By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
No. 17 Baylor’s Big 12 season begins with a Saturday morning trip to Ames, IA to take on Iowa State. The game kicks at 11:00 am and can be seen on ESPN2. This game is viewed as a where-do-we-really-stand type for both teams.
Are the Bears really Big 12 challengers? Are the Cyclones better or not from their undefeated record?
We take a look at Iowa State.
Iowa State Cyclones
Head Coach: Matt Campbell (80-12 12th season; 45-34 7th season)
2022 record: 3-0; d. SE Missouri State, 42-10, d. Iowa, 10-7, d. Ohio, 43-10
Returning starters: 6 offense, 8 defense
Key Players: DL Will McDonald IV, LB O’Rien Vance, OL Trevor Downing, WR Xavier Hutchinson, S Anthony Johnson, QB Hunter Dekkers
All-time series: Baylor leads, 11-9. Iowa State leads in Ames, 6-4. Baylor hasn’t won in Ames since 2016
Common Denominator: The last three meetings have been one score games and come down to the final moments.
Offense: One-back
Defense: 3-3-5 stack
About Iowa State on offense: So far, so good with Hunter Dekkers at QB. The left-hander been efficient completing nearly 75 percent of his attempts. The bugaboo has been three interceptions. Jirehl Brock has taken over for Reese Hall as the No. 1 and has been decent but nothing exceptional. He only has one TD. In fact, Iowa State only has four rushing TDs this year. Xavier Hutchinson is delivering an all-Big 12 type of season averaging 106 yards per game and has caught five scores. Campbell said earlier in the week that wide receiver Darren Wilson, Jr would not play. Wilson has only caught one pass.
About Iowa State on defense: You could make the argument that much is still not known about this group. However, it has the start it wants allowing just 27 total points and an average of 234 yards through the first three games. Of course, when you have Will McDonald IV anchoring your DL, you’re always going to have a chance. What appears to be yearly position of strength at linebacker is true in the sense that Colby Reeder two of the four INTs. Iowa State’s defense has created eight turnovers and five sacks. Opponents have entered the red zone only six times.
About Iowa State on special teams: It’s been a little bit of an adventure. Iowa blocked two punts two weeks ago. Ohio blocked a PAT last week. PK Jace Gilbert is 4-4 on FGs but hasn’t attempted one beyond 40 yards. Tyler Perkins is the lead punter averaging 44 yards and four of his nine covering 50 or more. Jaylen Nowlin is the No. 1 punt returner and Eli Sanders has two of the three kick returns. Nothing extraordinary.
The Bottom Line: With the changes that the Cyclones went through at QB and RB with Dekkers and Brock, it really comes down to how they handle the moment as everything starts to matter more this week. Typically, Iowa State plays better when it’s not under the spotlight. The Cyclones gained a lot of confidence by winning at Iowa. They’re capable of beating Baylor and would like to have Baylor’s winless streak in Ames move to three games.
Key Matt Campbell quotes
(On his team) “This young team has really had the willingness and humility to grow,” Campbell said Tuesday. “I think all these things are going to be tested again this week. We’ll have another measuring stick of how far have we grown and where are we really.
“I really like the humility and how this group has attacked growth so far, and they’ll need to continue to do that to continue to move forward.”
(On Baylor) “They have elite team speed across the board,” Campbell said. “When you look at this football team, it doesn’t matter what the position is, what jumps off the film is the speed.”
“You talk about special teams, they’ve already got a punt return for a touchdown,” Campbell said. “It really is about their speed and I think they’ve done such a great job of adding physicality to that speed across the board.”
(On growth) “(Linebacker) Myles Mendeszoon continues to do a great job for us,” Campbell said. “I think he’s leading our team right now in special teams tackles. (Defensive end) Joey Petersen, (linebacker) Hunter Zenzen, (running back) Deon Silas. A couple of those young quarterbacks went into the game and played really good.
“It’s still an evolution of who you are in practice, how do you continue to take advantage of the reps that you are given in games and then what are you doing for us on special teams, and the more you can earn trust in our program, the more opportunity then we’re going to try to give you to help our football team be successful.”
(On Special Teams issues) “You gotta remember, there’s two young pups in terms of the kickers and punters, and so operationally, we got to continue to be the best we can be in some of those situations.
“From a protection standpoint, I think they’re certainly not as clean as they could be there. Both of those situations are a combination of…young players in some of those positions, you’re kind of going through a little bit of growing pains.”
