The Iowa State Cyclones showed that they were no longer a cakewalk, thanks to Head Coach Matt Campbell. Posting their first back-to-back 8 win seasons since the 1970’s. It’s a very modest achievement to say the least, but it’s something to build on and could lead to something better this season. They did lose their best offensive playmakers Hakeem Butler and David Montgomery, but they are getting a lot of experience back. Experience and finding players to fill the shoes for Butler and Montgomery will be the deciding factor on how good the 2019 Cyclones will be.
Prestige Ranking (If NCAA Football 20 Existed): 3 Stars
2018 Record: 8-5 (6-3 Big 12) Lost to Washington State in Alamo Bowl
Returning Offensive Starters: 7
- Brock Purdy, QB
- Deshaunte Jones, WR
- Julian Good-Jones, LT
- Collin Olson, LG
- Colin Newell, C
- Josh Knipfel, RG
- Bryce Meeker, RT
As I mentioned before their biggest losses on offense were Montgomery and Butler, so the skilled positions for the Iowa State Cyclones will be a huge question for them. On the positive side they get their quarterback, Brock Purdy, back as he is entering his sophomore season. Purdy had a very good season last year, and if he can continue to grow he could help the progression with some of the new starters at the skilled positions. Another big plus is they get their entire starting offensive line back, where three of them started all 13 games and where all five started at least 11 games. Having that experience in the trenches could be the difference.
Returning Defensive Starters: 7
- JaQuon Bailey, DE
- Ray Lima, DT
- Eyoima Uwazurike, DE
- Marcel Spears, LB
- Mike Rose, LB
- Braxton Lewis, DB
- Greg Eisworth, DB
The defense is also bringing back a lot of experience as well. All the starters on the defensive line will be returning–Bailey starting 13 games and Lima starting 12. They have two of their three linebackers returning–both starting all 13 games last year. The secondary will be their biggest gap to fill as they lost two starters and don ‘t have a clear-cut 5th DB starter–they run a 3-3-5 base defense. The key for this defense is being able to stop the pass. They were 62nd in Passing Yards Per Game even with running a base defense with five defensive backs, and given they lost a few starters in that group it could be their biggest challenge this season.
Returning Special Teams Starters: 2*
Kicker Connor Assalley is returning after hitting on 95% of his XP and 69% of his field goals…nice. As for their Punter, Corey Dunn, suffered a season-ending injury a few weeks ago. I have not seen a replacement as of yet, but that will obviously be question mark as Dunn hit 23 of his 53 punts inside the 20, and had 3 punts go 60+ yards last season.
Key Losses:
They didn’t lose many starters, but those starters had a lot of experience. Their biggest losses being Hakeem Butler, David Montgomery, Willie Harvey, Brian Peavy, and D’Andre Payne.
Key Newcomer: Jirehl Brock and Breece Hall
Finding a replacement for Montgomery isn’t going to be easy. I expect a fierce battle between Kene Nwangwu and Johnnie Lang–both made one start last season. As well as these two incoming freshman, both of them being four star backs, and the two highest rated commits according to 24/7.
Wins Conference If:
They start fast and finish fast. To have the opportunity to play Oklahoma a second time they will have to beat the teams they are supposed to beat. In 2017 they started out fast at 6-2 including an upsets against Oklahoma and TCU, but lost three of their last four. And in 2018, they started 1-3 including two early Big 12 losses. Some say “It’s not how you start it’s how you finish”, well for Iowa State it’s “How you start and how you finish”. You take that and sprinkle in some luck to beat Oklahoma and you have 2019 Iowa State: Big 12 Champions.
Circle This Game On The Calendar: at Oklahoma, November 9th
Not a very tough OOC schedule for the Iowa State Cyclones, so most of their tough opponents will be conference games. Their toughest? The team with the coach that turns all his quarterbacks into Heisman Trophy winners. Not necessarily a must-win to prove themselves, but playing competitively is the expectation for me to want to see a potential rematch in December.
Alcohol Prediction: Dollar Beer Night
Dollar Beer Night is a gamble. Either what you get is really good and everyone has a good time, or you get exactly what you paid for and that’s a beer that has the taste value of a dollar. It is a low risk high reward gamble, but a gamble nonetheless.
2019 Outlook:
vs Northern Iowa. W
vs Iowa. L
vs UL Monroe. W
at Baylor. W
vs TCU. W
at West Virginia. W
at Texas Tech. W
vs Oklahoma State. L
at Oklahoma. L
vs Texas. W
vs Kansas. W
at Kansas State. W
Overall 9-3 (7-2)
