters one bit — in fact, I’m hopping on the Zeb Noland train. Noland’s arm strength is something Kempt doesn’t have and that opens up the playing calling options tremendously, which we saw when Noland marched downfield on several occasions last weekend.

However, Kempt has the football IQ to run any offense in the country and maybe, just maybe he would have placed the last two throws from Saturday’s game in a spot only Iowa State could get to it.

Baylor has the offense to compete with anyone in the Big 12 and they have proved that, but Iowa State has the defense to stop anyone in the Big 12. Saturday’s game will be close early, but the Cyclones will explode for a big second half. 

Josie Speltz, Assistant Digital Editor of Content

Winner: Iowa State

Score: 21-10

The Cyclones had a rough past two games, which resulted in a loss of their spot in the AP Top 25. That being said, I think the Cyclones are about to turn it around with another victory this weekend.

Baylor has a less than stellar record for the season, standing at 1-9. However, I do not think Iowa State should consider the game an easy win. The Cyclones will have to focus and work hard if they want to secure the win.

The Iowa State offense will is still up in the air for the game against Baylor, but I think that Iowa State’s defense is really what will secure the win for the Cyclones. They have been able to force 18 turnovers this year.