“If you’ve got kids that are willing to fight for it and continue to fight for it, then you’ve got a real chance, and so that’s what our locker room’s about.”
– Matt Campbell, Iowa State head coach
Looking for the quick read before kickoff Saturday? This is it. No filler today. Just the essentials that you need to know before CU kicks off against Iowa State. You know enough about the Buffs – this focuses on what to expect from the Cyclones. Let’s jump in.
The Particulars
- Kickoff: 1:30 p.m. (ESPN)
- Line: CU + 3 (ESPN Bet)
- Iowa State is currently ranked 22nd in the country so Saturday is another chance for the Buffs to get a top 25 win.
- This is a blackout game — Buff fans, wear black!
- CU men’s hoops teams is having a men’s hoops scrimmage at the CU Event Center on Saturday morning at 10:15 am. Admission is free. This is a unique chance to see both the basketball team and the football team in the same day.
About Iowa State
- Record: 5–1 (2–1 Big 12); ranked 21st by AP
- Head Coach: Matt Campbell – 10th year, 69–52 overall
- OC: Taylor Mouser – 2nd year calling plays
- DC: Jon Heacock – 10th year running the defense
Recent Performances
- Fell behind 17–0 to Cincinnati, rallied late, but lost 38–30 for their first defeat.
- Against Cincinnati, Iowa State’s defense gave up 474 total yards, including 260 on the ground. Cincinnati won despite incurring 128 penalty yards and one turnover.
- Prior to their loss against Cincinnati, Iowa State was 5-0 with wins against Arizona (39-14 in Ames), Arkansas State (24-16 in Jonesboro), Iowa (16-13 in Ames), South Dakota (55-7 in Ames), and Kansas State (24-21 in Dublin).
Offense
- QB Rocco Becht (Jr.) – Completing nearly 65% of passes for 1,417 yards, 9 TD, and just 2 INT. Calm, efficient, spreads the ball around. His PFF score is 88.4 for the season, which is unbelievable. Becht has played out of his mind this season. Son of former NFL tight end, and current St. Louis Battlehawks head coach, Anthony Becht. (Rocco) Becht is a willing runner, and CU’s defense has really struggled with mobile quarterbacks this season.
- Receivers – Brett Eskildsen (18 receptions, 321 yards, 2 TD) leads the group. Former Buff Chase Sowell has chipped in 13 catches for 236 yards and a score. Five Cyclones already have 180+ receiving yards. This is a deep group.
- Running Backs – Carson Hansen (79 carries, 348 yards, 2 TD) is the lead back but just cleared concussion protocol. It’s likely he’s limited. If so, expect more of Abu Sama III (68 carries, 304 yards, 2 TD). The ground game isn’t explosive but provides balance.
Defense
- Once projected as one of the Big 12’s best, injuries have taken a toll.
- Star CBs Jeremiah Cooper and Jontez Williams are both out for the year. This has created big issues for ISU’s secondary – Williams’ PFF score for the season was 84.4 and Cooper’s PFF score was 69.6.
- Strength of the defense, even with the injuries, may still be the secondary. Key players include safeties Marcus Neal (season-long PFF score of 79.9) and Cam Smith (season-long PFF score of 75.4). Marcus Neal leads ISU with 39 tackles and a sack.
- Iowa State’s defensive weakness is probably its defensive front. Regardless, its best player up front is Domonique Orange. Orange is a BIG HUMAN BEING and is fun to watch. He’s been projected as a first round pick in several pre-season mock drafts but his performance this season has been generally underwhelming.
Special Teams
- Kicker Kyle Konrady missed the Cincinnati game; his status for Saturday remains uncertain. Kicker is probably a position of concern for the Cyclones.
Final Thoughts
CU is looking to avoid its third loss in a row. Last year, the Buffs never lost more than 1 game in a row. Unfortunately, however, this isn’t last season.
While the Buffs are an underdog this Saturday, Iowa State’s defensive performance against Cincinnati gives some hope for CU fans. Recent injuries at Iowa State further bolster CU’s chances. Still, Iowa State has been the better team through six weeks, and CU has really struggled with quarterbacks like Rocco Becht (see Haynes King and Connor Weigman).
Still, we pick with our hearts and not our heads over here at BuffsBlog. Look for Kaidon Salter to start, but if he struggles it wouldn’t surprise us to see Julian Lewis make an appearance. We think this could be a strong Salter comeback game — give us Coloardo 31 Iowa State 28.
And last — Go Buffs!
If you want to stick around the BuffsBlog blogopshere, check out this article comparing Deion Sanders to Long John Silver’s, a Teutonic knight, and WWF legend Mick Foley, among others:
Good stuff. Let’s flush the last 2 weeks away with a W. Go Buffs!
CU is going to have to figure out how to stop Becht but if we can then CU will win. Plus my son is back for the weekend from Michigan so there’s an extra reason that the Buffs will win.
We have certainly shown flashes. Let’s see if we can put together a team win this week, not counting us out this game.
The team has shown flashes. Let’s see if we can put together a team win this week. Not counting us out.