Don’t tell Iowa State fans Friday night is only for high school football.
The Cyclones have their own pretty strong case for the day, and it starts with that wild November night in 2011 at Jack Trice Stadium. Iowa State stunned No.
2 Oklahoma State 37-31 in two overtimes, a result many fans still point to as the program’s biggest win in recent memory. Jeff Woody, a former walk-on from Southeast Polk High School, finished off the upset with one of the defining touchdowns in school history.
That game did more than wreck Mike Gundy’s shot at the national title picture. It also became part of the chain of events that helped push college football toward the playoff era. And for Iowa State, it added another notch to a strange little stat: the Cyclones are 24-15-2 all-time in Friday games.
Still, history only gets you so far, and Friday brings a much tougher assignment. Iowa State is at eighth-ranked BYU at 9:15 p.m., and the Cyclones will need far more than a feel-good memory to walk out of that one with anything.
The biggest key is getting more from Jaylen Raynor.
Aiden Flora has to matter, of course. Iowa State needs as much of its best player as possible, especially its most explosive one.
But against a BYU team with CFP aspirations, Flora alone won’t be enough. Jimmy Rogers’ team needs Raynor to play like the quarterback who showed up in the second half against West Virginia - only sharper, and for four quarters.
That means more of the version who went 9 of 12 for 141 yards after halftime against the Mountaineers. It means using the open grass with his legs and his arm. It means being better than a 58% completion rate.
The upside is there. Last season at Arkansas State, Raynor threw for 3,361 yards and 19 touchdowns while also leading the team with 154 rushing attempts, good for 423 yards and seven scores. He also showed a knack for making things happen in key spots, either rushing or completing passes on 11 of the Red Wolves’ 16 fourth-down conversions.
This year, through five games, he has completed 69 of 119 passes for 903 yards and six touchdowns, while carrying the ball 42 times for 152 yards.
Against a BYU defense that ranks fifth in the Big 12, Iowa State needs that second-half rhythm from West Virginia to show up from the opening snap and keep showing up.
The rest of the formula is pretty clear. Receivers and tight ends have to run clean routes and finish catches.
The lines have to win their battles. The defense has to tackle better.
Cameron Pettaway returning a kickoff for a touchdown would certainly help. And Kyle Konrardy needs to keep doing what Kyle Konrardy does.
And Flora? Another A-plus night from him would go a long way.
For entertainment purposes only: BYU beats Iowa State on Friday. Iowa loses at Washington on Friday.
Oklahoma State beats UCF at home. Arizona wins at West Virginia.
Kansas State beats Houston at home. Arizona State beats Hawaii at home.
Utah beats Kansas at home. Indiana wins at Nebraska.
Oregon beats UCLA. Penn State beats USC at home.
In Other News...
Iowa State Is Suddenly Facing Real Year 1 Bowl Pressure
A 3-2 start has Iowa State in a familiar-looking spot on the surface, but the pressure around the program is different this fall. First-year coach Jimmy Rogers inherited a roster with significant turnover, and now the Cyclones are trying to turn early promise into something more concrete as they get ready to face BYU.
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 🡒]