Iowa State’s path to a bowl game runs straight through a problem it can’t afford to keep ignoring: tackling.
The Cyclones return home in Week 11 to face Cincinnati at Jack Trice Stadium, and the setting should help. Iowa State has been strong in Ames this season, with its only loss coming against Utah. The other home results have gone the Cyclones’ way against Southeast Missouri State, Bowling Green, West Virginia and Oklahoma State.
But if Iowa State wants to keep adding wins to that list, the defense has to clean up one glaring issue.
Through Week 10, Iowa State has been the worst tackling team in the country, according to Cody Nagel on X. Out of 138 FBS teams, the Cyclones own a 19.5% missed tackle rate. That number is almost twice as bad as Oregon’s 10.2%, which is the best mark in the nation.
The missed tackles are especially frustrating because this defense was supposed to be the team’s calling card. That expectation only makes the current numbers look worse. The unit was part of what helped the Washington State Cougars outperform expectations last season under head coach Jimmy Rogers and defensive coordinator Jesse Bobbit, but that success has not carried over with them from Pullman.
Tackling, though, is only part of the story. Iowa State’s defensive issues go beyond one stat, even if that stat is impossible to ignore.
The Cyclones are not the only team with a shaky missed tackle rate. BYU sits just ahead of them at 18.7%, which ranks 136th, and Miami is 129th at 17.4% after entering the year as the No. 1 team in the country before losing to Notre Dame. Those teams, however, have been able to survive the problem in other ways, thanks in part to deeper rosters than Iowa State’s.
The numbers from PFF paint an even harsher picture. Iowa State has a tackling grade of 30.9, the worst in college football by a wide margin. The next closest team is Florida Atlantic at 42.
So far, PFF has charged the Cyclones with 125 missed tackles this season. Linebacker Sullivan Schlimgen leads the team with 20 missed tackles, even though he has also been Iowa State’s best defender. Safety Brody Miller, linebacker Carson Willich and safety Drew Surges are the other Cyclones with double-digit missed tackles.
With Cincinnati coming to town and bowl hopes hanging in the balance, Iowa State has a simple assignment: tackle better.
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