Publisher
No. 17 Baylor’s Big 12 season begins with a Saturday morning trip to Ames, IA to take on Iowa State. The game kicks at 11:00 am and can be seen on ESPN2. This game is viewed as a where-do-we-really-stand type for both teams.
Are the Bears really Big 12 challengers? Are the Cyclones better or not from their undefeated record?
We take a look at Iowa State.
Iowa State Cyclones
Head Coach: Matt Campbell (80-12 12th season; 45-34 7th season)
2022 record: 3-0; d. SE Missouri State, 42-10, d. Iowa, 10-7, d. Ohio, 43-10
Returning starters: 6 offense, 8 defense
Key Players: DL Will McDonald IV, LB O’Rien Vance, OL Trevor Downing, WR Xavier Hutchinson, S Anthony Johnson, QB Hunter Dekkers
All-time series: Baylor leads, 11-9. Iowa State leads in Ames, 6-4. Baylor hasn’t won in Ames since 2016
Common Denominator: The last three meetings have been one score games and come down to the final moments.
Offense: One-back
Defense: 3-3-5 stack
About Iowa State on offense: So far, so good with Hunter Dekkers at QB. The left-hander been efficient completing nearly 75 percent of his attempts. The bugaboo has been three interceptions. Jirehl Brock has taken over for Reese Hall as the No. 1 and has been decent but nothing exceptional. He only has one TD. In fact, Iowa State only has four rushing TDs this year. Xavier Hutchinson is delivering an all-Big 12 type of season averaging 106 yards per game and has caught five scores. Campbell said earlier in the week that wide receiver Darren Wilson, Jr would not play. Wilson has only caught one pass.
About Iowa State on defense: You could make the argument that much is still not known about this group. However, it has the start it wants allowing just 27 total points and an average of 234 yards through the first three games. Of course, when you have Will McDonald IV anchoring your DL, you’re always going to have a chance. What appears to be yearly position of strength at linebacker is true in the sense that Colby Reeder two of the four INTs. Iowa State’s defense has created eight turnovers and five sacks. Opponents have entered the red zone only six times.
About Iowa State on special teams: It’s been a little bit of an adventure. Iowa blocked two punts two weeks ago. Ohio blocked a PAT last week. PK Jace Gilbert is 4-4 on FGs but hasn’t attempted one beyond 40 yards. Tyler Perkins is the lead punter averaging 44 yards and four of his nine covering 50 or more. Jaylen Nowlin is the No. 1 punt returner and Eli Sanders has two of the three kick returns. Nothing extraordinary.
The Bottom Line: With the changes that the Cyclones went through at QB and RB with Dekkers and Brock, it really comes down to how they handle the moment as everything starts to matter more this week. Typically, Iowa State plays better when it’s not under the spotlight. The Cyclones gained a lot of confidence by winning at Iowa. They’re capable of beating Baylor and would like to have Baylor’s winless streak in Ames move to three games.
Key Matt Campbell quotes
(On his team) “This young team has really had the willingness and humility to grow,” Campbell said Tuesday. “I think all these things are going to be tested again this week. We’ll have another measuring stick of how far have we grown and where are we really.
“I really like the humility and how this group has attacked growth so far, and they’ll need to continue to do that to continue to move forward.”
(On Baylor) “They have elite team speed across the board,” Campbell said. “When you look at this football team, it doesn’t matter what the position is, what jumps off the film is the speed.”
“You talk about special teams, they’ve already got a punt return for a touchdown,” Campbell said. “It really is about their speed and I think they’ve done such a great job of adding physicality to that speed across the board.”
(On growth) “(Linebacker) Myles Mendeszoon continues to do a great job for us,” Campbell said. “I think he’s leading our team right now in special teams tackles. (Defensive end) Joey Petersen, (linebacker) Hunter Zenzen, (running back) Deon Silas. A couple of those young quarterbacks went into the game and played really good.
“It’s still an evolution of who you are in practice, how do you continue to take advantage of the reps that you are given in games and then what are you doing for us on special teams, and the more you can earn trust in our program, the more opportunity then we’re going to try to give you to help our football team be successful.”
(On Special Teams issues) “You gotta remember, there’s two young pups in terms of the kickers and punters, and so operationally, we got to continue to be the best we can be in some of those situations.
“From a protection standpoint, I think they’re certainly not as clean as they could be there. Both of those situations are a combination of…young players in some of those positions, you’re kind of going through a little bit of growing pains.”
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