Having watched Iowa State play Houston, UCF and Texas Tech this game does not feel like a 7-1 team vs a 2-6 team.
And I may be at fault because the games I have seen Iowa State play they struggled in different areas. Against Houston they only led 3-0 late in the third quarter. Against UCF at home, they needed an 80-yard touchdown drive with 30 seconds left in the game to win. Last weekend they lost at home to Texas Tech.
I know they have some good wins over Iowa, Baylor, and West Virginia.
I watched every play against Texas Tech. Iowa State's offense stalled and didn't look good on several drives. I think Texas Tech has good personnel in their front seven but they aren't a top 10 defense. They gave up 59 to Baylor three weeks ago. They gave up 35 to TCU their previous game. They held Iowa State to 22. The Iowa State offense to me, didn't look dynamic. They have a couple nice receivers. Their RB are solid but nothing KU hasn't seen. I didn't think the OL played that well. Like I said earlier, I did think the Tech front four gave them trouble.
I just went and looked up the Iowa State OL season grades:
Barrett- G- 67.6 (276)
Travis- T- 63.7 (407)
Buhr- G- 61.1 (210)
Hufford- C- 60.4 (553)
Black- G- 58.8 (528)
Miller- T- 56.1 (520)
Neal- T- 48.6 (268)
These match what I saw and are probably a little lower than I thought they would be. Becht the QB is a scrappy player who can move around a little and throws it okay. There were some throws against Tech he would take back.
Defensively Iowa State plays the 3-3-5. Just like TCU and KSU. But all three of those defenses don't look close to each other. KSU blitzes teams to oblivion, TCU mixes it up, and Iowa State from what I saw rarely brought a blitz. Although those teams play the 3-3-5 they look totally different.
I know Iowa State is battling some injuries mainly at LB and it shows. I didn't think they were fast or athletic there. They never pressured the Tech QB. In 40 drop backs they only blitzed five times and was only under pressure nine times. There were several times through the game Iowa State only brought three rushers. The Tech QB had time to throw.
The corners made some nice plays (#10 and #3) and looked solid. They are down to second and third string LBs. Others are playing dinged up from what I heard.
This should be a game KU can be in and have a chance to win. I know the records don't show that, but I'm just going with what I see from Iowa State. The big difference is Iowa State has found ways to win and KU hasn't. KU's defense has to come out and play like Houston and KSU. I know KSU got some yards but the Jayhawks D made them earn a lot of their yards.
And I may be at fault because the games I have seen Iowa State play they struggled in different areas. Against Houston they only led 3-0 late in the third quarter. Against UCF at home, they needed an 80-yard touchdown drive with 30 seconds left in the game to win. Last weekend they lost at home to Texas Tech.
I know they have some good wins over Iowa, Baylor, and West Virginia.
I watched every play against Texas Tech. Iowa State's offense stalled and didn't look good on several drives. I think Texas Tech has good personnel in their front seven but they aren't a top 10 defense. They gave up 59 to Baylor three weeks ago. They gave up 35 to TCU their previous game. They held Iowa State to 22. The Iowa State offense to me, didn't look dynamic. They have a couple nice receivers. Their RB are solid but nothing KU hasn't seen. I didn't think the OL played that well. Like I said earlier, I did think the Tech front four gave them trouble.
I just went and looked up the Iowa State OL season grades:
Barrett- G- 67.6 (276)
Travis- T- 63.7 (407)
Buhr- G- 61.1 (210)
Hufford- C- 60.4 (553)
Black- G- 58.8 (528)
Miller- T- 56.1 (520)
Neal- T- 48.6 (268)
These match what I saw and are probably a little lower than I thought they would be. Becht the QB is a scrappy player who can move around a little and throws it okay. There were some throws against Tech he would take back.
Defensively Iowa State plays the 3-3-5. Just like TCU and KSU. But all three of those defenses don't look close to each other. KSU blitzes teams to oblivion, TCU mixes it up, and Iowa State from what I saw rarely brought a blitz. Although those teams play the 3-3-5 they look totally different.
I know Iowa State is battling some injuries mainly at LB and it shows. I didn't think they were fast or athletic there. They never pressured the Tech QB. In 40 drop backs they only blitzed five times and was only under pressure nine times. There were several times through the game Iowa State only brought three rushers. The Tech QB had time to throw.
The corners made some nice plays (#10 and #3) and looked solid. They are down to second and third string LBs. Others are playing dinged up from what I heard.
This should be a game KU can be in and have a chance to win. I know the records don't show that, but I'm just going with what I see from Iowa State. The big difference is Iowa State has found ways to win and KU hasn't. KU's defense has to come out and play like Houston and KSU. I know KSU got some yards but the Jayhawks D made them earn a lot of their yards.
