Following its biggest win of the season, Iowa State is headed into one of its toughest assignments yet: a road trip to face No. 8 BYU in Week 6.
The Cyclones have reason to feel good about where they stand after five games. Getting above .500 this early is a solid place to be, especially after an offseason that saw the transfer portal tear through the roster. Even with that turnover, Iowa State is trending toward a bowl-caliber season, which was clearly part of the goal.
Now comes the challenge of trying to play spoiler against one of the conference’s best teams. BYU brings the talent and ranking to make this a major test, but Iowa State has a path if it can keep things simple.
That path starts with limiting possessions. The Cyclones showed in the win over West Virginia that this offense can do damage, but against a more talented opponent, they cannot afford to give away extra opportunities. That means taking care of the football and, just as important, leaning on the run game to control the clock.
If Iowa State can keep BYU’s offense on the sideline by moving the ball on the ground and dictating the pace, it can make the Cougars uncomfortable and maybe even force a few mistakes.
TCU gave BYU a tight game last week and proved the Cougars can be pushed. But the Horned Frogs also lost the turnover battle and the time of possession battle, and they averaged fewer than three yards per carry. That is not the formula Iowa State wants to copy.
Instead, the Cyclones will look to ride a running game that has a star in Aiden Flora, who was arguably the best player in the country last week after a five-touchdown outing. He also piled up more than 200 rushing yards on the ground. That kind of performance is not a reasonable expectation every week, but if Flora can get north of 100 rushing yards again, Iowa State will like its chances.
For the Cyclones, the plan is straightforward: run the ball, shorten the game, and keep it close. Jimmy Rogers has a way of keeping games tight into the fourth quarter, and once it gets there, anything can happen.
In Other News...
BYUs Unbeaten Start Faces Its First Real Test Without LJ Martin
BYU heads into Saturdays home game against Iowa State trying to protect a strong start while adjusting to life without LJ Martin, the running back whose absence changes the feel of the offense. The Cougars have leaned on balance and efficiency early, and now the spotlight shifts to the players asked to absorb Martins workload while keeping the attack on schedule against a Cyclones team that has shown some vulnerability on defense.
Iowa State arrives at 3-2 with issues that BYU will try to exploit, especially around missed tackles and protecting the quarterback. For the Cougars, though, the bigger question is whether the offense can stay steady enough without one of its key pieces, and whether the defense can help control a matchup that carries a little more weight now that the unbeaten start is on the line. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Heads Into Iowa State With One Big Offensive Concern
Week 5 in the Big 12 turned the quarterback conversation into a moving target, with West Virginia-Iowa State drawing plenty of attention and several other signal-callers around the league making their own cases in a busy slate. BYU has reasons to keep an eye on all of it as the Cougars head into Week 6, when the conference schedule starts to sort itself out and every matchup feels a little more revealing than the last.
For BYU, the larger issue is less about what happened elsewhere and more about how its own offense stacks up against what is coming next. Week 6 brings a mix of compelling quarterback duels and a handful of teams sitting out on bye, which means the Cougars will need to be sharp entering a road test at Iowa State with one important offensive question still hanging over the trip. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Suddenly Has A Cannon DeVries Problem Before Iowa State
BYUs special teams and secondary are dealing with a late-week wrinkle as defensive back and starting punt returner Cannon DeVries has been downgraded to doubtful for the upcoming game against Iowa State. The setback comes after he did not make the kind of progress the Cougars had hoped for in his recovery, putting another layer of uncertainty on a matchup that already asks plenty of BYU on both sides of the ball.
If DeVries is unable to go, BYU will have to shuffle its defensive backfield and turn punt-return duties over to Tiger Bachmeier, even though that role has not always gone smoothly for him. The Cougars would obviously prefer to have DeVries back sooner rather than later, with Notre Dame looming as the next target for his return, but for now they are left sorting through a special-teams question that could matter in a hurry against Iowa State. [Read more 🡒]