The Kansas Jayhawks will face the Iowa State Cyclones this Saturday at 11:30AM CST at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence . The Cyclones are led by head coach, Paul Rhoads, who is entering his first season as the head coach for Iowa State. Rhoads is best known for his 8 year stint as the defensive coordinator for the Pitt Panthers and for his single year as the defensive coordinator at Auburn, where he was an understudy to Tommy Tuberville. He is 3-2 in his single season at Iowa State and has already surpassed the win total of the 2008 Cyclones under former head coach Gene Chizik.
The Cyclones are coming off of a heartbreaking loss to the Kansas State Wildcats last week in Arrowhead stadium in Kansas City. The Cyclones entered the 4th quarter with a 17-10 lead over Kansas State, before the Wildcats made a comeback in the final quarter to claim a 24-23 victory. The Cyclones outgained the Wildcats 371-360 and lost the time of possession battle 33-26, but they were able to run the ball effectively. They had over 200 yards rushing, with quarterback Austen Arnaud leading the team with 87 yards and a touchdown. The special teams really let the Cyclones down to the end the game, by allowing K-State to block the tying extra point with 32 seconds remaing, after which the Wildcats ran out the remainder of the clock.
Key Wins
North Dakota State 34-17 Kent State 34-14 Army 31-10Key Losses
Iowa 35-3 Kansas State 24-23Mark Maningo’s thoughts on Iowa State
“On the offensive side of the ball, their quarterback [Austin Arnaud] is a very good athlete. He can throw the ball, as well as run it. They key is, you do not want him to get into a rhythm. They have shown they have a couple good running backs. One of whom was down for a portion of the game at Arrowhead, but he [Alexander Robinson] is expected to play this weekend and he is a very speedy guy. His back-up, named Jeremiah Schwartz, is a big, thick guy who weighs 230 pounds and is kind of a straight-ahead runner and powerful runner. They have a very big offensive line, physically. So, they present challenges for us, but we will be ready for those challenges.”
Key Stats:
Iowa State has outgained their opponents 379 yards to 358 yars per game. Iowa State has outgained their opponents 1038 to 738 on the ground this season. Redshirt junior tailback Alexander Robinson is averaging over 100yards a game passing and has 5 touchdowns on the season.Outlook
The Jayhawks are looking to return to form defensively against a pretty decent running game. The Cyclones are averaging 2 sacks a game and are holding thier opponents to 20 points per game, though these statistics have been achieved with the help of playing Kent State and Army. The Cyclones will need to to improve dramatically against the pass if they hope to stop Todd Reesing and the Kansas passing attack. Kansas may struggle running the ball against a decent front four, but the young Kansas line should be able to exert their will. The Kansas defense should be able to get back into form against a Cyclone offense that will attempt to control the clock with a balanced attack and power running game, but the sucess of that strategy will lie upone the shoulders of redshirt junior quarterback Austen Arnaud. If he is able to keep the Kansas defense off balance, then look for this game to be competitive. If not, then this game could get ugly for the Cyclones.
