Iowa Football Opponent Preview: Iowa State Cyclones

Welcome to Cy-Hawk Week. For the 71st time, the Hawkeyes and Cyclones will go head-to-head on the gridiron, with the winner earning rivalry bragging rights for the next year. Iowa leads the all-time series 47-23 and has won seven of the last eight meetings, including a 20-13 victory in Ames last season.

There is plenty of optimism in Ames surrounding the Cyclones program, as they return 18 starters from last season, including 14 that were underclassmen. It is worth noting that Matt Campbell is just 1-7 against the Hawkeyes during his time at Iowa State, but that win came last time these two met in Iowa City (’22, 10-7).

The Cyclones defeated North Dakota by a final score of 21-3 in their season opener on Saturday. Quarterback Rocco Becht completed 20 of his 26 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns. The running game had some trouble, totaling just 86 yards on 22 carries. Abu Sama led the way with 36 yards on five carries.

Roll the tape 📼

Week 1️⃣ Highlights pic.twitter.com/ZlWFqpFB0C

— Iowa State Football (@CycloneFB) September 1, 2024

CYCLONES OFFENSE

2023 Numbers: 26.2 PPG (70th), 119.9 RUSH (101st), 246.0 PASS (49th), 364.9 TOTAL (79th)

I know a lot of people are going to clammer on about the Iowa State offense only putting up 21 points against North Dakota in week one, but this isn’t the first time they’ve done something like this. They needed OT to beat UNI in ’19, lost to Louisiana 31-14 in ’20 and put up just 16 points against UNI in ’21. Those turned out to be successful seasons for the Cyclones, while their 42-10 win over SEMO in ’22 was not followed by positive results (4-8). Don’t put too much stock into the North Dakota game.

The ISU offense is led by second-year starting quarterback Rocco Becht, who was a preseason 4th Team All-Big 12 selection by Phil Steele. He completed 62.9% of his passes for 3,120 yards and 23 touchdowns last season, while second-lowest amongst the six Big 12 QB’s that attempted over 300 passes. While his 100 rush yards last year doesn’t scream ‘mobility’, Becht has the ability to run and can throw on the run, so the Hawkeye defense will have keep him in the pocket and stop him from extending plays with his feet.

Joining him in the backfield is another second-year guy in Abu Sama III. As a freshman a year ago, Sama burst onto the scene with 276 rush yards against K-State in the season finale. He finished the year averaging 7.3 yards per carry, totaling 614 yards and six touchdowns. Some think he’s a little overhyped because of one big game. I’m somewhere in the middle, but, if true, Iowa will have the opportunity to prove that on Saturday.

Wide receiver is the position where I think the Cyclones have some really good playmakers, starting with senior Jaylin Noel. As the team’s punt returner and kick returner, Noel has some speed and shiftiness to him. He led the team with 66 receptions last year for 820 yards and seven touchdowns. In the opener against North Dakota, Noel had eight catches for 135 yards and a touchdown.

Jayden Higgins and NDSU transfer Eli Green are the other two wideouts to know. Higgins led the team last season with 983 yards on 53 receptions and had six touchdowns. He had five catches for 75 yards and a touchdown in the opener. Meanwhile, Eli Green joins the fold after putting up almost 900 yards for the Bison last season. He was third against North Dakota with four catches for 44 yards.

Although the rushing numbers in the opener did not show it, the Cyclones offensive line is going to be a tough test for the Iowa defensive line, which is the “weakness” of the defense. ISU returns four starters, led by center Jarrod Hufford (2nd All-Big 12) and RT Tyler Miller (HM All-Big 12).

CYCLONES DEFENSE

2023 Numbers: 22.8 PPG (42nd), 134.2 RUSH (37th), 228.9 PASS (73rd), 363.2 TOTAL (50th)

The Cyclones were a good defensive team last season and DC Jon Heacock has had them playing solid defense for the majority of his eight years in Ames. They return nine starters from last year’s defensive unit, but linebacker Caleb Bacon (60 tkls) was injured after five snaps in the opener and could miss significant time.

Iowa State brought back all three starters along the defensive line, end Tyler Onyedim (42 tkls, 9 QBH) and tackle JR Singleton (22 tkls, 3.5 sks). They have decent depth, with seven guys logging 20+ snaps in the opener. Onyedim (41), Singleton (35) and ULM transfer Kenard Snyder (33) were the top three in terms of snap count.

The loss of Bacon at linebacker is a significant one, as he was second on the team in tackles a year ago, but the injury happened to their deepest group on the defense. The star of the entire unit is Beau Freyler who plays that linebacker/defensive back hybrid STAR position. He had eight tackles in the opener and led the team with 107 tackles last season.

SLB Will McLaughlin (46 tkls, 6 tfl) missed the opener with an injury, but is expected to be available this week, but sophomore Jacob Ellis stepped in an totaled 52 snaps and seven tackles. Rounding out the group, Jack Sadowsky (33 tkls) will fill in at middle linebacker for Caleb Bacon and actually started all 13 games there last season. Sophomore Kooper Ebel started at WLB against North Dakota and was second on the team with 57 snaps, finishing with six tackles.

The secondary had to endure the loss of corner TJ Tampa (4th Round Draft) to the Baltimore Ravens, but free safety Jeremiah Cooper (45 tkls, 10 PD, 5 INT) was an honorable mention All-American selection last season. Alongside him is safety Malik Verdon (47 tkls). The two combined for 109 snaps and 15 tackles against North Dakota. They are arguably the top safety duo in the Big 12.

At cornerback, Myles Purchase leads all returning Big 12 defensive backs with 15 passes broken up last season and was third on the team with 56 tackles. The surprise in the opener came at the other corner spot, with sophomore Jontez Williams totaling a team-high 11 tackles and a 90.5 rush defense grade by PFF, which led the country for all cornerbacks during week one.

CYCLONES SPECIAL TEAMS

Punter Tyler Perkins: 44.3 AVG last year – 2 punts, 77 yards vs North Dakota

Kicker Kyle Konrady: 3/3 XP vs North Dakota – rFr did not attempt a FG last year

Punt Returner Jaylin Noel: 14 returns, 8.5 AVG, LNG 39 last year – 1 return, 14 yds vs North Dakota

Kick Returner Jaylin Noel: 9 returns, 27.2 AVG, LNG 72 last year – 0 returns vs North Dakota

FINAL THOUGHT

There’s a reason why the line for this game only Iowa by 2.5 points. Vegas expects a close game, and I expect the same. The last six Cy-Hawk games have been decided by a combined 34 points (5.7 ppg), which tells you all you need to know about what normally happens in these games. There’s a lot of talent on this Iowa State team on both sides of the ball, but I saw something with the Iowa offense in the second half of that Illinois State game. If that offensive momentum carries over into this week, they will be very hard to beat inside Kinnick.