Iowa State heads west this weekend for a Week 8 road matchup with No. 25 Arizona, and the Cyclones will have to keep a close eye on the Wildcats’ most dangerous defensive piece.
Arizona enters the game at 5-1, with wins over Cincinnati, West Virginia, Washington State, Northern Illinois, and Northern Arizona. The Wildcats’ lone defeat came on the road against No.
2 BYU by 11 points. Iowa State, meanwhile, is 3-3, with victories over West Virginia, Bowling Green, and Southeast Missouri State.
All three of its losses have come against ranked teams: No. 2 BYU, No.
10 Utah, and No. 15 Iowa.
The player Iowa State has to account for is linebacker Taye Brown, a fourth-year veteran who has steadily grown into the kind of defender who can shape a game from anywhere on the field. As a junior, Brown put up a career-best 93 tackles, adding an interception, a pass deflection, and 1.5 sacks. He’s been the center of that Arizona defense, and this season he’s picked up right where he left off.
Brown has already totaled 39 tackles, along with a pass deflection and 0.5 sacks, which leads the Wildcats by a wide margin. He has also found a way to be involved every week, recording at least three tackles in every game this season. His best outing came in the opener against Northern Arizona, when he finished with 11 tackles.
He’s also shown he can do it against stronger competition. Brown had four tackles against BYU, then followed that with nine against West Virginia and seven against Cincinnati. That production has come against both top-end opponents and lower-profile ones, and it’s part of what makes him such a steady force for Arizona.
Last season, Brown was held to just three tackles against Iowa State, but that game came against a different Cyclones team and a less complete Arizona squad. This version of the Wildcats looks stronger, and Brown remains the defender Iowa State must navigate around.
For the Cyclones, the task is straightforward even if the execution is not: find a way to limit Brown’s influence. That could mean forcing him into coverage or working the ball outside and letting the skill players try to win their matchups. However it happens, Iowa State has to keep him from controlling the flow of the game.
Brown has been one of the Big 12’s top defenders this season, and if Iowa State can’t deal with him, the Cyclones could be in for a long night out west.
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