AMES - Iowa State is about to run into a quarterback named Bear, and that’s not a matchup the Cyclones can ignore.
No. 8 BYU brings 6-foot-2, 230-pound Bear Bachmeier to Provo for Friday’s 9:15 p.m. game at LaVell Edwards Stadium, and his style is built on power, not evasion. He lowers his shoulder, invites contact and keeps moving, which is exactly why Iowa State coach Jimmy Rogers sees him as such a tough cover.
“I love the way Bear plays,” Rogers said. “But (he also) has the ability to take over games and move the sticks with his legs.
You look at the majority of games when they falter, he’s carried them through with his legs and he’s not afraid to take on contact. As a coach, I admire that.
I think it’s awesome. There’s no sliding in there.
I (told) one of the DB’s today, ‘You’d better be ready to put your pads on him, because he’s gonna run through your face.’”
The Cyclones are 10.5-point underdogs against Kalani Sitake’s undefeated team, and the assignment gets no easier when Bachmeier starts operating behind BYU’s experienced offensive line. If he’s not pounding away as a runner, he’s getting the ball to freshman receiver Legend Glasker and other key targets.
That quarterback profile looks familiar to Iowa State by now. The Cyclones already dealt with Utah’s Devon Dampier in a 31-17 home loss and then saw West Virginia’s Michael Hawkins Jr. last Saturday, when Hawkins, the Big 12 leader in rushing touchdowns with 11, ripped off a season-high 149 rushing yards in Iowa State’s 45-42 win.
Defensive tackle Bryson Lamb said the standard inside the Cyclones’ defense has to be sharper against that kind of challenge.
“(Those quarterbacks) are very talented players, but at the end of the day we have a standard in our defensive unit with the tackling, the pursuit angles, wrapping up with the ball,” Lamb said. “And we need to hold that standard a lot more.”
The broader problem, according to defensive coordinator Jesse Bobbit, isn’t tied to one opponent or one style. Utah, West Virginia and BYU rank first, fourth and fifth in the Big 12 in points per game, and Iowa State’s defense still left the field unsatisfied after the win over the Mountaineers.
“We win the game as a team, but as a defense you have a goal board, and that goal board was red,” Bobbit said. “And there is no win or loss as a defense. It is about how did we play, and we did not play the way we needed to.”
Bobbit pointed to issues with pursuit angles and tackling technique, both of which become dangerous against a quarterback who refuses to slide. The fix, he said, has to start with discipline.
“We’ve got to find (a way) this week to get it balanced and not live in one world or the other world,” Bobbit said. “At the end of the day, your eyes gotta be great. Your feet gotta be great - and then you have to attack.”
Bachmeier has rushed for 15 touchdowns in 18 career games, and Iowa State knows what that kind of downhill threat can do when the window gets small. Rogers said the Cyclones have to be ready for a short week and a loud stage in the mountains.
“We’ve gotta be ready to play our best football in a short week just as they do,” Rogers said. “Anything can happen.”
Rogers also said starting safety Drew Surges is out this week but should be back soon. Surges missed two games with an injury before returning against West Virginia and getting hurt again. He has 13 tackles, which ties him for sixth on the team, and he has also forced a fumble this season.
In Other News...
Iowa State Is Suddenly Facing Real Year 1 Bowl Pressure
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For a team adjusting to a new coach and a reshaped roster, bowl projections can feel like a small thing until they start reflecting the bigger expectations around the season. ESPN analyst Kyle Bonagura has Iowa State headed to the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl against Washington, which would be a decent outcome for a transitional year, but the Cyclones still have to keep winning to make that conversation matter at all. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa State Faces A Defensive Test It Cant Afford To Flunk
Iowa State is getting a clear early warning about what awaits in its matchup with BYU, and the focus starts with quarterback Bear Bachmeier. His running style gives the Cougars a different kind of stress point to prepare for, and the Cyclones have spent the lead-up talking about how important defensive discipline will be against a quarterback who can turn a routine snap into a problem in a hurry.
The challenge comes with a little less margin for error because Iowa State is also working around the absence of starting safety Drew Surges, who is out with an injury but expected back soon. Even so, the Cyclones know the job in front of them is bigger than any one lineup note, and how well they handle Bachmeiers legs may say plenty about whether the defense can hold up when it needs to most. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Heads Into Iowa State Showdown With Major Injury Concerns
A Week 6 trip to BYU already looked like a measuring-stick game for Iowa State, and the injury report has only sharpened the edges of it. The Cyclones head into Provo with three defensive players, Drew Surges, Caden Crawford and Ka'Mori Moore, unavailable, which puts even more pressure on a unit that will need to deal with a physical road environment and a Cougars offense missing some of its own key pieces.
BYU will be without running back LJ Martin and linebacker Isaiah Glasker, absences that could reshape both the pace and the intensity of the matchup. For Iowa State, that means the usual road-game challenge now comes with a little less certainty on both sides of the ball, and a lot more emphasis on which team can adjust fastest once the first quarter starts to settle in. [Read more 🡒]