No. 8 Iowa State Cyclones
2020 Record: 9-3
Returning Starters: Offense No. 11, Defense No. 9
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Key Metrics and Personnel
- Head Coach — Matt Campbell
- Offensive Coordinator — Tom Manning
- Defensive Coordinator — Jon Heacock
- Points/Game — 32.9 (31st)
- Plays/Game — 70.2 (85th)
- Pass Rate — 45.96 (71st)
- Yards/Att R — 5.1 (22nd)
- Yards/Att P — 7.8 (49th)
- Yards/Att Allowed R — 3.3 (11th)
- Yards Att Allowed P — 7.5 (74th)
- Points Allowed/Game — 21.4 (23rd)
- Vegas Win Total – 9, Over -130, Under +110
Notes
Matt Campbell has been the head coach of Iowa State since 2016. He was previously the head coach of Toledo from 2012-2015. Tom Manning coordinates the offense, and he has done so since 2019. Jon Heacock has coordinated the defense since 2016. He was previously with Campbell at Toledo too.
Recruiting Class: No. 59
Top Recruits:
- Eli Sanders — ATH — No. 536
- Tyler Moore — TE — No. 548
- Jaylin Noel — WR — No. 832
- Tristan Michaud — WR — No. 165 WR
TransfersÂ
- Jaquan Amos (Villanova — S)
Daily Fantasy Players to WatchÂ
QB Brock Purdy, RB Breece Hall, WR Xavier Hutchinson
Iowa State Cyclones Depth Charts
Offense: 11 Returning Starters
- QB: Brock Purdy, Hunter Dekkers
- RB: Breece Hall, Jirehl Brock
- WR1: Tarique Milton, Darren Wilson
- WR2: Xavier Hutchinson, Joe Scates, Darien Porter
- WR3: Sean Shaw, Jaylin Noel
- TE: Charlie Kolar, Chase Allen
- LT: Sean Foster, Grant Treiber
- LG: Trevor Downing, Jarrod Hufford
- C: Colin Newell, Darrell Simmons
- RG: Derek Schweiger
- RT: Jake Remsburg, Joey Ramos
Defense: 9 Returning Starters
- Edge: Will McDonald
- DT: Eyimoa Uwazurike
- Edge: Zach Peterson
- LB: O’Rien Vance
- LB: Mike Rose
- LB: Jake Hummel
- CB: Anthony Johnson
- CB: Datrone Young
- CB-N Isheem Young
- S: Greg Eisworth
- S: Jaquan Amos
Iowa State Cyclones Breakdown
Iowa State went 9-3 last year. They lost 31-14 to Louisiana in their first game. They lost 24-21 to Oklahoma State. They lost 27-21 to Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship. They also had 4 wins by a touchdown or less (TCU, Oklahoma, Baylor, Texas). Iowa State returns 11 starters on offense and 9 on defense.
At quarterback Iowa State returns Brock Purdy for his fourth year as starter. Last year, he completed 66.6% of his passes for 2,750 yards, 19 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. His 7.5 yards per attempt was the lowest of his career. Iowa State also went run heavy. He threw for 3,982 yards on 475 attempts in 2019, but only 2,750 on 365 attempts in 2020. Purdy was First Team All-Big-12 last year.
At running back Iowa State returns First Team All-American Breece Hall. He rushed for 897 yards and 9 touchdowns on 186 attempts as a freshman (4.8 yards per carry). Last year, he rushed for 1572 yards and 21 touchdowns on 279 carries (5.6 yards per carry). He added 23 receptions in both years. He was also highly efficient, creating yards on his own. His backup will be Jirehl Brock.
Receiver is a position of theoretical strength even if they do not utilize the pass game as much. Xavier Hutchinson and Sean Shaw return as probable starters. Tarique Milton is also back after missing much of last year. He is the primary deep threat. Hutchinson led the team in receiving with 64 catches for 771 yards and four touchdowns. Milton caught 35 passes for 722 yards in 2019. Hutchinson was First Team All-Big 12.
Iowa State is excellent in two tight end sets. Charlie Kolar caught 44 passes for 591 yards and 7 touchdowns. Chase Allen will block a little bit more, but he caught 19 passes for 236 yards. Kolar and Allen were the team’s second and fourth leading pass catchers. Kolar was First Team All-Big 12.
The offensive line is also deep. They allowed only 14 sacks last year and return all seven players who started games. However, they ranked 44th in pass blocking. Colin Newell did not allow a single sack, but he permitted 23 QB pressures. Sean Foster allowed 16 and Jake Remsburg allowed 15 on half the snaps. Getting Todd Downing back from injury should help opposite Derek Schweiger.
On defense, Iowa State lost JaQuan Bailey, Latrell Bankston, and Lawrence White. Will McDonald is a First Team All-Big 12 edge. Zach Peterson started 9 games at edge as well. Iowa State returns their top four linebackers highlighted by All-American Mike Rose. They also return their second and third leading tacklers in Jake Hummel and O’Rien Vance.
In the defensive backfield, hybrid safety/linebacker/nickel Isheem young returns after ranking fifth on the team in tackles. Anthony Johnson (Honorable Mention All-Big 12) and Datrone Young each have double-digit starts at corner. Greg Eisworth was First Team All-Big 12 at safety and Jaquan Amos transfers in from Villanova to help fill the void left by Lawrence White.
Iowa State 2021 Football Schedule
- 09/04 N Iowa 3:30 pm Home
- 09/11 Iowa 4:30 pm Home
- 09/18 UNLV 10:30 pm Away
- 09/25 Baylor 1:00 pm Away
- 10/02 Kansas 1:00 pm Home
- 10/16 Kansas St 1:00 pm Away
- 10/23 Oklahoma St 1:00 pm Home
- 10/30 W Virginia 1:00 pm Away
- 11/06 Texas 1:00 pm Home
- 11/13 Texas Tech 12:00 pm Away
- 11/20 Oklahoma 12:00 pm Away
- 11/26 TX Christian 12:00 pm Home
Iowa State Football Betting Outlook
Iowa State plays Iowa, Northern Iowa, and UNLV in non-conference play. In the Big 12 they face Baylor, Kansas State, West Virginia, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma on the road. At home, they drew Kansas, Oklahoma State, Texas, and TCU. Win Total — 9.0 — looking over on this.
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