AMES - Iowa State is coming out of its bye and straight back into the fire.
The Cyclones, who sit at 3-3 overall and 1-2 in Big 12 play, have already taken on ranked Utah and then an even more highly ranked BYU team to start conference play. Now Arizona comes to town on Oct. 24 at 6:30 p.m.
CT, with the Wildcats sitting at 5-1 and 2-1 in the league. Arizona is No. 25 in the Associated Press poll, but unranked in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
The game will air on ESPN2.
That was the backdrop for Jimmy Rogers’ weekly media availability Tuesday, where three big themes stood out about what Iowa State is walking into.
First, the Wildcats’ offense runs through Noah Fifita, and Rogers made clear he sees the challenge.
The 5-foot-10, fifth-year quarterback has thrown for 1,756 yards, which ranks third in the Big 12, along with 16 passing touchdowns. He has also added 104 rushing yards and three scores on the ground.
“This is a really well-coached team,” Rogers said. “And they've got one of the best quarterbacks in the country.
… It's a tall task because they're really good up front or really good at the quarterback position. They have wide receivers that can really stretch the field, and I think a lot of it stems through their trust and playmaking of the player that's at quarterback.”
Arizona’s defense brings its own problems, too. If Iowa State’s offense wants a smoother day, it will have to deal with Chase Kennedy and a front that has been getting home.
Kennedy, a fifth-year linebacker, is tied for second in the Big 12 with four sacks, and those have gone for 30 yards in losses. Taye Brown leads the team with 39 total tackles, but Kennedy is the headline player in a defense that has piled up 19 sacks for 100 yards in losses, second in the conference behind Baylor’s 22.
That matters for Iowa State quarterback Jaylen Raynor, who has already been sacked nine times in six games, according to ESPN.
“Our defense has to play better than their defense, our offense has to play better than their offense," Rogers said. "…Our hands are going to be really full on offense, defense, special teams - like I said, well-coached and good talent in every area.”
Rogers also pointed back to the schedule Iowa State has already faced. The Cyclones opened league play against Utah when the Utes were ranked No. 15, then played BYU when the Cougars were No. 8.
Since then, BYU has climbed to No. 3 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and Utah has moved to No. 9. Iowa State lost both games, but Rogers said those matchups have already shown the Cyclones what life looks like against the league’s best.
“I think just playing the top Big 12 schools, as of right now, ranking-wise, until they face one another, the two that are the highest-ranked in our league, we faced already," Rogers said. "We don't have Texas Tech on our schedule, obviously, but I wouldn't say it was eye-opening.
We knew BYU was good. …It's awesome to see the Big 12 do really well right now, and I think it's a really competitive league.”
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