Iowa State 2012 Preview

Football season is almost here and I for one cannot wait! Last year I picked Iowa State to go 7-5 in the regular season and win a bowl game. ISU ended up going 6-6 regular season and lost their bowl game. Patting myself on the back here, I nailed the Oklahoma St. game, I missed the correct score by 3 points! You can see my previous prediction on cyclonefanatic.com.


For 2012 there are some question marks at QB for Iowa State. Will Steele Jantz or Jared Barnett get the start? Does Sam Richardson get into the mix? Offensive line, running game and defense will determine if ISU goes bowling in 2012.


Are the winds of changing blowing in the Big 12? The Big 12 has had an amazing run with QB’s the last half decade and that cannot be expected to continue. The Big 12 has taken some shots from the media about not playing defense which may be justified but the QB play has been outstanding. I look for better defensive statistics the next couple of years in the Big 12 and some better rushing numbers too.


Tulsa @ Iowa State: Tulsa is a 1 point favorite at the time of this writing according to vegasinsider.com MGM Mirage. Cody Green is starting at QB for Tulsa, he had more talent around him in Lincoln and he was not good there. I expect ISU to win this game by double digits, something like 27-17.


Iowa State @ Iowa: ISU has not won at Kinnick since 2002 with the magical Seneca Wallace comeback. I think the 2012 version should be great. ISU puts up over 200 yards rushing and 225 in the air. This is not normally a high scoring affair but I think ISU comes out on top in a relatively high scoring game. The final score is ISU 38 Iowa 31.

Western Illinois @ Iowa State: This game is a chance for ISU to heal up and get ready for their Big 12 opening game against Texas Tech in two weeks. ISU wins big 34 – 10.


Texas Tech @ Iowa State: Both teams are coming off of a bye week. Tech looks back at their loss against Iowa State last year and realizes that is where their season went downhill. Paul Rhoads is undefeated against Tommy Tuberville his former boss at Auburn. I think the streak goes to three. ISU 31 – Tech 21.


Iowa State @ TCU: ISU is riding high with a 4-0 record going into their first conference game at TCU. This also has a chance to be a game of two ranked Big 12 teams. TCU has been hit with some off field problems but have things sorted out and have not been tested up until this point. The game is close and both defenses seem to have come to play. TCU gets the win at home and open up 5-0, ISU’s first loss drops them to 4-1. TCU 24 - ISU 13.


Kansas St @ Iowa State: The Wildcats make their first visit to Ames since 2007 when Ron Prince was on the sidelines and Josh Freeman was the QB. Both teams are 1-1 on the Big 12 season. K-State is 3-0 vs. Paul Rhoads at Iowa State, those three wins by a combined 15 points. I think that changes in 2012. ISU has a +3 TO margin in this games and sends the SnyderCats packing 31-17.


Iowa State @ Oklahoma St.: OSU has ISU as their homecoming game for 2012 with nothing but revenge on their minds. I think the OSU defense was an underrated unit in 2011 and I think they have a chance to be pretty decent in 2012. ISU’s offense struggles in this one and manage only two scores. The Cowboys win this one going away 38-10.


Baylor @ Iowa State: No RG3, no Ganaway and no Wright mean the Bears may be searching for some offense in 2012. Florence saw some meaningful game time against Texas Tech in 2011 and had some pretty good stats. I expect the Baylor D to be about the same or a bit better in 2012 vs. 2011. Baylor has back to back road games, one at Texas and this one in Ames and I think this wears on the Bears. Shaky QB play is overcome by ISU which allows Iowa State to sneak out with a victory. Final score probably around 20 – 16 Iowa State with the victory. ISU is now bowl eligible with a record of 6-2.


Oklahoma @ Iowa State: Oklahoma is overrated going into this season, there have been some injuries and other issues with the Sooners in the offseason. Iowa State still looks to struggle this season against OU. I believe the OU defense exploits ISU’s weakness at the QB position with Barnett and Jantz essentially have the same # of snaps through this point in the season. OU wins in a similar fashion as the 2011 game. OU 31 - ISU 10.


Iowa State @ Texas: Texas will have a legit national championship defense in 2012. The D was young in 2011 and came on strong at the end of the season. This does not spell good news for Iowa State in this game. QB problems are really starting to show for Iowa State. Turnovers, poor reads and bad passes spell doom for the Cyclones. Texas is a big winner in this game, Texas 42 – Iowa St 13.


Iowa State @ Kansas: Kansas is coming off back to back road games to host Iowa State. ISU is 6-4 coming into this game and the arrow is point downwards. New QB Sam Richardson looks to change this up in his first start of his college career. The first two drives are good for Sam but there is some inconsistencies the rest of the way. ISU manages to hold off KU in this one 27-24. ISU posts their 7th regular season win for the first time since the 2005 season.


West Virginia @ Iowa State: West Virginia comes to Ames on a short week to face the Cyclones on Black Friday with a 2:30 nationally televised game. Head coach Dana Holgorson returns to his native Iowa for a matchup with Iowa State. The last four games for West Virginia were against K-State, TCU, Oklahoma St and Oklahoma. Welcome to the Big 12…no easy task in Ames the last game of the season, ask OSU! ISU is 5-2 in their last 7 home finales. This turns out to be an entertaining game. Geno Smith gets his yards and of course some points. ISU’s D finishes this game though. I think there is a defensive score for ISU this game to help young Sam Richardson out and he is now 2-0 early in his college career. ISU wins this instant classic 31-27.


With an 8-4 record, ISU makes it to the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Houston Friday December 28th against Illinois of the Big 10. ISU gets the victory and ends up 9-4 on the season, an outstanding record by any measure.